Health is shaped by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. What are some of these factors and how do they impact health, particularly the health of lower income communities?
As soon as we are born we are affected by where we live and by our access to clothes, food, and transportation. This causes a huge disadvantage in lower income areas that tend to have less resources. According to the City of Berkeley status health report, POC are way more likely to have premature births, be hospitalized for diabetes and hypertension, and have a higher mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease. If we accomplish our goals of making the SFROW into a green space we will most definitely make an improvement of these peoples social determinants of health, life span, and their overall well-being. I want to make south Berkeley into a better place for the people today and in the future. - Angel Espiritu, 11th grade Some of the social determinants of health that people in today’s society face are income and social status, physical environments, education, and literacy. These are also some of the factors that cause people to have health disadvantages. Some people who are affected by the income and social status factor can not get the health care they deserve because of lack of access. If they receive a low income they’d find themselves struggling to be able to pay medication or hospital bills. That income is determined by their social status. For example, recently the president of the United States announced being positive about having COVID. During his recovery, he explained to the public that his recovery was very easy and how the media have exaggerated the seriousness of this virus. But what he fails to realize is that he has a very high social status and so his health care and treatment to COVID will be very different to those of low income and social status. We look forward to working on green space development at the SFROW so that the community who are affected by these social factors have a place to be a healthier person by exercising and having an overall better advantage to their health. - Sol Valenica Topete, 11th grade Health is determined by one's social and economic conditions. The access to clean water, food and air; preventative health care and wellness programs; relationships; and resources available in one’s neighborhoods are the conditions known as the social determinants of health. The Inequities that exist in the social determinants of health most often negatively impact people of color and low-income as they are the ones who disproportionately get the least amount of access to principal resources. A status report made by the city of Berkeley in 2018 contained data in which it showed that the mortality rates of all cardiovascular disease from African Americans were exponentially higher than any other race or ethnicity in Berkeley. Same went for hospitalization rates due to long term diabetes. A graph also showed that a majority of African Americans living in Berkeley were tenating on the south side. Whether it be because of individual determinants or a bigger systemic problem, the fact is that the community doesn’t get the same amount of access to crucial necessities as other parts of Berkeley. At Moving South Berkeley Forward we realize and are mindful of the fact that every individual in our community deals with differing social determinants that ultimately affect their health and quality of life. It is an undertaking as an organization that represents South Berkeley to provide a space in which we can help supply the necessary resources that people of the community need. - Daniel Finis Perez, 11th grade
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The topic for this week's discussion was Cultural Humility, which is defined by the National Institute of Health, as "A lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another’s culture, but one starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities." We emphasized the importance of acting with cultural humility as we serve and interact with the multidimensional and diverse members of the South Berkeley community. To be culturally humble means that you are willing to learn about others, and is a way to fully connect and inspire togetherness, community, and ultimately well-being for ALL. Cultural Humility begins with a reflection and appreciation of your own culture. So, we asked our students to prepare a dish they feel represents their own unique culture. Here is what they created... Afro-Mex Greens This dish is called "Afro-Mex Greens" as coined by Daniel's mom. Daniel comes from a multicultural background, and this dish represents both his African American and Mexican heritage. It is a take on traditional collard greens, consisting of collards, kale, bell pepper, diced green chiles, onions, garlic, and *as a Mexican twist* chile verde salsa. Arroz con LecheThis beautiful dish was created by our newest project member, Sol to represent her Mexican culture. This is a dish she eats around the holidays and the aroma of the sweet cooking milk always reminds her of home. Arroz con leche can be eaten either warm or cold, though Sol prefers to eat it while it's hot. This dish can also be altered to various dietary preferences, using non-dairy milk and adjusting the amount of sugar added to change the sweetness level, although Sol says that the most important ingredient is the traditional Mexican canela sticks, which are softer and flakier than other cinnamon sticks. Sweet Potato PieThese delicious pies were made by Za'Nedra, with the help of her mom. This is a dish that her mom always makes around the holidays and the steps are fairly simple. First you roast a couple sweet potatoes, peel off the skins, and mix the potatoes with eggs, butter, sugar, nutmeg, lemon, and vanilla extract. Then you pour into a pie crust and bake! Though Za'Nedra is not a fan of the pies, this is a staple in her home no doubt and we can see why, just look at that color! LentilsAngel's cultural recipe is a yummy veggie-stocked lentil soup. His recipe uses kale, onions, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, chayote, lentils, and a little bacon for extra flavor (the bacon can be left out for a vegan dish). Another tip is to save your veggie scraps for homemade stock or be sure to throw them in the compost!
At our first meeting back for this project year, we discussed the ever important topic of Environmental Justice. Our Moving South Berkeley Forward project is an environmental, social justice project aiming to provide the South Berkeley community with equitable access to a green space and community garden. We asked our students to reflect and define what environmental justice means to them, as well in the context of our project. Environmental Justice by Daniel Finis-Perez
According to the EPA, Environmental Justice can be defined as the treatment of all people that is fair and meaningful regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It is the belief that asserts access to clean healthy resources like air, water, soil, and a safe, livable community are essential human rights that everyone should have. Despite this belief of equal access to a healthy environment, not everyone is able to experience that right. In fact, most communities that experience the unequal access to sanitation, clean water, air, and food are people of color, particularly Black communities. This unequal access to environmental amenities is called Environmental Injustice. One must take into account that environmental justice is not solely about equity of environmental resources, but it also interconnects with racial justice, economic justice, segregation, etc. In the 1930’s, the federal government in the new deal of the Roosevelt administration pursued policies in which they would segregate metropolitan areas. The first civilian housing program was the United States Housing Authority (USHA), which would frequently demolish integrated neighborhoods in order to create segregated public housing. They would close schools, libraries, and other public facilities to force people of color, mainly African Americans, to move to an area where the city designated it as a ghetto. Another program that the federal government persuaded to enforce segregation was the work of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). They subsidized a development of suburbs on the condition that they only be sold to White families and that the homes in those suburbs had deeds that prohibited resale to African Americans. The FHA’s underwriting manual stated that “Inharmonious racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities,” meaning that they made it almost impossible for African Americans to live in White neighborhoods. As the federal government concentrated low income African Americans in single neighborhoods, cities frequently withdrew public services from the communities. They collected garbage less frequently, they didn’t provide water and sewer services, and polluting industries and toxic waste plants would be placed in African American communities in order to protect White neighborhoods from deterioration. The end result was that African American neighborhoods would turn into "slums" where African Americans experienced a disproportionate level of exposure to toxins, pesticides, and air pollution, which lead to an increased rate of health problems like cancer, heart disease, and asthma. This environmental gap between different ethnic communities caused by the actions of the federal, state, and local governments creation of residential segregation should’ve never happened, as there are three provisions in the federal constitution that prohibit it. One is the 5th amendment which requires the federal government to treat all citizens fairly. Another is the 14th amendment that requires state and local governments not only to treat citizens fairly but to also treat them equally. And then the 13th amendment which abolished slavery, also requires that we banish the effects of slavery which congress long ago determined was any form of second class citizenship. So in fact, the prohibition of African Americans to purchase homes in federally subsidized white communities with the segregation of public housing created a form of second class citizenship which was in violation of the 13th amendment. Nevertheless, segregation still happened, and it is still happening today. It causes communities like ours to suffer from unequal environmental amenities, one of which that is principal to our community is the access to green spaces. At Moving South Berkeley Forward, we are making an effort to close the environmental gap we see in Berkeley by providing more green spaces to the community of South Berkeley. Green spaces will provide access to healthy sustainable foods, and with a variety of different trees and plants, the quality of the air we breathe will improve. -Daniel Finis Perez, 11th grade As our project year came to an unprecedented close, we asked our Berkeley High students to reflect on how they have grown as environmental community advocates. We asked, what does environmental literacy mean to you? What motivates you to be an environmental activist in your community, and how do you want to use your environmental literacy to create change? In light of current circumstances, it is imperative to be aware, supportive, and fight for those facing food/housing/healthcare insecurity. How could an urban greenway at the SFROW be used optimally to promote personal and societal health both now and after the COVID-19 pandemic? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Environmental Literacy As an environmental activist I take part in developing a deeper understanding of environmental education and act on issues involving both sustainability and the environment. There is no doubt that there are issues involving sustainability and the environment in my community. The fact that my community has more access to unhealthy food than accessible health resources is a big issue. My motivation for being an environmental activist is to not only better the health of others in the community through providing access to an urban greenway, but also to inform them about environmental topics that can potentially help them to have a more healthy, sustainable life. Considering all of the terms I have learned this year, I believe all of them can help people improve their health. However, sustainability, food waste, and soil health are three terms that I think could help better the health of others, and importantly, the health of our planet. Presently, we tend to consume certain foods that have been processed which affects the quality and nutritional value of the food. We buy what we want, but we never really ask how fresh it is, or how free it is of harmful chemicals. Sometimes the ¨organic¨ food you buy at the grocery store isn't really organic. Plants or plant seeds can be exposed to radioactivity or chemicals. These plants are produced in atomic gardens. The radiation or chemicals make random changes in the DNA of the plant resulting in many proteins being changed. Thousands of plant foods have been made this way and the plants modified this way can be labeled as ¨organic.¨ Calrose rice, yams, osa gold pears, wheat, grapefruit, and many more have all been made in atomic gardens. ¨We cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. One reason to eat responsibly is to live free” (Wendell Berry). Some ways we can eat more responsibly is by simply using more sustainable resources. Eating locally, maintaining a healthy diet, and paying attention to the production process are all ways we can better our health and be more sustainable. Soil health is just as important as sustainability. Soil health is the quality of soil that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Soil quality is directly linked to food quality, this means that good quality food can only be produced if our soils are healthy. Healthy soil is made up of a combination of minerals such as rocks, water, air, organic matter (plant and animal residue), microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and a variety of insects and worms. As a result of a growing population, there are higher demands for crop production. These high demands are damaging to the quality of the soil which in turn will be damaging to our food and will be damaging to us. This is another reason for which it is best to get your food locally or even from your own garden. Our goal at Moving South Berkeley Forward is to provide our South Berkeley residents with access to rich beautiful soil that can in turn sustain and promote healthier, happier communities through local food. Healthy soil is also good for our environment. It filters our water, provides essential nutrients to our forests and crops, and helps regulate the Earth's temperature as well as many of the important greenhouse gases. However, a lot goes into making the foods we need in order to survive. In fact, 21% of all freshwater is used in the service of producing food. That is a lot of water being wasted if the food ends up being wasted. In most cases, many foods being produced will only end up in the trash. This is unfortunate due to the fact that there are over 40 million people facing hunger in the U.S. each day. At the same time, 15% of the food that's getting wasted each year can feed 25 million people. Not only is it bad because there are people who are starving, but food waste also affects our environment. 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions are produced by agricultural activities. It is imperative that we actively attempt to not waste food because otherwise we are wasting valuable resources, and contributing more so to global greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, 43% of food waste occurs at home. That is to say that preventing food waste in your own home can help reduce the amount of food that gets wasted each year, and ultimately play a significant role in saving our planet. Ways in which we can prevent food waste in our homes are by not over-serving food when cooking. Only serve amounts you know you'll finish, then you can get more if you’re still hungry. Don't waste food when you’re full. Save it for later so you can make a whole new creative dish later on, and shop smart. Next time you go to the grocery store buy items that you know you need, not items you think you need. Doing these steps can help us in reducing food waste. However, you can always donate uneaten food or reuse it for compost. Currently our community, and the world, are struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only are older people mostly affected by the virus, but many African American, Latino, and other ethnic communities are disproportionately suffering from both direct and indirect impacts of this pandemic. Whether it's from education, housing, health care, or healthy food insecurity, communities like ours are struggling. However, this isn't anything new. Minority communities have always been struggling to access or even have equity in these needs. The disadvantages have made it more difficult for communities like ours to survive from viruses like COVID-19. It is true that an urban greenway can't fix all the problems that the community faces day to day. However, it is certain that an urban greenway can help provide accessible health resources like a community garden which can offer healthy food to people in need, especially in times like these. -Daniel Finis Perez ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Environmental Literacy Over the past few months I have been comprehending the importance of my environmental literacy. Knowing that my environmental literacy can be used to inform people about the impact in which sustainability can help better our lives is something very motivational for me. In fact, part of being an environmental activist is to spread information that will be helpful to people, especially in a time of panic and fear. Knowing the information I spread can change someone's opinion or attitude towards a topic makes me want to create change for the better. For example, I have reflected on various environmental topics such as regenerative agriculture, food waste, food security, and environmental justice. By sharing these paragraphs on our Moving South Berkeley Forward website, I have been able to inform and educate our community overall. Not only have these paragraphs spread awareness, but they also play a role in helping communities become healthier as a whole. When we discuss topics like nutrition and its relation to overall health, we can help people better understand the topic and can also influence their actions through their eating habits. Not only can they improve the health of a single person, but that person can also improve other people's health by spreading the information. I feel these paragraphs could especially help people who live in lower income areas where they have more corner stores than fully stocked healthy food stores. My goal is to help inform the community to make the best food choices possible with their health in mind and make the best meal they can, while also making sure the food is sustainable and affordable. Another topic we've covered that I feel could help people, especially in urban/lower income areas, is soil health. If a community has the area to do so, they could grow their own food and make healthier, locally sourced meals for themselves. I know most people living in “worse” areas will probably not have access to a place where they can grow their own food but in the off chance they do it would be a great idea and help them a lot. They could also learn about what crops are lower maintenance and easier to grow in their area, strengthening their connecting with their environment. If others were to read our blog posts on soil health, they would learn about what actually makes up soil, and that healthy soil is extremely important for aspects such as water storage during droughts, as well as soil’s important role as an ecosystem for plants, insects, animals, and humans. Investing in soil health means they wouldn't have to rely on cheap unhealthy corner store food and that they could provide their family with healthier alternatives. Cultivating a garden and growing your own food teaches an important lesson on food waste. 43% of food waste happens at peoples homes and the more we waste, the more food goes to landfills which then produce even more greenhouse gasses. Not only that but 15% of the food waste in the U.S could potentially feed 25 million Americans. It's important to try to buy what you can eat, eat the food you have, and not throw out deformed fruits or vegetables because they are still nutritious. For example, if you go to the grocery store and pick up some carrots that you don't pay much attention to, then finally get a good look and see that the carrot is curved, that shouldn’t make any difference.It's still good to eat and use for meals where you would chop it up anyway. Further, if you have extra food from your groceries or garden you could always donate it to a food bank and avoid waste. Now that we are in a pandemic I can only hope that people are doing well. Hopefully people going through problems with their access to food or healthcare are doing okay, but I feel like if we had a green way at the Santa Fe Right of Way it could help some people bounce back if they are running low on food, and help people stay healthier as a whole. A greenway could seriously help the community right now and I hope I will get the chance to continue helping this South Berkeley community in the future. -Angel Espiritu What we eat can supply us with energy, it’s required for growth maintenance, and can repair our bodies. What we eat not only affects our physical health, but also affects our mental health, which is why a good sustainable diet is so important to one's health. Macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids (fats) are all used to provide energy to the body, which is then used to function the body. The first, and preferred energy source of the body are carbohydrates because of glucose. Glucose is the basic unit of energy for the body, and is utilized by every organ, especially the brain. Protein is made up of amino acids, that is then used for growth, and repair of the body. Consequently, human nutrition is a big part of our project because that is what we are trying to provide for our community. With our green spaces, we hope to better the overall health of others in the community by providing them with healthy sustainable foods, and even educating them about topics like human nutrition.
-Daniel Finis Perez, 10th grade What we eat is what helps us get through the day, so by going more in depth on what is in most foods we can help make the community healthier as a whole. It is important to understand that what you eat can lead to health problems like type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some types of cancer but of course this won't be a problem if you watch what you are eating. Even if you think a food is healthy and good for you it is still a good idea to look at what's in it because it may be marketed as this superfood that can make anyone healthy but in reality it's not and may even be worse. I'm not saying to not touch any carbohydrates or sugar but you should definitely keep it on the low because the more you do the less of a chance you get hyperglycemia which happens when your blood is high in glucose. In summary just be careful and try eating more natural sugars like fruit or eat some protein that is a more reliable energy source for your body. -Angel Espiritu, 10th grade There's more than just organic agriculture and products, regenerative agriculture is an increasingly used term, but what is it exactly? What constitutes regenerative practices?
Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming that enhances ecosystem services and improves watersheds. Regenerative Agriculture aims to enrich our soils and capture the carbon in the soil and aboveground biomass. Intercropping is a form of regenerative agriculture practice where you grow two or more crops in proximity. When using the method of intercropping the goal is to have more of what you're growing on a certain amount of ecological piece of land. You'd have a greater yield of crops than using the single crop method. That's why farmers use intercropping to really enrich the soil and its microorganisms. - Za'Nedra Hills, 10th Grade Regenerative agriculture is made up of many different things, some of those things being the use of cover crops and intercropping patterns, as well as not using tillage. These agricultural practices improve soil health and cause there to be more diverse soil microbes. In contrast, there are 5 core principles to regenerative agriculture that consist of minimizing soil disturbance, maximizing crop diversity, keeping the soil covered, maintaining living roots all year, and integrating livestock. The practices relate to them because they all improve the soil and keep the earth healthy as well as us. Once we get the chance we will try our best to instill these practices in our community gardens and parks by using crops and plants that work together and cause these positive effects on the gardens. - Angel Espiritu, 10th grade Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming that increases biodiversity, and improves the health of soil. In many ways it improves water sheds, carbon sequestration, and enhances ecosystem services. Practices that are used in Regenerative Agriculture include recycling as much farm waste as possible, and adding composted material from sources outside the farm. Tillage also known as (Till) is a practice used in farming that has been used to prepare seed beds. Despite the practice, many farmers decide not to use tillage as a method of preparing seed beds because of how it affects the soil. Tillage breaks up soil structure and destroys residue, which helps cushion the force of pounding raindrops. Therefore, farmers prefer (No Till) to leave plant residues on the ground, which can help keep the soil moist, and protect against evaporation caused by the sun and wind. All in all no tillage improves the health of soil and is a great practice for Regenerative Agriculture. -Daniel Finis Perez, 10th grade Regenerative Agriculture is a system with practices that increase biodiversity, enriches soil and overall improves an ecosystem. It also is used to capture carbon from the soil and biomass as well as more resilience to climate instability and keeps a healthy ecosystem. Regenerative agriculture improves biodiversity, especially in the soil. Many cover crops planted can help organisms come together by releasing sugar from their roots. This also pumps energy into the soil, providing more nutrients. In the winter, cover crops like oats and rye will die but will also drill compacted soil. This process is called Bio-drilling. After drilling into the soil, new plants can be grown in their place and when the roots start to grow, it will follow the network that the cover crop made. -Marvin Lopez, 10th grade What is sustainability? How does it relate to the food system and community health?
On this planet we have many resources that help us in our daily lives and we don't even realize it. As soon as the resources are gone we realize what we just lost and how we took it for granted but there is always something we can do to stop wasting the things we need. Sustainability is if we can do little things in our community we can make our resources last as long as we can make them. Some of those things are eating locally, maintaining a healthy diet, eating more plant based foods and paying attention to the production process of food. If people try this and stick to it we could have a lot more resources for future generations of people, which is one of our goals for this community and we hope to make it a community that can sustain its own health through local and healthy food. - Angel Espiritu, 10th grade Sustainability can be defined as the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance. Sustainability is critical to one’s health. In most cases we tend to consume certain foods that have been manufactured or “processed” that has affected its quality or nutritional value. In today's society we buy what we want or what we've been persuaded to, however we never really asked how fresh it is, how pure or clean, and how free of dangerous chemicals? According to “The Pleasures of Eating,” an article that discusses sustainability, Wendell Berry states “The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered with inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified, and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.” As much as we like our pre prepared or fast food, it isn't sustainable nor healthy at all, and it’s better to be avoided. “There is, then, a politics of food that, like any politics, involves our freedom. We still (sometimes) remember that we cannot be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else. But we have neglected to understand that we cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition. One reason to eat responsibly is to live free.” Some ways we can eat more responsibly is by simply finding ways to maximize efficient use of natural resources. Eating locally, maintaining a healthy diet, and paying attention to the production process are all ways we can better our health and be more sustainable. At MSBF our goal is to create a community that can sustain its own health and wellness through local, culturally-appropriate, nutritious, & transparent food. - Daniel Finis Perez, 10th grade When I think of sustainability I think about maintaining a certain level of things. In this case we'd be sustaining a healthy diet for ourselves and our community. When tying this to our wonderful organization you can understand that's why we would like to give the South Berkeley community sustainability because it is the home of many wonderful people and they need to maintain a healthy diet so they can continue to thrive and grow together as a community. It'll be a community movement to start maintaining this dream of ours but it has to start somewhere. Sustainability really focuses on meeting the needs of the community and the people in it. We can improve so many people's lives by bringing sustainability into it. That's why we'd like to build a community garden and a space for the residents to feel safe and at home. -Za'Nedra Hills, 10th Grade What constitutes a social movement? In what ways are what we do here at Moving South Berkeley Forward contributing to larger social movements? Here's some of our thoughts...
A social movement is a type of group or community that's seeking change on a specific political or social issue. In our community we have little to no access to equitable green spaces. This is an issue for us because of the fact that there are other parts in Berkeley where they have access to green spaces and gardens where you can grow fruits and vegetables. This also gives them access to healthy food, while we have more access to corner stores that provide unhealthy food that later on cause greater health problems. Moving South Berkeley Forward is a social movement because we want change for our community. Eventually we plan on building a greenway, and youth gardens to educate other people of the community about some of the health topics we’re learning about. Essentially we want are community to have accessible health resources and a better future. - Daniel Finis Perez, 10th grade When thinking of social movements, many things come to mind like fighting for our rights like with the civil rights movement and fighting for your beliefs like the recent climate activists. At Moving South Berkeley Forward we are focused on making the area a healthier place for everyone so we too can enjoy nice parks like North Berkeley. In addition, we want to stop unhealthy habits like buying chips or candy from corner stores everyday; I would know because I have and still do this, but instead of doing that we think it would be much better for people in the community to go out and get fruits and vegetables from the community gardens we are trying to put up in the future and make a nice meal for themselves, their family and friends. - Angel Espiritu, 10th grade This week's discussion was all about food waste. What is it, what are the consequences, and how can it be avoided? Here's what our student interns answered: When you think of the worlds biggest problem you often think global warming but we should take a step back and analyze the factors of it. One of them being food waste now you may be thinking how does food waste in any way affect global warming well when any organic waste decomposes it releases many gases such as carbon dioxide and methane gas. But that's just one apple right? No because 40% of food that is produced, grown and transported in the U.S. will go to waste and this also affects people in poverty and people who can't get food, 40 million people every day face hunger. All this information may discourage people from helping but there are major ways anyone can help. You can buy less food, try to eat all your food, recycle your food, don't serve large amounts of food and eating imperfect produce witch is food that looks different than it's supposed to. All this can help but more than just one person should be doing this with everyone's help we can stop global warming. - Angel Espiritu, 10th grade Food waste is a big problem. In fact it affects all of us, but before we discuss this major issue let me tell you what it is. Food waste is food that is wasted, lost, or uneaten. Did you know 40% of all grown, processed, and transported food in the U.S. will go to waste. Meanwhile there are over 40 million people that face hunger in the U.S. each day, and that's just in the U.S. One must take into account that this is a very serious topic in today's society considering that 15% of the food that gets wasted each year could feed 25 million people, but instead it is thrown away which actually just makes are problems worse because it affects our environment. 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions are produced by agricultural activities. In fact 21% of all freshwater is used in the service of producing food that will only end up in the trash. In other words stop wasting food if you care about our planet!! Now you probably want to know how to reduce food waste. Well you can start at home. 43% of food waste occurs at home. That is to say people aren't finishing or using all their food. Here are 3 simple steps to reducing food waste in your home. 1.) Don't over serve food when cooking. This is a big reason why food is getting wasted at home. Only serve amounts you know you'll finish, then you can get more if your still hungry. 2.) Don't waste food just because you’re full. Save it for later so you can make a whole new creative dish later on. 3.) Shop smart, next time you go to the grocery store, buy items that you know you need, not items you think you need. In other words don't buy food just to fill your fridge up. Doing these 3 simple steps can help us in reducing food waste. And if you don't want to do any of these steps, you can always donate uneaten food or reuse it for compost. We are very fortunate to have access to food we can eat everyday, so it’s important that we don't waste it because there are people who don't have the same access we do. -Daniel Finis Perez, 10th grade Food waste is the food that is left over from our meals that is thrown away. This is seen as a waste of food because it could’ve been saved for another meal. Food waste also has a big impact on the climate. When the food rots in the heat, it releases chemicals into the atmosphere that add on to the amount of chemicals that are causing shifts in the climate. Food waste also causes others to be hungry. We throw away leftover food that could have been given to someone who needed it. - Marvin Lopez, 10th grade Our weekly discussion was on the importance of soil health. Here's what our Berkeley High students had to share: Soil Health, quality soil that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Made up of a combination of minerals such as rocks, water, air, organic matter (plant and animal residue), microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and a variety of insects and worms. This helps the production of healthy crops that in turn help people and animals. Currently our soil is being damaged by high demands of crop production due to a growing population. Our population is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. This means that there will be a higher demand in crop production, which could affect the soils productive capacity and food quality. This could leave us with bad quality food that can impact our health in a negative way. Soil quality is directly linked to food quality, meaning that good quality food can only be produced if our soils are healthy soils. We don't want to end up with bad quality food, so it's important that we make sure are soil is healthy and safe so it can benefit our lives - Daniel Finis Perez, 10th Grade In this community there are many problems such as the ones I’ve talked about but I feel that the one that affects us the most is food deserts. Having to go a long distance for healthy food is something that affects us everyday so I must stress the importance of healthy soil. If everyone had healthy soil in there gardens and farms, then it would help us be more protected from droughts and it would be able to help us during dry seasons because it acts as water storage. There are many ways to improve the health of your soil and this only helps you and your community, some are composting , adding organic material and rotating crops. You may think that plenty of things can harm soil because its looks something that can be harmed easily but we have found out that it is only the following things. The first being how we use the land with the soil like construction and mining. But the most surprising one being farming, the reason this harms soil is because of the harmful nutrients farmers put in the soil to make their crops grow but the nutrients actually harm the micro organisms in the soil and they are necessary for the soil to stay healthy. - Angel Espiritu, 10th grade Soil health is important because it gives the world more healthy and nutritious food. Having healthy soil is a great factor in growing healthy food because it also gives an ecosystem for other plants, animals and humans to survive. The minerals in the soil give the plants nutrients and water to grow and create fruits and vegetables that are healthy to eat. It also gives the roots of a plant something to hold on to so that they can stay grounded and absorb the water in the soil. The soil also gives the plants a water reservoir, giving them a backup water supply to move the nutrients through their stems and leaves. - Marvin Lopez |