NEWS

From Hunting and Gathering to Drive Thrus and Microwaves:  How Much Time do we Spend Eating and Drinking?

From Hunting and Gathering to Drive Thrus and Microwaves: How Much Time do we Spend Eating and Drinking?

All modern humans were hunter-gatherers from 2,000,000 until 10,000 years ago, spending most of their time looking for food.  Everyday activites were looking for  berries and nuts, and hunting animals.  Stone Age people moved from place to place looking for food, but they stayed in one place as long as there was food and water.

Eventually people learned to grow their own fruits and vegetables, which was the start of the agricultural revolution. People built small mud houses and began to tame and keep animals.

Over dinner last night, I was thinking about how much time I spend preparing my food and the change in our eating (and hunting patterns)  that has occurred in the last 10,000 years.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey (ATUS) collects information on how Americans spend their time—on paid work, household activities, child care, recreation, and numerous other activities. There is a eating and health section that is done, which contains questions on whether respondents ate or drank while engaged in other activities, such as driving or watching TV; general health, height, and weight; participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program); children’s consumption of meals obtained at day care, school, or summer programs; grocery shopping and meal preparation; and household income.

The results from the study in 2008 showed that on an average day in 2008, Americans age 15 and older spent 67 minutes eating and drinking as a “primary,” or main, activity, and 28 minutes eating and 81 minutes drinking (except plain water) as a secondary activity.  A secondary activity is multitasking- where a person is —eating while engaged in another activity considered primary by the individual. Such as watching television, driving a car, working, etc.

With the agricultural revolution we have greatly adapted how we get our food and the way we live, but our bodies are still pretty similar to what it was 10,000 years ago.  Today spend a lot less time working on getting food to eat and spend more time working and living our “modern way of life.”

There are  still a few parts of the world that still hunt and gather food, and resist changing to our modern agricultural systems such as in Western Australia or in the Andaman Islands.

Since our ancestors spent so much time hunting our bodies developed the “human fight or flight response.”   This is our response to stress – which in hunting  would result aggressive, combative behavior or by fleeing potentially threatening situations.  It is debatable if our  stress level and if our fight or flight response is more active more or less today.   It is proven athat we spend a lot less time worrying, getting, and preparing our food.

Images:
USDA – Economic Research Service – Eating and Health Module (2008)
johnbarban.com

Links:

USDA – Economic Research Service – Eating and Health Module (2008)

Xeriscaping –  Dry Landscaping Going From Freaky to Increasing Property Value

Xeriscaping – Dry Landscaping Going From Freaky to Increasing Property Value

I grew up in a suburb in Milwaukee, where everyone had front lawns with grass, bushes and trees.  Well almost everyone.  There was one girl’s mother who changed their front lawn into a prairie – with tall wild grasses, flowers, and tall plants.  This filled the half circle of lawn inside their driveway, and you could not see the front door of their house.  We used to stare at the “freaky lawn” as we passed by on the bus and some people used to make fun of the girl because of her crazy wild grass front lawn.

Today there is a name for this type of alternative landscaping which is gaining momentum, called xeriscaping.  The word xeriscaping comes from the word xeros, which is Greek for the word dry combined with part of the word landscaping.  Xeriscaping refers to a method of landscape design that minimizes water use.

The term was started in Denver in 1978, where employees from the Water Department made up the term for landscapes that conserve water.  This approach of landscaping emerged when there were severe water shortages in Colorado.  Generally, plants that are considered local native plants are used in xeriscaping, and the landscape design works to avoid water evaporation and run-off.   The xeriscape garden uses plants that usually have low water requirements, and are able to handle short periods of drought.

Some of the benefits of xeriscaping is that it saves water, requires less maintenance then traditional grass lawns, does not use fertilizers or pesticides, provides habitat for wildlife, and can sometimes improve property value.

The plants used in xeriscape projects vary based on the location.  In the Midwest, prairies, or native plants with heavy mulching might be used.  In the southwest, cactus, yucca, and sage might be planted with boulders and rock mulch around.

On my street, there are a few houses that have front yard gardens, or have partial lawns with native plants and grasses in the front.

My parents still live in the same area outside of Milwaukee, so I have biked by the house where I first saw a wild prairie in the front lawn.  It still exists, but today looks like a contemporary landscaped front lawn, with birds, larger trees, and flowers.

Each Summer at my  house in Cleveland, we decide not to water our lawn – and let it get brown if there is a drought.  I do plan eventually to have a lawn with alternative plants and landscaping.  The idea of retiring the lawnmower is appealing.

Image Source:
ecohomeresource.com

 

Links:

Xeriscape: Denver Water

eartheasy.com – Xeriscape

www.colostate.edu – Xeriscaping

 

Saving Water?  Cleaning my Pants in The Freezer

Saving Water? Cleaning my Pants in The Freezer

A while ago  I wrote about Levis changing practices to save water.   One way they are doing this is to put tags in new Levis jeans that suggest that the owner wash them less and only use cold water.

So – if you wash your jeans less how do you clean them? One way to get them clean is to put them in the freezer, a practice that will kill germs that cause them to smell.

I’ve been wearing my jeans for a few days.  (off and on – I rotate them with others.)  They do not look dirty – but do not smell as fresh as a new pair.

I looked around on other blogs – and others have talked about the  ‘freeze clean’ method which is reputed to kill the bacteria. It doesn’t remove dirt or dust, (or cat hair) but will remove the “dirty” smell.

The recommended method is to put your  jeans in a plastic Ziploc freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Some say for 24 hours  and some say for a week.

I just put them in the freezer and will see what happens if I leave them in the freezer for 24 hours, then see if I need to try this for a week.  I will report back after I give this a test.

 

** Monday February 6th – update

Two days later I took my jeans out of the freezer and gave them the sniff test.
I think they smell cleaner, but they still smell a little bit like pants that have been worn.

I plan to get the cat hair off them – and wear them today.  I plan to try the test once I have dirty jeans again.

 

Change the Way You Think About Food – An Infographic Animation

Change the Way You Think About Food – An Infographic Animation

Early this year there was lots of talk about the prediction that by 2050 our population on earth will be over 9 billion people.

The question that goes along with these numbers – is how can everyone be fed with this many people, and where will it grow?  An infographic animation produced by the World Wildlife Fund called Change the way you think about food asks this question.

The piece gives information graphics and visualizations to present a picture of what would happen if we could freeze the footprint of food by doubling the productivity of farming.  The piece indicates that to grow enough food, everything will have to change.

This is the first piece I have seen that uses information visualization effectively to raise questions about our growing population and our food supply.

Image Source:
Change the way you think about food Animation

Links:

Change the way you think about food Animation

 

 

 

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Upcyling:  A new Starbucks Built from Shipping Containers

Upcyling: A new Starbucks Built from Shipping Containers

A new Starbucks in Seattle was recently built from four old shipping containers.  Located in Tukwila, WA the store is a drive-thru and walk-up coffee shop made of one 30-foot container and three 40-foot shipping containers.  It is the first LEED-certified structure in town, and uses recycled metal for the exterior and has a rainwater collector system that collects water for the plants around the building’s exterior.

Since it is a walk-up/drive thru station, cars line up and go through the drive through window, with motors running, burning gas.  (Not sure how this factors into the actual energy saving rating of the business.)

Shipping containers are on the rise as being used as usable livable spaces with recent uses being some restaurants in San Francisco, a grocery store in Seattle, for artist studios, and for living spaces.  Most shipping containers become part of a landfill after 20 years, so in using the containers as living spaces –their use is considered upcyling.  Got an idea that you could do in a used shipping container?  I just looked online – and they are listed online starting at $2,399.

 

Images:
Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
Links:
Tukwila, WA Starbucks store