Farmers grow food in a variety of ways. Local food production can be done through traditional farms, urban farms, even greenhouse farms. For a beef steak to make it to a person's plate, it must come from a cow. This cow is either fed corn or allowed to graze and eat grass. Then the cow is slaughtered and its body is portioned out and turned into various cuts of meat. The same goes for butter, milk, and cheese. These three items come from the female cow's utters as she lactates and is milked. The milk is pasteurized and sold as milk and the other portion of milk is turned to butter and cheese. Potatoes, strawberries, grapes, and peanuts can be grown in a traditional farm or greenhouse. The potatoes can be turned into potato chips through processing, the grapes into grape juice and then grape jam, and the peanuts into peanut butter. The white bread can be grown locally with wheat cultivated in local farm or greenhouses and eggs can come from locally raised chickens. While coffee is mostly imported from other countries because it is not grown in the United States, with the exception of coffee grown in Hawaii, people are experimenting with growing coffee plants alongside avocado trees. One article explains the success one farmer has with growing coffee next to avocado trees.

Ruskey stuck with coffee, working with Gaskell on different ways to grow it, until they had a eureka moment: Plant the shrubs right next to the avocado trees on the farm, so the coffee benefits from the trees' shade and uses the same irrigation and other inputs. Not only is Ruskey growing the only commercial coffee crop in the country, but he's doing it without using any additional land, water, or fertilizer (Naggapan, 2015).

Growing local does not have to take extra money or extra effort. Ruskey demonstrated all it takes is a little ingenuity and using what is already there.

Going back to the vegetables and fruits, greenhouse farms sometimes use a method of growing plants that involves a mist or air environment with no need for soil or an aggregate medium. Aeroponics provides growers with the ability to cultivate plants without needing much space. It can also be considered hydroponics due to the method of transmitting nutrients (Long, 2012). This is a great way to grow produce without having to be outside and the climate and humidity can also be regulated. Regulating these two things helps growers produce a variety of produce from lettuces, to strawberries, and potatoes.

Aeroponics makes it possible for people to grow their own produce in the city and even in small homes depending on their budget for certain tools. Traditional farming, especially the cultivation of livestock creates a massive carbon foot print. This is because the feces produced by cows for example, creates a large quantity of methane. This methane contributes to the greenhouse gas that has become problematic in recent times.

Traditional farms also hire migrant workers to pick strawberries and other produce. Often times these workers are underpaid. Furthermore, they are made to work long hours in hot and uncomfortable conditions. They have no job benefits or insurance.

Coffee is almost exclusively exported from other countries like Indonesia and Brazil. There is often a long process that involves getting coffee from its origin country into the United States. "Coffee shipments into the U.S. involve three government agencies. U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Country of Origin certificate is required by the ICO (International Coffee Organization)" (Petersen, 2013). After all the paperwork is handled, a Merchandise Processing Fee is administered with a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $485. They also charge a Harbor Maintenance Fee of .125%. Going through all of that, it is no wonder Americans are attempting to learn to grow coffee in the country.

While all these fees are applied, the labor costs of growing things in other countries can be much cheaper, which brings in another point, cost. Imported foods are sometimes cheaper than local foods, depending on the food item. Sometimes local is the same price. However, local sometimes is more expensive. It is more expensive for a number of reasons. For example, people working in these farms are paid state minimum wage or receive room and board for their labor. Many of these local produce come from small farms that are not run by corporations. They do not make as much profit as the large corporations and thus must charge a certain amount to keep their business going.

Ecologically speaking, buying local foods helps the environment. By buying foods that have not been transported more than 100...

Fresh foods are also less processed and do not have to be frozen, taking away additional energy use (Clark, 2016). They also retain more nutrients because of the amount of time spent taking them from the farm to the table. They are at a much higher advantage than imported goods.
When thinking about the phrase: 'Think Globally, Act Locally', it is important to understand the effect buying locally has on the world. With fewer gas emissions from fewer livestock through buying more produce than meat, and using less transportation for foods, there is less pollution for the world to endure. Reducing one's carbon footprint helps everyone in the long run. If I had to choose the ingredients in the meal list, I would skip the beef steak, replace it with some beans, and buy some local butter and milk, and eggs. I don't need coffee. Drinking milk or water is better anyway as caffeine in excess is unhealthy. I would forgo the potato chips because it involves additional processing and just make potato chips from potatoes and make some strawberry jam from the strawberries.

Unit 6

The event was a Donald Trump political rally that was viewed on video. The reason that particular political rally was selected was due to the exclusion of an all-black student group from the rally that sparked public outrage and media attention. Donald Trump is a highly problematic and dividing figure that some suggest supports racist mentalities. To see a group of black students be excluded from the rally for no obvious reason other than their skin color shows the kind of people that support Trump may indeed support a racist mindset.

The study of civil liberties or civil rights is that of trying to find equality in a world that is not equal. The United States has long held a history sullied with intolerance, bigotry, and prejudice (Hampton, Fayer, & Flynn, 1990). The Civil Rights Movement was able to succeed in its objectives almost fifty years ago. Though much progress has been made in that time, the country still exhibits racially prejudice undertones with supporters of Donald Trump and Donald Trump himself, voicing unpopular views on Muslims, immigrants, and minority populations within the United States.

The political rally was held in Valdosta, Ga, with various accounts of who made the controversial decision to eject an estimated thirty black students from the rally (Jacobs, 2016). The black students were not engaging in violent or offensive behavior, but were merely standing quietly on top the bleachers at the rally. While sources say the Trump had nothing to do with the decision, the lack of provocation from the black students shows the mentality behind making such a decision and points to a possible racial prejudice.

The university that hosted the political rally was once an all-white university until 1963. The students were asked to leave because Trump staff had directed security to remove them. Trump had paid for the politically rally to take place there. Therefore, according to Trump staff, they had a right to remove people they did not want there. When Trump received support from a white supremacist, the actions that took place in the rally further solidified the notion that Trump represents racism in this country. Especially since the white protestors that sat or stood silently in protest were not removed with the exception of one white student.

What was confusing was the supposed 'restraint' police had that day. They were saying the black students were kicked out for saying the f-word, but the video shows them standing quietly. They only spoke after they were kicked out. To say 'not one arrest' was made, made no sense because no one did anything that warranted arrest. It seems there was no restraint exercised, merely not enough evidence to charge someone.

In conclusion, while Americans seem to be at odds with one another, it is very clear through witnessing the behavior of people in these kinds of political rallies why they chose their political candidates. The United States is falling back on something that has long persisted since colonial times, an ongoing racial prejudice that inspires hatred and fear.

References

Clark, A. (2016). Food Facts. Eat Green: Our everyday food choices affect global warming and the environment. Retrieved 1 June…