Entry #7

Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization

From the ECHO website: ECHO is a non-profit organization whose vision is "to bring glory to God and a blessing to mankind by using science and technology to help the poor."

ECHO works internationally with the poor to be more effective (like in such areas as agriculture). ECHO provides 3 main services to help others excel; Education/Training, Innovative Options, and Networking.

ECHO is currently impacting 180 countries by reducing hunger and improving the quality of lives all across the world.

The process of production, marketing, distribution, and consumption of agricultural products is quite complex. It starts from square one, the preparation of fields all the way to the harvesting part. (Not to mention the marketing, distribution, and consumption part)

"The Story of Stuff" by Anne Leonard, although from a different standpoint, really made me understand all the things that is needed in this "never-ending" process. The exercises we did in class also helped me to understand this. I wasn't really looking at the big picture before.

 Instead of:

 There once was a cow, you milk the cow, and WA-LA, you have milk on your dinner table!

Now I think about the more detailed things:

What are you feeding this cow to keep the cow alive and healthy?

How did you get this cow to your farm?

How are you getting the milk you have prepared to the store?

How are you packaging this milk?

I can now think about everything from the machinery you are using to plow your field and the gas being used to operate machinery and the gas you're using in transportation.

At ECHO I noticed that all the items they used they used we're recycled or biodegradable. For example, they had soda cans, carpets, and buckets all playing a part within it's own ecosystem. They also used well water to distribute water throughout the crops. Rooftop and Urban Gardening was also used. After going inside the hut where I learned that about 10-15 adults/children had to stay, I realized the importance of space these people have!

I believe that this activity at ECHO is very sustainable. I loved how I go tto walk threw all the different cultures/climates and learn how each worked and what people had on their hands to deal with. I think that if this information can be passed throughout the world it could solve a lot of problems with hunger and I think that everywhere has the resources to try these strategies out.

                                                                              From organic.com:

Simply stated, organic produce and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones.

If something is 100% organic it is made with 100% organic ingrediants. If something is considered organic, it's made with 95% organic ingrediants. ORGANIC = Naturally Grown.