The thesis that I am currently writing is about Urban Farming/Agriculture. Why? Here's the chronological story -
In high school, I wrote a thesis about obesity and my premise was to point out that fitness was the 'key' to stopping obesity... At this point on the globe, there are more overweigh people (1 billion) than starving people (800 million). First of all, I think it's good to look at this imbalance of power as an issue in itself (which I'll cover later). However, in this thesis, I found it difficult to conclude that fitness was the key to 'curing' or 'fixing' obesity. My conclusion was more; if one engaged in fitness, one was much more likely to NOT be obese... But let's dig a little here - If you engage in fitness, what are your reasons for engaging in fitness? Are your parents into fitness? Are you genetically predisposed to be active? What type of childhood did you have in regards to food/cooking, fitness and the culture of both? Once you engage in fitness are you more apt to psychologically eat better because of physiological changes in your desires for food and taste? Was the culture you grew up in highly active or competitive?
There are so many different factors that affect us and the physiological ways that we put on weight and lose weight. Myself, having lived in northern climates most of my life, have looked into this quite a bit. It's good to note that most people shift 5-10 lbs (3-4kg) from summer to winter. There are very good reason to pack it on during colder periods! Historically, this was when farmers would butcher a large portion of red meat animals because 1) they were a great source of calories for those cold months and 2) the farmers didn't have to feed a huge animal during a season in which there was no growth.
I owned a health, fitness, wellness business for five years. I love activity - there seems to be no other moments when I am more PRESENT and in the moment, except for perhaps meditation - My business started out purely based on fitness. But when I began to look deeper into the concept of human fitness, the aspects or 'typologies' that would equate to a minimum and maximum of human well-being, I felt as though I was being led in many different directions but primarily towards food... the fuel that grants us 'peak performance' in olympic events. This specificity in targeting the 'key' to health, of course, opens a huge can of worms once you start digging into every avenue of food and all the variables you can look at in order to have something called 'food' sitting on our plates or laps or garbage bins or whatever. Let's start digging
While running my business, I would tell clients that 60-70% of your physical results had to do with the type of food you ate and when you ate it... I think I was biased. This is because I had already studied quite a bit about fitness, physical symmetry and perhaps for ME, it was 60-70% of what I had to concentrate on in order to see the results I wanted. Though in truth, food IS extremely important in having a more comfortable longevity in the moments of human life. But so is getting ample sleep and maintaining a positive attitude (positive attitude has a lot to do with how much of the hormone cortisol your body will release - which directly affects whether or not your body stores fat). In the end, there is no ONE thing that you can do or need to do but I would argue that laying down healthy patterns (like sleep, eating REAL food throughout your day, making sure you hang out with friends and laugh) would lay a foundations for better health and easier recovery from fitness activities... The concept of well-being is extremely complex.
Let's look back at human's well-being in history... Most humans in history were extremely malnourished, probably didn't grow to their full potential in height or heal as quickly as they could have healed. They simply weren't given the option to eat a balanced source of ingredients of food. One human geography professor argues that the Vikings were able to conquer as much as they were because they were a good foot taller than their southern neighbors. He argues that this had a lot to do with the fact that 95% of Scandinavians are lactose tolerant - (Italians are only 50%) providing an easy access of calcium for bone growth and protein for muscle growth - giving these blond warriors a 'huge' advantage. I'm not sure, however, if he incorporated the medieval warming period or the juxtaposition and conflict of trade and religion (Christians gave discounts to Christians, but not to heathens) or even the cultural factors of Scandinavian community and honor into his equation for WHY they attacked.
Many questions to ask and answer... But I find it fun to acknowledge the big, global, historical picture and then bring my attention down to the regional and individual level, making sure I keep a 'hairy eye ball' on the bigger picture. Regardless, I find myself in the local and regional food arena, the urban agricultural food arena. This is where I live and where 50% of the world lives. This is where 80% of the world will live by 2050 (according the predictions from the MEA 2005). How are we going to feed it - Physically, emotionally, hypothetically, culturally, democratically (?), naturally, to the highest level of well-being, over a long long period of time and space?
That's why I'm studying Urban Farms Systems
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
My Background + Goal
"Start Getting Comfortable, Being Uncomfortable" - one of my theater professors
My background is in the humanities and the social sciences but for the past year and a half I've been focusing on the nature sciences - particularly the concepts of 'Sustainability' and 'Resilience Thinking'. However, when I recently read an article by Alf Hornborg, it was like having a wicked spell removed from how I felt I was being conditioned to think.
Hornborg brought me back to Giddens and Marx (not to socialism but his critique of Capitalism), who brought me back to Lewis Mumford which connected me back to a lot of ancient Greek plays as well as Moreno which, all contrasted to the lens of the natural sciences, would explain why I've been so damn depressed!
As a research/scientist, what am I actually trying to do here? Save the world, bull! I would like to see the human race survive but after spending all this time in the natural sciences, I'm worried that the natural boundaries that supply us with the ability to 'live,' may be in threat. To what extent? Probably a lot more than most of us think.
However, when I say 'boundaries' I question myself --> what do you mean by 'boundaries?' the very THING that humanity has chosen to define and continues to redefine whenever he or she sees fit!
My point is, I've spent the past year and a half looking at how humans have, and are continuing to consume beyond our means. And during this past 1 and 1/2 years, I've felt as though I've been conditioned to see humans as the problem. At this very moment, I find this lens of perception the biggest problem. I don't think it's very productive to continue to look at human beings as the poison, rather than the cure to our own cocktail of complexity. I find it ridiculous to say, "let's save the world," we have the option to save humanity. The world will live on for an estimated few more hundred million years, humans may or may not. I would prefer to stay positive, in fact, my goal is to stay positive, yet reasonable regarding humanity's fate.
humbug
My background is in the humanities and the social sciences but for the past year and a half I've been focusing on the nature sciences - particularly the concepts of 'Sustainability' and 'Resilience Thinking'. However, when I recently read an article by Alf Hornborg, it was like having a wicked spell removed from how I felt I was being conditioned to think.
Hornborg brought me back to Giddens and Marx (not to socialism but his critique of Capitalism), who brought me back to Lewis Mumford which connected me back to a lot of ancient Greek plays as well as Moreno which, all contrasted to the lens of the natural sciences, would explain why I've been so damn depressed!
As a research/scientist, what am I actually trying to do here? Save the world, bull! I would like to see the human race survive but after spending all this time in the natural sciences, I'm worried that the natural boundaries that supply us with the ability to 'live,' may be in threat. To what extent? Probably a lot more than most of us think.
However, when I say 'boundaries' I question myself --> what do you mean by 'boundaries?' the very THING that humanity has chosen to define and continues to redefine whenever he or she sees fit!
My point is, I've spent the past year and a half looking at how humans have, and are continuing to consume beyond our means. And during this past 1 and 1/2 years, I've felt as though I've been conditioned to see humans as the problem. At this very moment, I find this lens of perception the biggest problem. I don't think it's very productive to continue to look at human beings as the poison, rather than the cure to our own cocktail of complexity. I find it ridiculous to say, "let's save the world," we have the option to save humanity. The world will live on for an estimated few more hundred million years, humans may or may not. I would prefer to stay positive, in fact, my goal is to stay positive, yet reasonable regarding humanity's fate.
humbug
Why I'm blogging
1) I can't keep track of all this information and I tend to be easily distracted
2) The information I can't keep track of, I'm pretty sure you should know (before I get distracted)
3) I would like to specifically dissect the reasons, hypothetical or realistic, for WHY I (and probably yourself) get distracted
4) In our current state of information sharing - I find blogging to be one of the most novel ways to spread information
It seems even strange to me that I would be blogging about the human experience which would require me to physically do the very task that I despise; sit at my computer and type. However, I feel the need for discourse.
2) The information I can't keep track of, I'm pretty sure you should know (before I get distracted)
3) I would like to specifically dissect the reasons, hypothetical or realistic, for WHY I (and probably yourself) get distracted
4) In our current state of information sharing - I find blogging to be one of the most novel ways to spread information
It seems even strange to me that I would be blogging about the human experience which would require me to physically do the very task that I despise; sit at my computer and type. However, I feel the need for discourse.
Our Human Lives
What this blog is about -
(the short version) How can humans live life in the best possible way?
And yes, I hope at this point you're questioning the very foundation of this question ("what do you mean by 'best?") because that's exactly what I would like to explore; Stopping for a second to reflect on The Human Experience -
1) The Now. in our current state of being. Particularly our physically state and the concept of 'well-being'
2) The Past. What was the history that has brought us to this point?
3) The Community. If you've seen the movie "Into the Wild," you'll understand why I want to talk about this
4) The Power. What role does power have in creating possibilities or suppressing them - on all scales
5) ....
(the short version) How can humans live life in the best possible way?
And yes, I hope at this point you're questioning the very foundation of this question ("what do you mean by 'best?") because that's exactly what I would like to explore; Stopping for a second to reflect on The Human Experience -
1) The Now. in our current state of being. Particularly our physically state and the concept of 'well-being'
2) The Past. What was the history that has brought us to this point?
3) The Community. If you've seen the movie "Into the Wild," you'll understand why I want to talk about this
4) The Power. What role does power have in creating possibilities or suppressing them - on all scales
5) ....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)