Stress Around the World

From a global perspective stress is rampant in most parts of the world. This stress is caused by a number of factors including wars, natural disasters, food insecurity, health challenges caused by the changes in environment and lack of access to clean water and food. In many places, people have to work harder just to be able to have the basic necessities of life and in some places, they don’t even have them. This creates work stress also. A few years ago, I visited the Philippines and was able to go with a local tour guide and see how the average person lives there. It was a real eye opener. These people work so hard for what little they have, but have the best customer service that I have seen anywhere. I am still in contact with this tour guide and chatted with her a Facebook after the recent disaster there. It was a real devastation for an already devastated people. We had our own little disaster here in Colorado and I was surprised how it affected our communities here. Even those not directly affected by the flood were impacted by it as roads were closed and we were cut off from Denver and the North due to flood roadways. Luckily, it only lasted a couple of days. Things like this can happen anytime, anywhere and affect anyone. We need to be aware and do what we can to help in these situations because you never know when you might be the one who needs the help!

The impact of biological and ecological stress affects everyone because the ecological system is complex and you can’t affect one portion of it without affecting the whole system. When food producers deplete the soil, pollute the water, put pesticides and herbicides into the system and use fossil fuels to transport their products they can have dire consequences to the environment. Human beings are the only ones who have any control of their environment. Our activities play a central role in environmental change on a local as well as a global level. Our consumption of natural resources and energy are main reasons for the environmental changes that now see (Trefil & Hazen, 2010).

Our food choices also affect the global food market because we are dependent on the land and each other.  Our food choices have economic, political, social and environmental consequences as well as health considerations which are often at conflict with one another and we should consider all of these consequences when making a food choice. For example, we are told to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables but you must sometimes chose between eating fruits and vegetables grown under conditions that conserve resources, limit pesticides and herbicides and support farm workers adequately and pay more or eating fruits and vegetables grown under conditions that do not take these things into consideration and pay less or eat less of the more expensive foods (Nestle, 2007). When we are aware of where our food comes from and the economic and ecological consequences of our food choices, we can be a more ethical and moral consumer.

Agriculture is increasingly controlled by large corporations whose only concern is producing food at the lowest cost and selling it to whomever in the world is willing to pay their price often without any thought to the cost it is having on the environment. If we keep focusing on cheap food, the poor people of the world will continue to go hungry (Ikerd, n.d.).

References:

Trefil, J., & Hazen, R. (2010). The sciences an integrated approach. (6 ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nestle, M. (2007). Food politics, how the food industry influences nutrition and health. (1st ed.). Los Angeles, California: Univ of California Press.

Ikerd, J. (n.d.). The economics and ethics of food. Retrieved from http://web.missouri.edu/ikerdj/papers/Denver — food economics ethics.htm