Housing Discrimination in Chicago: A History of Injustice

This is my action project for my workshop, "Writing Workshop". In this class, we looked at many different examples of writing and reviewed some basic and advanced writing skills. We took the time to either write a research paper about a topic we were interested in, write a personal narrative about ourselves, or write a summary response essay. This workshop challenged me by introducing me to more styles of writing. I chose to do a research paper because I wanted to challenge myself for this last project of my Freshman year. I have spent a lot of time researching housing discrimination. I even reached out to the director of Human Rights Compliance/Fair Housing at the Chicago Commission On Human Relations. I hope you enjoy my research paper.

GMOs vs Organic Seeds (Debate)

In the last unit of GMOs in my Freshman STEAM course, Food, we learned about genetic modification and gene editing. We studied math related to genetics such as Punnett squares and probability. We went on Field Experience to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. There we got the opportunity to meet and speak with farmers from all over the Midwest about their opinions on the argument on GMOs and organic crops. For this final action project, we were instructed to choose a side in the argument on GMOs. I was able to gather information from the farmers at the Green City Market to use as resources in my debate below. I enjoyed arguing this topic because the topic is an issue which can have a global impact. I hope you enjoy!

Beef Fried Rice

In the third and final unit of Birth in my Humanities course, Food for Thought, we studied how advancements in technology and research such as the Industrial Revolution and technology has affected our food today. We watched a movie called, "Food Inc", which showed us how major food industries and corporations such as Tyson and Monsanto control the animals and food we eat. The movie exposed me to the disgusting realities of the food industry in our country today. In this unit, we also read excerpts from Michael Pollan’s book called, "In Defense of Food"; which explained how the Industrial Revolution has affected our food and the way we eat today. We learned about the difference between organic and industrial food, different ways of farming to substitute for industrial farming, and the six ayurvedic tastes which relate to nutrition. We went on Field Experiences to Whole Foods where we analyzed different food and nutrition labels and to Uncommon Grounds where we met Brandon who talked to us about their rooftop farm and how their restaurant operates. For this last Action Project, we were instructed to write a food review on a meal that was restaurant cooked and homemade. We had to describe each dish using our senses and recommend which one we like more. I decided to write my reviews on beef fried rice because it is one of my favorite dishes from Asian cuisine. I really enjoyed this project because I went out to eat my favorite meal and then recreated it myself at home.

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Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits

In the second unit of "Cooking and Chemistry" in my freshman STEAM course class Food, we have been learning about the math and science behind baking foods. We also have been studying how discovering fire and cooking impacted the evolution of humans. We went on Field Experiences to Pacific Gardens Mission where we met Chef Erica Web who is head chef and an expert in baking. She taught us about the different types of bread, yeast, and leavening agents and how they work. In class, we have been baking things like sourdough and cornbread to get the feel for baking. For this AP, my class was instructed to choose a recipe for biscuits and choose an ingredient to substitute. I enjoyed making biscuits from scratch a lot. I now have more experience in baking and cooking.

Global Hunger and Malnutrition

In the second unit of "Death" in Food for Thought, we learned about global trade and "fair trade" history and colonialism. We learned about how agriculture influenced greed in people, how foods from different countries got imported to where they are today, and how resources impacted the behavior in people. For our Field Experience, we went to S.K.Y restaurant in Pilsen where we met a sommelier named Charles Ford. He talked to us about his job as a sommelier and the history behind his restaurant. For this action project, we were asked to look back on the past, literally. We looked back at our first Humanities course, SDGs & You. We focused on SDG 2 and decided on a specific target of the SDG. I wanted to focus on a target that is a symptom of hunger so, I chose malnutrition. This target on malnutrition was challenging when it came to the history of malnutrition. The most difficult part of this project was filming the video. Overall I think that I completed a great project.

Food For Thought -AP2 NL from NL on Vimeo.

“1 out of 2 children in Guatemala suffer from malnutrition. People from Central American countries such as Guatemala are coming to the United States’ and Mexico’s border seeking asylum because of issues like malnutrition plagues. Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 16 goals that we should achieve by the year 2030. These goals were created by the United Nations. I will be addressing target 2.2 of the goal Zero Hunger. This target is a global priority because due to malnutrition, people and children in third world countries are on the edge of dying. Malnutrition in pregnant women and children 2 years old or younger can affect a child for the rest of their lives and the conditions can’t be fixed as they get older. Some of the conditions are stunting in growth, being underweight for one’s age, and wasting; being dangerously thin for one’s height. A solution to achieving this target is food fortification in staple foods and condiments. The purpose of this paper is to advocate for the issue of malnutrition and bring awareness to this issue.

I chose Target 2.2, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons. According to UNICEF, “Malnutrition develops when the body does not get the proper amount of calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients required to keep the organs and tissues healthy and functioning well. A child or adult can be malnourished by being undernourished or overnourished.” Undernourishment is when someone can’t acquire enough food to meet dietary energy requirements. Overnourishment is when someone gets too much food that exceeds their dietary energy requirements. “More than one-third of all child deaths every year around the world are attributed to malnutrition.” The United Nations has identified hunger as a global priority because global hunger and malnutrition affects the lives of millions all over the world, but mostly “underdeveloped” countries. According to Global Goals, “Hunger is the leading cause of death in the world. Our planet has provided us with tremendous resources, but unequal access and inefficient handling leaves millions of people malnourished.”

Malnutrition isn’t just a recent issue but has major issue been for many years. Malnutrition dates far as back to the existence of the ancient Egyptians. A civilization that faced malnutrition like we do today were the ancient Mayans. They were argued to fell as an empire and civilization due to drought, warfare, disease, or even political instability. Today we think that all these things played a role and were only symptoms in the fall of the Mayans. According to NASA Science, researchers used classic archaeology techniques to find that human bones from the last decades before the Mayan civilization’s collapse shows signs of severe malnutrition. The root cause was a chronic food and water shortage, due to some combination of natural drought and deforestation by humans." Their agriculture was based on slash and burn and clear-cutting methods which resulted in deforestation for fertile land to grow crops. According to Empires of Food, “A sustainable food empire can only exist if most of its farms are smallish, diverse, and serving customers not too far away.” We can learn that unsustainable methods of agriculture lead to negative impacts on land over time.

Malnutrition and hunger have both resulted in the death of millions and billions of people in our world throughout history. The Mayan civilization’s population grew in masses which led to a demand for more food. They addressed this problem by replacing their neighboring jungles with maize fields by using deforestation methods in order to get more land for agriculture. The result of these deforestation methods was that they trapped themselves into a broken hydrological cycle which caused their fields to dry up and crops to die. They also suffered from relying on and growing crops such as maize, beans, and squash together. Something we can learn from this history is that malnutrition can be prevented with sustainable practices of agriculture and food productivity.

If these global issues of malnutrition and hunger continue in the future masses of people and children around the world will continue to suffer and die. To achieve this target of ending all forms of malnutrition, some contributions would be food fortification in staple foods such as bread and potatoes, food security in poverty-stricken areas, and an increase in the prices of unhealthy foods since they are cheaper to buy compared to healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. Large scale food fortification is the process of adding micronutrients to foods or condiments consumed regularly by the population. If we did this in “developing” countries, more people will have access to the food and nutrients they need. Poverty in areas also affect the diets of people within a poverty-stricken area. According to Global Citizen, “donors should increase long-term funding for the prevention and community-based management of acute malnutrition. This will stray away from the current short term, emergency only funding approaches.” Long term donations would help bring this issue of malnutrition to an end by giving aid to areas where there is a lack of food and resources. Malnutrition can be eradicated overtime with these solutions.

These global issues of malnutrition and hunger might not affect me but they affect people living on this planet just like you and me. My main argument is that we need to think about all the people on this planet and not only people around us where we live. Ending all forms of malnutrition should also be prioritized just as much as the issue of hunger because it affects children in their early lives. My recommendations will help achieve this goal of Zero Hunger and target of ending all forms of malnutrition by helping areas with food insecurity get the food and nutrients they need. How will you help contribute to eradicating this global issue of hunger?

Works Cited

“Feeding a Family, Nourishing a Community - United Nations Development Programme | UNDP.” Exposure, 2017, stories.undp.org/feeding-a-family-nourishing-a-community. Accessed 3 May 2019.

“Goal 2: Zero Hunger.” The Global Goals, 16 Sept. 2016, www.globalgoals.org/2-zero-hunger. Accessed 6 May 2019.

‌Nations, United. “Goal 2: End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture — SDG Indicators.” Un.Org, 2018, unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/goal-02/. Accessed 6 May 2019.

Roser, Max, and Hannah Ritchie. “Hunger and Undernourishment.” Our World in Data, 2018, ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment#definitions-of-measures-of-hunger-and-undernourishment. Accessed 7 May 2019.

“The Rise and Fall of the Mayan Empire | Science Mission Directorate.” Nasa.Gov, 2019, science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/15nov_maya. Accessed 7 May 2019.

“Underlying Causes of Malnutrition - Action Against Hunger.” Action Against Hunger, 2017, actionagainsthunger.ca/what-is-acute-malnutrition/underlying-causes-of-malnutrition/. Accessed 8 May 2019.

UNICEF/NYHQ2006-0081/Noorani. Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Child Development and Early Learning Breastfeeding Nutrition and Growth Immunization With Advice on: Diarrhoea Malaria HIV Child Protection and More Facts for Life Fourth Edition. 2010.

“10 Ways to End Malnutrition.” Global Citizen, 2019, www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-ways-to-end-malnutrition/. Accessed 6 May 2019

My Garden Plan

In the first unit of my freshman STEAM course class Food, we have been learning about ecosystems, interactions/symbiosis within ecosystems, the nitrogen cycle, the symbiosis between plants, nutrients plants need, and philosophy about agriculture. We have been studying the ecology of planting, different farming methods and how these methods affect the food we eat. We went on Field Experiences to Patchwork Farms where we learned about how they managed their farm and to Big Delicious Planet where we learned about how their catering company as a business takes actions towards being as green, clean, and sustainable as possible. For this AP, my class was instructed to design a garden, find a location, find ways to make the soil compatible, find materials or containers that we could grow plants in, and pick 10 vegetables to grow. I enjoyed everything that has led up to this action project. Here is a slideshow of all the vegetables I plan to plant in my garden and a sketch of my garden.

 

 Below are the containers I will grow my vegetables in.

4 Plastic Bins (10 plants per pin) Volume = 91356.85 cm.³

( L x W x H): 26.5 x 16.5 x 12.75 in.).

5 five-gallon buckets (5 plants per bucket) Volume = 29233.52 cm.

(11.91 Top "x 10.33" Bottom x 14.5 in." H)

5 plastic rectangular containers (3 plants per half bottle) Volume= 1577.25 cm.³

(L x W x H): 8 3/4" x 5.5" x 2 in.")

Below are my calculations for what product or supplement and quantities per 100 square feet. I need for each outdoor space.

Original Soil Quality:

Nitrogen in soil: 15 out of 40 (low amount of nitrogen)

Phosphorus in soil: 23 out of 30 (high amount of phosphorus)

Potassium in soil: 61 out of 300 (very low amount of potassium)

These are the products and need to add in order to amend the soil.

(F101 Blood Meal)     F2100 Soft Rock Phosphate           F2260 Sulfate of Potash

5 lbs per 100 ft²                   2 lbs per 100ft²                              0.5 lbs per 100ft²

5.5 lbs per 150 ft²               2.5 lbs per 150ft²                            0.85 lbs per 150ft²

10 lbs per 200 ft²                   4 lbs per 200ft²                            1 lbs per 200ft²

Ron Finley is a guerrilla gardener ad he is making a difference and impact in his community of South Central, Los Angeles. He started free and voluntary community gardening and plans to make this practice into future business and project. In a TED Talk by Ron Finley, he said, “Food is the problem and food is the solution.” To me, this means unhealthy food and food practices are the problems and healthy food and food practices are the solutions to that problem. For my garden, I planned to have it in my complex yard and in a yard at a local community college. I chose both of these locations because they are local and accessible places for a garden in my neighborhood. The dimensions of my complex yard are 10ft. long by 15ft. wide and the dimensions of the community college yard are 10ft. long by 20ft. wide. In all, the area of my complex yard is 150 square feet and the area of the community college yard is 200 square feet. I will plant cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, corn, peppers, cabbage, beans, and lettuce in my garden. I chose cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. I will plant these vegetables because these are some of my favorite vegetables and they also are compatible companion plants to some plants out of the ten I chose. Beans, cucumbers, and cabbage are companion plants to each other and onions, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce are also companion plants to each other. Carrots take the nitrogen from the soil and allow the tomatoes to take in the amount of nitrogen needed in order to grow. My garden will represent the symbiotic relationships of mutualism and commensalism because my garden will be public to my surrounding community and I will have a garden where organisms will have interactions of mutualism and commensalism. For example, if a cottontail rabbit happens to eat a carrot from the garden and then produce organic waste, my garden will benefit from the organic waste and the rabbit will also benefit. I will use the principles of natural farming no chemical fertilizer, no weeding by tillage or herbicides because I feel and learned that any synthetic chemicals and addends to plants and crops will hurt the soil and land over time.

In conclusion to this project, I learned about the history of agriculture and ecosystems, different methods within maintaining and sustaining agriculture, and the reasoning and importance behind the different ways and methods of agriculture. I also learned about why it is important to have healthy fertile soil compared to dirt for plants, why the symbiosis between plants matter, and why food needs to be sustainable for all people. If I could do this project again, I would plan a garden for a space about 500 square feet just so I can add components and factors to it.

I am Paprika!

Hello, my name is N.L. In my Freshman Humanities course class Food for Thought, we are currently at the end of the first unit of "Life". During this unit, we have been learning about the history behind food. We went on a Field Experience where we walked around the Goose Island neighborhood of Chicago with a forager named Dave who is the CEO of Odd Produce. He taught us about many plants all around this urbanized society that we can eat. Just as our ancestors used to do as foragers. We also had a Field Experience The purpose of this project is to pick one ingredient from food or ingredient passed down through my family. In the process of this project, I learned that my family really values cooking. During the process of this project, I learned that paprika, which is very popular today, has been around for many centuries. I hope you enjoy!

N.L - Family Tree, 4/22/19