Comments on: Is living in a city damaging your brain? http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/08/28/is-living-in-a-city-damaging-your-brain/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:26:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Jeff B http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/08/28/is-living-in-a-city-damaging-your-brain/comment-page-1/#comment-50906 Jeff B Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:06:27 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=8757#comment-50906 Thanks Brynn, that's a good article. Everyone needs to realize what the current food production system is doing to the environment and our health. The national discussion over health care is a side-effect of bad nutrition. More and more individuals are obese, diabetic, and malnourished because of the national diet. Nutrition and prevention are very important over the long run. When it comes to food, buy fresh and buy local. Here's a great website for local Nebraska farms promoting that very idea. http://www.nebsusag.org/index.shtml Thanks Brynn, that’s a good article. Everyone needs to realize what the current food production system is doing to the environment and our health. The national discussion over health care is a side-effect of bad nutrition. More and more individuals are obese, diabetic, and malnourished because of the national diet. Nutrition and prevention are very important over the long run.

When it comes to food, buy fresh and buy local. Here’s a great website for local Nebraska farms promoting that very idea.

http://www.nebsusag.org/index.shtml

]]> By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/08/28/is-living-in-a-city-damaging-your-brain/comment-page-1/#comment-50753 Erich Vieth Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:21:42 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=8757#comment-50753 Jeff B: You raised some excellent points in your comment. With regard to the shrinking number of responsible family farms, and their replacement by relatively small numbers of chemically drenched unsustainable corporate-owned mega-farms, see the recent Time Magazine article entitled "Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food." Our country faces some massive challenges when it comes to feeding ourselves safe food over the coming decades. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1917458,00.html Jeff B: You raised some excellent points in your comment. With regard to the shrinking number of responsible family farms, and their replacement by relatively small numbers of chemically drenched unsustainable corporate-owned mega-farms, see the recent Time Magazine article entitled “Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food.” Our country faces some massive challenges when it comes to feeding ourselves safe food over the coming decades.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1917458,00.html

]]> By: Jeff B http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/08/28/is-living-in-a-city-damaging-your-brain/comment-page-1/#comment-50713 Jeff B Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:32:42 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=8757#comment-50713 This article looks at the possible harm of living in a city. Another side to this argument is the vacuum being created in the rural areas. As fewer jobs are available and farming is less viable for small operators, the rural communities are drying up across the Midwest. This causes some unwanted byproducts in my opinion. 1. Corporate farms are increasing. As with most corporations, the focus is not necessarily on quality, but on driving up profits and reducing the bottom line. This is dangerous when talking about some of our food supply. Food is mass-produced, having fewer nutrients now than ever before in history. More and more farmland is being used to provide feed to giant cattle feedlots that supply fast food companies. Most of us are aware of the quality of fast food and the harm it can do to its customers. 2. Mega farms look at increasing efficiencies by using more herbicides, pesticides, and genetically-altered crops. The water tables, streams, and rivers are affected by the runoff from the chemicals. Nitrate levels are dangerously high in rural community water supplies. 3. As more land becomes centrally-owned, taxes and legislature can be manipulated by the owners (similar to lobbying in Washington). Rural public schools derive most of their income from land taxes. If corporations are allowed large tax cuts, the schools will continue to consolidate and eventually disappear. This has already happened several times in the communities where I grew up. 4. Corporate farms consume more fossil fuels in the production of crops than smaller farms. Fossil fuels also go into the fertilizers, so the more used, the more energy needed, increasing our dependence on foreign fuel sources. So in conclusion, the increasing urban populations and the decreasing rurals ones have a significant impact on our nation's health, fuel consumption, and pollution levels. Just another side to think about when considering the possible dangers of urban life..... This article looks at the possible harm of living in a city. Another side to this argument is the vacuum being created in the rural areas. As fewer jobs are available and farming is less viable for small operators, the rural communities are drying up across the Midwest. This causes some unwanted byproducts in my opinion.

1. Corporate farms are increasing. As with most corporations, the focus is not necessarily on quality, but on driving up profits and reducing the bottom line. This is dangerous when talking about some of our food supply. Food is mass-produced, having fewer nutrients now than ever before in history. More and more farmland is being used to provide feed to giant cattle feedlots that supply fast food companies. Most of us are aware of the quality of fast food and the harm it can do to its customers.

2. Mega farms look at increasing efficiencies by using more herbicides, pesticides, and genetically-altered crops. The water tables, streams, and rivers are affected by the runoff from the chemicals. Nitrate levels are dangerously high in rural community water supplies.

3. As more land becomes centrally-owned, taxes and legislature can be manipulated by the owners (similar to lobbying in Washington). Rural public schools derive most of their income from land taxes. If corporations are allowed large tax cuts, the schools will continue to consolidate and eventually disappear. This has already happened several times in the communities where I grew up.

4. Corporate farms consume more fossil fuels in the production of crops than smaller farms. Fossil fuels also go into the fertilizers, so the more used, the more energy needed, increasing our dependence on foreign fuel sources.

So in conclusion, the increasing urban populations and the decreasing rurals ones have a significant impact on our nation’s health, fuel consumption, and pollution levels. Just another side to think about when considering the possible dangers of urban life…..

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