We Must Change

     In the 2nd unit of my humanities course, Food For Thought, we learned many things. We learned about what a global food system looks like and the human and environmental impacts of what we eat. I also learned about the food industry and how it affects our health, which has presented an issue in our day in age. For this project, I was tasked to create a letter to present to the UN and talk about an issue that is threatening to the global food system.  I had to create a letter that not only explained an issue for the global food system but, it also had to attack an issue on the MDGs. I feel that the information that I gathered was the most difficult part and I found myself having a hard time communicating my thoughts onto the paper. I felt that after rewriting and editing my letter, I successfully found a loud voice within it. Overall, I'm proud how I presented it. The project also enabled me to become informed about Climate Change. I hope you enjoy my letter to the UN. 

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AR 

Food For Thought 

April 13, 2018 

We Must Change 

There are many different things that could affect our global food system. I feel that climate change is one topic that we must pay attention to. As a consequence of climate change, sea levels begin to rise. Sea level rise can impact agriculture in two ways, which are the loss of coastal land due to inundation and salt water intrusion (Kiribati Climate Change). The global food system consists of the transportation and cultivation of food, as well as the process of feeding the population. The reason that climate change is a threat to the global food system is that in order to keep up with the global production of food, we must have optimal conditions in both temperature and water. Unfortunately, climate change affects the global system by altering these conditions. In order to feed approximately 7 billion people and counting, we must find solutions to this problem or we will increase food insecurity.  

One of the four major crops that is key to our survival, wheat, will reduce the yield by 6% for every degree increase Celsius in global mean temperature (Phys). Temperature in a certain area is crucial to growing successful crops, so as it increases it will destroy these crops. The lack of food growth can affect and increase the starvation of the population. As we progress further, we find that we use more factories, which contribute to climate change as they pollute the air with CO2. Once the air is affected by the levels of CO2 in the air, it can cause the ocean to become more acidic. This can hurt marine life and damage the oceans around the world. The consequence is that it can also create more heat, which can eradicate some species of food and hurt the crop land.  

This is not the first time the human race has encountered this problem, we must learn from other civilizations. Fortunately, there have been cases in which civilizations had to deal with climate change. In particular, the Mayan civilization is one that we can learn from. During the Mayan civilization, 2,500 years ago, the farmers began to see sea levels rising on their dry land (Mott). This inundated people's farms (Mott). In order to combat this problem, the Maya drained the farms, which eventually turned into wetlands by about 500 or 600 A.D. (Mott). Initially, this was a good plan, but as time progressed matters became worse. They faced a drought, which caused the Mayan civilization to collapse.  We can learn from history by understanding the similarities in some situations and pay much attention to the positives and negatives of those situations. We should adapt the positive side and focus on how we can avoid the negative side.  

Although the Mayan civilization collapsed around 900 A.D., the situation now enables us to understand their failures and allows us to navigate through our own issues (Georgetown University). It gives us important lessons. The authors of Empire of Food state, "The insects also drink the tree sap, killing the plant" (Fraser). If we want to avoid the chain of events that caused the Mayan civilization to collapse, then we must focus on the negative contributions that we make today.  I believe that in order to combat the issue we should act now. I believe that setting a limit on the amount of fossil fuels allowed to enter the atmosphere is necessary because these gases cause the global temperature to rise.  We must innovate and invest in research for clean energy because fossil fuels will eventually become extinct and we will have nothing else to rely on as energy. Promoting green living is essential to progressing because most of our everyday lives come in contact with some sort of polluting and changing one little thing can mean something large in the long run. Lastly, we must understand the risks and take precautionary measures to prevent them because if we do not do that, then we will be a reflection of the once thriving Mayan civilization.  

Much of what we do will impact the rest of our lives and the future generation. We must attack the problem now so that we do not hurt anyone further. We can do this by learning from the past, understanding the risk on the global food system, and creating effective solutions to stop further damage from climate change.  I feel that these are the best actions to take in order to overcome this issue. I think it is very important that the UN established the Sustainable Development Goal to manage climate change. The SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. As one SDG is accomplished, the others become easier to attack. The United Nations came to recognize that climate change was an issue to combat and I believe that my recommendations will help fight climate change. I truly hope you think so as well. 

Works Cited 

Fraser, Evan D. G, and Andrew Rimas. Empires of Food: Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Arrow Books, 2011. 

Georgetown University. "Maya Civilization Faced Climate Change Similar to Modern Problem." Welcome Home! | Georgetown University, www.georgetown.edu/news/tim-beach-researches-mayan-climate-change.html.  

Kiribati Climate Change. "Agriculture." Kiribati Climate Change, www.climate.gov.ki/category/effects/agriculture/. 

Mott, Nicholas. "Why the Maya Fell: Climate Change, Conflict' And a Trip to the Beach?" Latest Stories, 11 Nov. 2012, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/121109-maya-civilization-climatechange-belize-science/. 

Phys. "Climate Change Will Cut Crop Yields: Study." Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology, 15 Aug. 2017, phys.org/news/2017-08-climate-crop-yields.html.