Throughout the first few weeks I was visiting Nicholas Dawson Park. This park is located about .3 miles away from my house, and is relatively small. It is described as a neighborhood park, which has a classic swing set and a short dirt walking trail. What I like about the park most, is it’s access point to East Bouldin Creek. The access from the park takes you to a portion of the creek where the elevation drops in a series of little tiny waterfalls I guess. The sound of the running water is pretty calming. I did not run into anyone while in the physical park boundaries, but there always seemed to be one or two people walking the creek. One day at the creek, I met a black lab named Hank. Hank was not too interested in me, most all of his concentration was directed to the fish which were swimming in a deeper slower portion of the creek.
As I walk down the creek that partitions neighbors from each other it gets quieter, yet as the noise from humans decreases the waste we generate, increases. The large amount of unnatural debris was not what I expected; plastic, glass and aluminum almost outnumber the amount of rocks in the creek. Obviously exaggerated, but it is overwhelming. Two things that became clear on my second visit were: this trash most likely did not come from those visiting the park and over 90% of the debris was some type of food or drink packaging. The littering or pollution may hold threat wildlife, but a larger threat came to mind. This packaging required energy to produce and at what cost is the convenience of grab-n-go accepted. The time at the creek has allowed me to re-think my purchases and perhaps talk to others about why we buy what we buy, when it comes to food.
I am not positive but I think these may be Reishi Mushrooms, based on some visual comparisons and a mushroom foraging site.
According to research presented by the EPA, 23% of waste deposited in landfills across the U.S. consisted of food packaging and containers. Municipal waste systems are not perfect but necessary, and of that large number some escaped waste can be expected. The presence of the food packaging in the creek drew me to my general area of research, food consumption. I am in the agriculture group and feel that researching how Americans get their food is pivotal in examining our impact on agricultural decisions and actions. I have become interested in exploring what drives our food choices and if those factors play a role in packaging generation. I have a hunch that cost and convenience, play a huge role in buying what we buy to eat. Most of the packaging I saw came from drinks or snacks that would most likely deemed unhealthy, sodas, chips, and candy. They are SO tasty though, they have it down to a science. Creating these combinations of flavoring and textures that has a hold on our cravings and expectations. People design packaging and work with colors to trigger sensors in our brain that make us want certain tastes or thirsts. Regardless of this, we have to eat. Thinking back to Hank the dog, he was instinctively hunting that fish, whether he was hungry or not I don’t know. We all have that same instinct to hunt or gather. I can remember being a kid hunting lizards or collecting flowers. However as you get older, in our society I feel like most people lose this instinct as everything is handed to us, not for free, but the source of our food is unbelievably convenient. The WWF report explained that “Food production accounts for around 70% of water use and 30% of energy use globally”. The study promotes the idea of consuming wisely and continually acknowledges that a healthy community is dependent on a healthy environment.
I saw a Butterfly! Just kidding it was plastic.
I heard a woodpecker! One day at the spot around 4:30 I heard a woodpecker knocking. It was very brief and I tried my hardest to spot it but I could not. According to Texas A&M Agrilife site, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker is the most common species found in Texas. Looking at a provided data map, confirmed sightings have been documented in Austin, Texas. The site notes that the loss of trees to build cavities is resulting in a decrease in populations because of competition but at the same time, urbanization has produced a number of human bird feeders that are promoting their range. Habitat loss can be contributed of a number of practices, but as I sit in a neighborhood creek, I feel that urban sprawl is playing a huge role with industrial agriculture close behind.
As of 2015 our state has ranked last in a national index that ranks states in percentage of locally consumed foods. (http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/locavoreindex/). The project hopes to successfully guide community members to shopping locally. This promotes civic engagement, expands food options, reduces waste, reduces pollution through travel, benefits the local economy and local business owners. Given this data I feel that Austin may be an outlier, yet I feel that as the population of the city grows, it is important to let those moving here that accessibility and affordability may be more achievable than they believe. I have been going to the spot after my shift at Wholefoods. I have been making pizza there for over two years, and some of their efforts have inspired me to avoid only shopping in one place. My first job was at a grocery store, and the amount of packaging we pay for is kind of crazy. Wholefoods may offer more sustainably farmed products, ingredients and such, but the excessive amount of packaging is still present. To counteract this, they provide landfill, recycling, and composting bins to divert waste from landfills.
My research is being driven by this mission: SFC envisions a food-secure community where all children and adults grow, share, and prepare healthy, local food. The Sustainable Food Center is an awesome organization that has a number of programs promoting their mission and has been practicing since 1975. I hope to find out if shopping at places like Wholefoods, co-ops, and farmer’s markets offer alternatives to the heavily packaged products of conventional grocery stores. I plan to develop a system of comparing more sustainable alternatives in terms of energy consumption and waste generation.
When I see all this waste, I am reminded of Austin’s initiative for a zero-waste program. By 2040 the city hopes to divert 90% of waste from city’s landfills. Austin Resource Recovery claims Zero Waste is a philosophy that goes beyond recycling to focus first on reducing trash and reusing products and then recycling and composting the rest. Zero Waste recognizes that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and everything is a resource for something or someone else.
I look forward to getting a more concrete focus on researching aspects of our local food system.
Sources
http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/k/Texas_mushrooms.htm
http://www.austintexas.gov/department/austin-resource-recovery/about
http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/reducing_wasted_food_pkg_tool.pdf
http://sustainablefoodcenter.org/about/about-sfc
http://txtbba.tamu.edu/species-accounts/red-bellied-woodpecker/
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/