Author Archives: tcancel

Lobbying for Climate and the Unknown about Industries

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In this class, I had the chance to examine the world food system from closer perspective. Indeed, the system thinking that we have been discussing all along the quarter perfectly applies to the industrial system.  Industries and companies are quintessentially looking for a maximum profit by using additives, pesticides, and fertilizer to increase the yield and minimize losses. Without looking at the consequences, for instance, food additives that are always used by industrials company are harmful for our body, causing obesity and other diseases, and also have an impact on the biosphere such as monocrops cultures, declining wild fish stocks, GMS crops, biofuels uses, etc.

However, the real wrongdoers in this situation are all people, especially politician, who know what is happening but do not lift a finger to change our mode of production, and therefore consumption. In fact, it is the role of our politician to establish regulation and make sure that companies who are not respecting norms and rules will be punished.

In these ideas some of my classmates and I decided to join a group of lobbyists who support the Energy Innovation Act. This Act should reduce America’s emissions by at least 40% in the first 12 years, and create 2.1 million new jobs, thanks to economic growth in local communities across America. Such results could be attained by taxing all companies who are producing greenhouse gas and giving benefice to U.S consumers. Therefore, consumers are not the one paying for a better carbon footprint. Nonetheless, this regulation has exemptions for fuels used for agriculture, the U.S army, and others. Otherwise, it could have the impact of a bomb in all the mass food industries such as in production of pesticides and fertilizers who are required to keep high yield. This policy will force industries to adapt their greenhouse emission effectively in order to keep making money as they meant to do, but with a better respect for our planet.

Until now politics are protecting industrials processed food because it brings a low food price to the population (U.S spend under 10% of their income on food). Therefore, industries in generals have very few regulations to leave the room for them to produce mass cheap food such as the industries who are not constrained, therefore polluting the environment further. Indeed, if a majority of us are showing support and interest to new type of regulation such as the Energy and Innovation act, we will force industrial companies to adapt their mode of production. Let’s not be naïve and wait for industrial companies to deliver us real food and be sustainable!

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/energy-innovation-and-carbon-dividend-act/

https://beef2live.com/story-americans-spend-under-10-income-food-0-124534

Picture 1: https://www.carbonpricingleadership.org/blogs/2019/2/3/bipartisan-carbon-fee-and-dividend-bill-now-before-us-congress

Picture 2: http://www.ecobase21.net/Lesmotsduclimatsmartphone/Companies.html

Do contemplative practice is worth your time?

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It is the first time that I experience a contemplative practice during class. I was already familiar with similar practices, mostly used to learn how to manage stress during high sportive events.  Indeed, I was curious to try it in a new environment far from the goal of reducing stress on a tennis court.

My goal in such practice, which can be different for everyone, was to gain more productivity on the long run. For instance, our time class is 1 hour and 20 minutes long. I notice that 50% of the times, I watch the clock for the first time exactly 37 minutes after the class has begun. This time, which can vary to a few minutes, correspond to the time that I begin to lose my focus. Then, 10 minutes later, after fighting to stay active in my listening. I simply start to have an idea which brings to another one and so on. Suddenly, I get back to the present moment. But, 5 minutes are gone, I have no idea or memories or what just been said, and I am quite tired. However, when a contemplative practice happens before this period of inattention, I refresh my mind and start how I begun, which means, ready to learn.

Comment être libre de ses pensées ? | Sacré Bonheur

To conclude, I see the contemplative practice as a great cut in our class or in any intellectual activity that requires intellectual implication to get a refresh mind, and being ready to learn. However, it depends on people, not everyone like it at the same moment. Also, if we start with a skeptical mind or preconception, it can be hard to find it interesting or relevant (I was personally in this case). Hence, it is important to choose the right moment and be willing to do it for yourself rather than do it as a work.  In a sense it works like hypnotism, you need to let you guide to be able to successfully doing it.

Le Penseur | Musée Rodin

Obesity in U.S and COVID-19

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Across the ocean, France’s chief epidemiologist said that the “US will ‘probably have the most problems’ with coronavirus, partly due to obesity”. Is obesity in the U.S as bad as he says? In fact yes! The U.S is one of the 12 most obese countries in the world with 36.2% in the adult population in 2016 from the CIA when South Korea and Japan, the healthiest countries with a similar economy to the US, are around 4%.

Why do people in the U.S record a much higher number in terms of obesity or being overweight than other wealthy countries around the world? And, how has the food system had an impact on our health?

The U.S was the first to have a vision of food as a pack of nutrients containing molecules arranged in four big families: proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals. Between 1930 and 1950 the U.S military started to enrich rations with vitamins and nutrients. In fact, as all military innovation, it did not take long to find the same processed food in our supermarket. Also, the U.S had the strongest industrial system of the world, and entrepreneurs saw a new niche market in industrially processed food by using theories of nutritionism to market food as healthier than unprocessed food. However, many issues have arisen with this new industry’s food system such as a range of chronic diseases, cancers, hormonal imbalance, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and many other diseases associated with obesity.

This new model of consumption had and still has a terrible impact on the population, especially on the poorest where most of the time industrialized food is the only things that they can afford. The above graph is perfectly highlighting the correlation between the rise of obesity and the expansion of processed food in the 70s and 80s in the U.S, as well as the differences with countries who do not share this way of food consumption.

Henceforth, the pandemic of COVID-19, which mostly affects persons with a weak immune system, is showing us again how our lack of knowledge in nutritionism combines with the U.S political-economy of industrialized processed food is causing dramatic consequences on our metabolism.