Exploration 4 - Emily Shearer

1)     The film, Fresh, was more interesting to me than I thought it would be. I was hooked right off the bat, when it was said that "Americans fear one thing: inconvenience." It really made me think, and I agree with that statement. 

     Throughout the whole film, the problem of unhealthy products from farms was discussed. Many farmers are only concerned about one thing, and that is the number of their products. For example, at one farm, over 200,000 chickens can be put in one chicken house. It was seen easily from the film that the farmers had to watch their every move so that they wouldn't step on a chicken. The reason for the industry doing this to their animals and crops is for bigger, faster, cheaper production. 

     One farmer, Joel Salamin, talked about diseases from the animals. From improper care and antibiotics, many of the animals on big farms develop diseases or mutations, potentially harming the consumer of those meats. Smaller farms have proven to have healthier meats and crops than bigger, industrialized farms. Salamin went on to say, "Wanna feed the world? Don't be industrialized."

     Fresh did a great job getting its point across: organic farming is the way to go. Industrialized farming has been proven to be harmful to the consumer. However, Americans want things instantly, and get impatient if they have to wait, and that is the main reason I believe that the industry is so huge. But, it is a problem. One thing I would have like to see in the film that wasn't there, are more positives, if any, on industrialized farming.

2) I was curious about monoculture and wanted to know more about the effects it has. As an idea, it sounds okay to do because of the mass produce, but over time and in the long run, it shows that it is harmful to the area because it destroys the diversity. Monoculture changes the conditions of living for the species. It also 'welcomes' pests. Those that weren't there before start showing up. The chemicals used on the crops begin to not work as well after using them, which makes the chemical amounts used increase. Increasing the amount of chemicals harms the animals around the area. And eventually from all the chemicals, the food we consume aren't even natural.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Monoculture-Farming---Disadvantages-And-Negative-Effects-On-The-Environment&id=6780941