Nutrition

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What I Learned from a Summer Working on a Cotton Farm

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If you've been following my blogs, you  may have noticed that I haven't written anything at all in nearly three months. That's because I stumbled onto an internship/job that actually changed my life for the better. As an animal science major, I really don't know much about the specifics of agronomy and crop farming. However, I can confidently say that now I have a better grasp on this sector of agriculture, and the knowledge I acquired was more in-depth than anything I could have learned in the classroom. It also wasn't just about cotton. I also learned about beekeeping, how vineyards work, and how alcohol is made for consumers at large vineyards and breweries. For purposes of this article, however, I'm going to stick to cotton because it's not a crop many people consider at first thought, probably because most people think you can't eat it (which is another story entirely. I can honestly say that I've eaten cotton, and it wasn't half bad)....
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Protein in Context

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We hear quite a lot about protein nowadays. Can you get enough protein from plants? If so, why do people need animal protein? Couldn't we use the grain fed to them to end world hunger? This post aims to answer these questions. The truth of the matter is that advocates for animal agriculture and advocates of plant-based diets want the same thing. Our common goal is to, "Simultaneously optimize the food supply, health, environmental, and social justice outcomes for the world's population,"(1). In other words, our goals are the same. We merely tend to differ in how to get there. To answer the first question, we must examine animal proteins and plant proteins, and their similarities and differences. Opponents of animal agriculture often focus too much on gross calorie/protein intake and output values without considering the finished product. In short, too much attention is paid to feed conversion ratios, not WHAT is being converted. Animals, especially ruminants like co...
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Is Meat Responsible for Obesity?

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Obesity in America is a problem. There is no denying this fact. Recent years have seen obesity rates skyrocketing, and the problem is only getting worse. In fact, according to the CDC, more than one third of American adults are stricken with this potentially deadly disease. More than 48% of African Americans are obese. 42% of Hispanic Ameicans are obese. In addition, women have a higher rate of obesity than men. Clearly, obesity is everyone's problem. It can cause problems such as heart disease and diabetes, and tends to make its sufferers sicklier than those of lower weight. In fact, obesity sufferers pay an average of $1,429 more in medical costs than those who are healthier. This led to an annual price tag of $147 billion in medical costs related to obesity across the U.S. in 2008. It is clear that something must be done about obesity, but what? What exactly causes obesity? In recent years, there has also been a trend of an increase in revenue for companies who sell plant-b...
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