My name is Olivia Burgess and I’m from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I’m a sophomore majoring in English. I love reading, shopping, thrifting, baking, traveling, and binge watching friends on netflix.
I took this course to fulfill my GQ requirement but also because the course title sounded like it had something to do with an article in National Geographic that really sparked my interest awhile back and I actually stopped eating meat for 8 months because of it. The article had a lot to do with expanding the food supply through different farming techniques to feed the population of the world, as the population grows. To me, sustainability is the power to make the most of the resources that we have left in order to keep our way of life the same as timegoes on. Resilience is the power to be beaten down but to come back again. Overall I’m looking forward to learning about sustainability in this course and how I will be able to apply it in the future.
Here’s the national geographic article:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/feeding-9-billion/
I also like thrifting! You would love Poshmark and Threadflip; they’re like a virtual Plato’s Closet.
I used to work in the dining commons, and have fond memories of filling industrial-sized compost bins with: burgers, chicken, salmon, tilapia, and steak among other excess food. Most of it was fresh off the grill or still in a warmer or oven. It was such a shame seeing all of that food go to waste. In addition to changing farming practices and consumer behavior, promoting sustainability in the food and hospitality industries, could help confront this problem.
Strangely, I didn’t think it was that hard to give up meat. It was kind of fun to change up my eating habits and experiment with new food. I had to revert back to eating meat because my iron levels got really low and I couldn’t donate blood anymore which is something that I try to do on a regular basis. Once my iron supplements stopped being enough to keep my iron level in a normal range, I started eating meat again and being more conscious of my food choices. My family has a history of being slightly anemic though, so that might not be a problem that others would struggle with. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a better balance at some point and try it again.
I’m curious to know if this article made you stop eating meat for 8 months, why did you revert back? I’ve always thought about making that switch and did not only because I think it would be kind of difficult. but other than that I think it’s a good route.
Welcome Olivia. Thanks for the link to the National Geographic article. This article could serve as the starting-point for a great blog post. I will add it to our Resources list in a moment.