The topic presented to us on Monday was not something I’m unfamiliar with; with climate change affecting us more and more on a daily basis I think it’s time things change. I’m in a nature and society class this semester and we spend a majority of our class discussing whether or not we can make a universal change in the way we are treating our planet. We have been using more and more of our natural resources as our society has modernized that we have almost forgotten the unavoidable truth; these resources will soon run out and our planet will no longer be able to provide what we need to live on it. It is our responsibility as inhabitants of this planet to take care of it and we are not doing that great of a job. I believe that is up to us to fix this mess and I seriously hoping that we are capable of making these changes. Climate change isn’t the only thing that’s being approached wrong; but it’s the most important. Without this planet we would cease to existence. It almost seems that we are coming to a point where our existence will be put into question; and this is terrifying. I know we are capable of doing what is needed to be done; it’s just a matter of when.

 

I’ve included I video I often watch when I feel my faith in humanity declining. It gives me hope that there are many others out there young and old who see the issue and are fighting for a change.

                                                                                                                 

Starving in a First World Country

I went to the showing of A Place at the Table that took place at the Alamo draft house in downtown Kalamazoo. I had never been there prior to the event and it was a pretty cool experience for a movie theatre. I had watched the trailer for this movie before I went but that did not prepare me at all for the emotions I was going to be feeling for the duration of that film. The movie made me cry and yell in disbelief. It was basically all about hunger issues in the United States and how hard it is for families who need help to actually get it. It had interviews with several struggling families across the United States, and each ones story honestly broke my heart. The movie made me feel like such a shitty person for ever complaining about what my mom made me for dinner. As I watched mothers pouring ravioli in a pot with tears streaming down their face over the agony of not being able to provide anything else for their children. A lot of these families are denied assistance due to their income being over the limit, when you look at the incomes of the families being denied though, you see that the space between them and the limit is not that big. With natural food costs going up and processed food going down, more and more of these families are also being forced to buy the processed ‘junk’ food to feed their families simply because they cannot afford the wholesome food they deserve. This is an issue of national outrage. We have thousands starving on a daily basis when they could be helped more simply than we think. The United States almost completely eliminated hunger within our borders and here’s the shocker; it didn’t cost us that much money! The problem? Other parts of our government needed more funding, so the first programs to get cut were the food programs, leaving those who were struggling to survive on an even harder path than they were. This movie made really made me understand where our government officials main priorities are when it comes to their people; and I sure hope that I am lucky enough to continue to provide for myself as there will most likely be no food programs available for me if I do need the aide.

Food Satire

I thought the video game presentation was pretty interesting, I never really thought food had any kind of influence on games.  The grand theft auto commercials were the ones I found to be most memorable. The more commercials we watched, the less humorous they became. I’m sure I’m not the only one who saw the bitter truth behind the ruthless satire presented in the commercials.  I tried to find other examples like the ones we saw but I found it to be kind of difficult unless you knew exactly what you were searching for. The connection between media and video games is obvious enough and I think they both correspond together very strongly.  We are probably exposed to about 100 different kinds of food advertisements on a daily basis; each restaurant/brand trying using the same antic seen in GTA to attract as many consumers as they can so they can make a profit. The great thing about Satire is it can be used both ways. I recently saw this satire video portraying a donkey and elephant having a food fight. This was put together back in April of 2012 by the international relief and development association Oxfam; in hopes of convincing congress to reform the food aid in the country as the farm bill was expiring later that year. Although it wasn’t an exampled I found from a video game, I think that food influences are around us every day, no matter what media outlet we choose to use. I thought the message behind the commercial was very significant and I’ve attached it below so you guys can check it out too!

end of Nectar in a Sieve

The book Nectar in a Sieve really helps show you what real poverty is like and the emotional and physical damages it can have on a family. When we last left them, they had only two days of rice left and they all seemed to be on edge the next few nights; Ruku more than the others. One night, she awakens to the sounds of someone approaching their home, thinking of Kunthi, she runs outside and attacks without seeing whom it is she was attacking. Turns out it’s her daughter and her injuries are pretty bad.  Her parents soon learn that she is a prostitute and has been using her earnings to help feed her baby brother, who is less than five years old and badly malnourished at this point. Although it is hard for Ruku and Nathan to accept what Ira is doing, they accept that she is a grown woman making her own decisions and know they cannot hold her back. They realize they have no other option. Their son soon dies despite Ira’s efforts and it is a really heartbreaking part of the book because you can really feel the desperation the family is experiencing. Spring arrives and with it hope of a brighter future. Things became good again for a while, Ruku’s son got a job working with Kenny, they were making decent money from their produce and their family seemed to be happy for the time being. This doesn’t last too long as they soon come to learn that the tannery has purchased their land and they have two weeks to vacate the premises. With nowhere to go the family decides to split up, Selvan and Ira and her son remain in the village and Ruku and her husband set to go stay with their son who lives in a city ten villages away. They journey to the city is okay but they have a hard time finding their son and find out from his wife, that he has been gone for the past two years and no one has seen him. With nowhere to go, they seek shelter at the temple. For a while all hope seems lost as they have lost their possessions and money during the travel and cannot afford to go back home. With the help of a beggar boy, Puli, Nathan and Ruku find work breaking stones and do that for a while earning almost one rupee every day and saving most of it for their tickets home. Eventually, due to rheumatism and other sicknesses’, Nathan dies. By this point Ruku has enough rupees for a ticket home for both her and Puli who she has decided to permanently adopt and bring along. They return back to Ruku’s village and are met by her son and daughter with open arms. Selvan assures her they will manage with her and Puli and all is assumed to be well from then on forward.

            This book honestly made me cry on a few occasions and it inspired me to do some research on how to help.  If you go on freerice.com, you can play a simple vocabulary game, which donates 10 grains of rice for every right answer to starving people around the world. It’s an easy and free way to help donate.  Other sites such as, hungersite.greatergood.com, you can donate food to the hungry by simply clicking a button. These are just a couple of the various sites available and I hope more sites like this continue to be created.

Nectar in a Sieve pt. 2

The families small village is going through a small industrial movement at this point in the book. A tannery has opened nearby and many of the villagers have gone to work there. Many of the local shops had to close down due to the newer shops being opened.  It has been 2 years since the marriage of Ira and Ruku is surprised to look up one day and see her daughter and son in law walking towards the home. She becomes excited then notices they do not walk with a happy aura.  Ira’s husband has come to return her because she is a ‘barren’ woman. She cannot bear children for him and is therefore deemed useless. Ruku is devastated as is her daughter. Yet Ruku tries to be optimistic in the hopes that she will be remarried. Her two oldest sons soon begin working in order to help support the family. To Ruku’s dismay they begin work at the Tannery. The festival of lights, Deepavali, comes and the family decides to attend.  We see them having fun and it is a nice moment to read about in the book because although the family is struggling in different aspects; at the moment they are very happy. Ruku goes to Kenny in attempts to help Ira. She asks him to do the same for Ira as he had once done for Ruku. He tells her he will do what he can but also makes no promises.  When her sons weren’t working, they were helping their father tend the field, and Ira would be helping her mother with the daily chores. Each member in their family had to contribute in some way in order for them all to survive.  They are soon facing a drought, and are left with no water to crop and no means of survival. Without crop they cannot pay the dues for their land, so they turn instead to their belongings. They decide to sell their clothes. Two mens shirts and two saris, one of which was used for Ira and ruku’s wedding; they also sold the pots and pans, some food and bullocks. Altogether they managed to make 125 rupees but this is nowhere near enough. They plead and beg with their landlord and he finally agrees to give them more time. Rain finally falls to the ground too and restores life into the earth around  Again their lives continue and they continue to starve and barely make ends meet. Their son Raja gets killed attempting to steal calfskin from the tannery he worked at. This is a significant loss for the family and it takes a toll on them. I am worried about what is to come next and hope that things start getting better for once.

them, yet ruku and nathan’s spirits seem to be down from their recent misfortunes and they do not feel the happiness they should have felt when it finally rained. This feeling does not leave as Ruku discovers her husband had slept with another woman, and she had come and taken all their rice in exchange for not telling Ruku the truth. This sets the family back a lot as they have now lost the very last of their remaining food.