Anti GMO!

In the last unit of Food, an integrated math and science course, we studied plant genetics and genetic engineering. For our last action project, we had a debate whether to allow GM seeds in our rural community in Illinois. I am anti GMO because I believe in letting nature be itself. GMOs change nature’s habits, making food not natural or organic.The USDA approves GM seeds but have not included the after effects of GM foods on our bodies. This is scary because we have no idea what GMOs can do to us in the long run. One Field Experience that I went on during this term I visited an organic farm. That experience really opened my eyes and made me more proud of eating healthy. I will definitely shop at farmers markets this summer to support local and organic produce. What I am most proud of is my argument. I think they are really strong and will give people something to think about!

What would you rather have? A tomato that has been injected with fish DNA to last longer, which is a GM tomato or an organic tomato to put in your dinner pasta? Well I would rather have the organic one because it is so much healthier. We eat GMOs every day. It is basically in everything. Wouldn't you want to change that? Wouldn't you want to know where your food comes from, and what's in it right? I am just saying that organic is a better option. I know it can be expensive but it is so much better for your health, and you won’t be eating different organisms at once. You will be eating wholesome vegetable and getting the nutrients that you need. Trying to make food “better” when scientists are just making food worse, by adding so many chemicals and sugar. Food should be left alone with nature. Scientist are doing all theses experiments. They don’t know what could happen in the future, GMOs can cause so many problems. I am pro organic seeds. I chose this position because I think mixing foods together is wrong. Coming up with different ways for food to last longer is so wrong because that is causing people to become sick. I do accept that GMOs are in everyday foods that we eat and provides other foods, but I do think there should be another option. That option is to ban GMOs from the United States. My reasoning for that is scientist are getting out of hand with all of these experiments making food into chemicals.

 My classmates and I went to an organic farm, where we met a farmer, Marc, who practices organic farming. He states, "GMOs are bad, we do not approve putting chemicals in our fields. It is not right to change nature.” Marc does not believe in adding fertilizers, which kills nature’s habits. Nature gives us such beautiful and healthy foods so why change them? Marc eats healthy every day because of his organic farm. His body is clean and he saves a lot of money by not going to the grocery store as often. He is also outdoors a lot working on his garden, getting vitamin D and enjoying nature. Not only is he eating healthy and getting vitamins, he is also building physical, and mental health. Gardening burns so many calories, Marc is getting so many benefits by just having one thing. That is an organic garden.

 Eating healthier, and the highest quality of vegetables keeps your body clean. Organic vegetables have more taste and also more nutrition. It can help with body growth and can help your brain grow as well. It can save lots of money if you plant your own organic garden. It gives families a hand on supply of fresh foods.Being Outdoors, will do more for your mental and physical health. It can give your body vitamin D and can help maintain bone mass. It will also give you more activities to do rather than sitting inside with the air conditioning on or the heat, which can cause headaches and dizziness because of natural gas that controls them. Being outdoors will be better than in a lab testing foods to last longer or taste better. People sit all day trying to change good healthy foods adding chemicals and putting different types of DNA in the foods. 

Getting Exercise, each garden task can burn 200- 400 calories per hour. Over a six month growing season, a gardener can burn 35,000 calories enough to lose 10 pounds. Working the arms, legs, and abs all at once! This can help with a humans mind and making them more active! It will also provide a care for the environment for organic farmers. They start to see what natural can provide healthy and fresher foods, that GMOs cannot and take better care of it. GMOs can make lots of food, to travel from country from country without going bad. This could help developing countries, which malnutrition is a big problem adding vitamins to other foods can help save over 2 million lives, and to prevent becoming permanently blind. With that I think there should be another option, in developing countries should be a organic garden, a local place where different villages can have local and fresher foods, that doesn't have so many chemicals in it. That can save so many lives and make people healthier. People in the villages can also have jobs to support families and different organic groups can help support with seeds and money.

 My brother eats chips, lunchables, candy, foods that a regular seven year old would eat. The down side to that is he is getting hives every time he eats those types of foods. He is allergic to a chemical that is in junk foods. It is sad to see that because now we need to give him foods that cause the hives so we can see what foods he can’t eat. Since he has stopped eating junk food, he is now eating organic and healthy foods. We can see the difference. He has more energy. He is happier. And his skin looks glowy and healthy. This is a big reason why scientists should stop their experiments. To stop this from happening please vote for NO More GMOs in our community!

Beautiful Organic Garden

In the STEM course Food, we are studying plant ecology and looking at the importance of different plant nutrients. I watched a TED talk by Ron Finley where he discussed planting gardens in South Central Los Angeles because it was a food desert. Therefore he started planting gardens on sidewalks, his back yard and so on. That inspired me to come up with a garden so I can start planting. I would love to plant gardens all around Chicago if I had the chance and encourage other teams to do so too. It will totally benefit communities and the city not only beautifying it, but there will be organic food to eat.

My garden is going to be a raised-bed so that way it is easy to move and assemble, and I won’t disturb the ground. My garden’s dimensions are 48 inches in length, 48 inches in width, and 12 inches in height. I choose to size my garden this way so I can plant 10 different vegetables and fruits. On the side of the bed will be a water hose so that way every hour the plants will get watered. The raised-bed will be placed in my backyard because it gets the most sunlight and it will be accessible for my family and neighbors as well. My backyard is a good environment for gardening. There is a lot of animals and life. The soil that I collected had a l0t of life as well. There were bugs in the soil, the dirt was really soft and clay like. It was thick and the color was really dark. My dirt is really moist and I think that is because of the winter we had where it snowed so much and I think the soil still has a lot of moisture left over. In class I learned that plants need 16 nutrients to grow and survive. The 3 most important elements are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. I wanted to be sure that my soil was healthy so I did a soil test, testing the existing soil for those 3 elements and the pH.

Soil testing allows me to find out the makeup of the soil, and helps me determine the type and the amount of fertilizer needed for a good crop. From my soil test, I learned that my soil has a pH of 6.75 an adequate amount of phosphorus, between adequate and sufficient amount of potassium, and a deficient amount of nitrogen. A nitrogen deficiency stunts growth and causes yellow leave. Knowing this, I realized that I needed to buy 1.25 pounds of blood meal, and I needed 2.08 pounds of soft rock phosphate to increase the phosphorous levels.

 I will be planting garlic, squash, corn, soybeans, basil, tomatoes, cucumber, spinach beetroot, and strawberries. When I was choosing the plants that I wanted to grow, I wanted plants that helped each other, a mutual relationship. Garlic benefits cucumbers because it prevents bugs from eating cucumbers. Cucumbers are great to plant with corn and beans. The three plants like the same conditions: warmth, rich soil, and plenty of moisture. Corn is great to be planted with beans and squash. The corn provides a natural trellis for beans and squash to protect them and give them moisture. Basil can be planted with tomatoes to improve flavor and growth. Basil gets rid of flies and mosquitoes. Spinach gets along with strawberries because they give each other nutrients. Beets are good for adding minerals to the soil, and strawberries are also good to be planted with beans. I am adding soybeans because it is a nitrogen-fixer and it improves the conditions of the crop such as amino acids and protein. All of these plants have a soil preference pH between 5.5 and 7. This is how my garden will look like.

Created by JV "Beautiful Organic Garden" 2014*

In conclusion I think my garden will be a great success. The garden will be full of delicious organic and healthy vegetables. I learned so much from this one unit about soil and plants. I always thought that dirt did not matter and planting was so easy. However, they are both hard to take care of and very important to the Earth. I think if everybody learned more about dirt they will see the big picture and realize it will help our Earth.