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review and analysis of of the benefits, purposes and motivations associated with community gardens in the united states

ByEcosystems United

“The varied purposes and benefits of community gardening make it an ideal interventional strategy for community-based practitioners because myriad goals may be addressed through this approach.” Community gardening emerged in the United States in the 1890s as, “a means to address urban congestion caused by immigration, economic instability and environmental degradation”. Immigrants, children and the…

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bringing good food to others: investigating the subjects of alternative food practices

ByEcosystems United

“Watsonville is a largely Latino community, where many farm workers live – and several students […] have gone there with the intention of teaching Latino youth how to grow food, apparently with nary a trace of irony shown.” Julie Guthman, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the Department of Community…

how the scientific community garnered its power in the medical community
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how the scientific community garnered its power in the medical community

ByEcosystems United

“If the sick are to reap the full benefit of recent progress in medicine, a more uniformly arduous and expensive medical education is demanded.” – Abraham Flexner – Before the standardization of medicine in the United States, medical training was extremely varied and often inadequate. There were three ways that doctors were trained-apprenticeships, through a…

a description of moose and cost-benefit analysis of moose conservation

ByEcosystems United

Moose/Eurasian elk [Alces alces] are the largest of all the deer species. They can be found in the temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, North America and Asia in boreal and mixed deciduous forests. The males of the species are well-known for their massive antlers that can spread 1.8 meters from end to end. The…

book summary and analysis: the cry of the kalahari by mark and delia owens

ByEcosystems United

The Cry of the Kalahari is a firsthand account of Mark and Delia Owens’ quest into the unknown wilderness of Botswana’s Deception Valley. They began their life-changing adventure in 1974 and studied the unique desert landscape where they remained until 1980 when they returned to civilization to put their findings to good use. While living…

a description of gray wolves and a cost-benefit analysis of their conservation

ByEcosystems United

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is a keystone predator with a wide range of habitats that include temperate forests, mountains, tundra, taiga and grasslands (5). As keystone predators, they play a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions by helping to control the distribution and population of large numbers of prey species…

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book review: everything i want to do is illegal by joel salatin

ByEcosystems United

Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal is a satirical, yet very serious first-hand account of how government regulations affect small-scale farmers. The author, Joel Salatin, full-time ecological farmer, part-time public speaker and educational leader, details various encounters he and those like him have had with the food police, politicians, industrial farmers, customers, regulating agencies,…

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a history of the development of the food pyramid and dietary guidelines in the United States

ByEcosystems United

Throughout the 20th century, the food mantra of the United States changed from ‘eat more’  to ‘eat less’. The ‘eat more’ mentality (1890s-1960s) was in response to widespread disease caused by nutritional deficiencies and the eat less (1960s- present) is in response to the dramatic increase in chronic disease brought about by unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles….

environmental education

environmental education

ByEcosystems United

Good Environmental Education Environmental Mis-Education Interdisciplinary in nature which allows for a variety of perspectives to be presented which provides those being educated with a well-rounded knowledge base Based on emotion or opinion – facts are needed to support the information being presented. Based on facts because presenting information that is based on opinion is…

horticulture

horticulture

ByEcosystems United

WHAT IS HORTICULTURE? Horticulture is a $17 billion [USD] industry that produces more than 2.4 billion tons of goods annually. It provides employment and income [something particularly beneficial to women in developing countries], as well as aesthetic, sociological, and psychological benefits.  Civilization is dependent on the products produced by horticultural endeavors for the food that…