tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post846488834030155999..comments2023-12-09T02:34:01.121-06:00Comments on Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: What is Food? - Food is EnergyJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760009169211682230noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-46217831141686051902012-10-09T03:30:10.012-05:002012-10-09T03:30:10.012-05:00The energy value of a food indicates its value to ...The energy value of a food indicates its value to the body as a fuel. This may be less than the heat value obtained experimentally by 'burning' the food outside .Food energy is the amount of energy obtained from food that is available through cellular respiration.<br /><a href="http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/68031-qaa-with-don-blankenship-ceo-of-massey-energy-co" rel="nofollow">Don Blankenship</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03232681043855535086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-23430037140736698782008-08-14T19:29:00.000-05:002008-08-14T19:29:00.000-05:00Cookiemouse - Thanks for bringing up a good point....Cookiemouse - Thanks for bringing up a good point. Earth as a closed system was more meant as a useful way of conceptualizing a limited budget of energy, but was not intended to be definitive (although it reads as though it were meant to be).<BR/><BR/>If there were only one thing worth knowing it would be that we know so little.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00212452090036526603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-27119333849212039232008-08-14T12:28:00.000-05:002008-08-14T12:28:00.000-05:00The Earth is part of an open system which includes...The Earth is part of an open system which includes the sun, our ultimate source of energy. That is how life works against entropy. In the long run it is humans that will have to adapt to a much larger ecosystem, most of which we do not even know about, let alone understand.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888732615181532548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-4613385959990907562008-08-14T08:22:00.000-05:002008-08-14T08:22:00.000-05:00Cookie(Hunter;)Mouse - Unfortunately, I believe co...Cookie(Hunter;)Mouse - <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I believe conservation of biodiversity is only battle we have any hope of winning, and as of now, that is being accomplished by corporations like Monsanto which seek to profit from the loss of natural ecosystems and stable climates. I only hope that a shift in the power structure allows such corporations to recognize the importance of their role without anointing them as master. Frankly, though, I'm not sure how to address the problem of biodiversity being at the mercy of intellectual property laws; I just hope someone can figure that one out before it's too late to ever truly taste freedom.<BR/><BR/>The conservation of natural ecosystems runs against our collective instinct for survival as it has for some 10,000 years. While it may be the right thing to do, I cannot reasonably ask anyone to sacrifice their life for the lives of trees, monkeys, birds, bears, etc. I could be wrong, but my belief is that our best hope is in the creation of ecosystems that better compliment human activity. That is why I would argue that the conservation of biodiversity is ever-so-slightly more important than the conservation of ecosystems; it is also why I have developed an interest in permaculture. There is currently insufficient ecology to the extent that restoration is necessary to reverse our current course toward self-destruction, and I believe that restoration could (or should) be done in such a way that reduces our temptation (or need, really) to destroy it all over again.<BR/><BR/>Bianca - <BR/><BR/>I don't think that's a run-on sentence, although the comma was unnecessary. But I'm not the grammar police; your statement is clear and concise without being redundant, and that's really all one could ask for.<BR/><BR/>And I don't think you're off topic at all. In fact, you've so hit the nail on the head that I can't fully respond to your comment without giving up the premise of the final installment of the series (due out on Thursday). What I can say is that profit has less to with it than maintaining the current power structure; the proper alternatives would remove power from the hands of those who currently hold it by destroying its basis (hint: the alternatives are decentralized).<BR/><BR/>I hope that what I can say will provide some hope to get you by until the next post. But I'd like you to maintain your anger for now because I see great potential in the dialoge that might ensue. For now, I'd like to quote Jim Morrison: "They got the guns, but we got the numbers." Well, we don't have the numbers yet, but they're coming - believe me. What they need more than anything is to maintain a materialistic growth economy which is on its way out, and when it's gone, the masses will have an opportunity to realize the full potential of liberty, community, and autonomy....and the powers that be are scared as hell.<BR/><BR/>Jennifer - <BR/><BR/>All very good points. I would analogize soil fertility to the check-cashing places rather than savings as they diminish our ability to retain future income. But it all works the same, really, no matter what analogies we use so long as we realize that the Earth is a closed system on a fixed income of energy from the Sun and the core. (another good thing that came out of my conversation with Jessy last Friday: he reminded me that geothermal heat is produced - at least in part - by pressure from the weight of crust, etc. Now, if we could only calculate what the rate of production is so that we don't exceed it centuries or millenia from now and create a scenario of lost magnetism that would result in the sweeping away of the entire atmosphere.)<BR/><BR/>And you bring up a good point about the "population problem" also being a function of consumption. As consumption levels currently stand, the people of India could outbreed America on a nearly 10 to 1 basis and still make an equal contribution to the problem of human environmental impact. So, it's not so much a question of population as it is a question of collective consumption.<BR/><BR/>Chile - <BR/><BR/>We're still working towards getting comfortable with the idea of growing food with our poo; the zeitgeist of modern sewage treatment (that sewage = disease) still runs deep within us, but it's something we're surely going to have to get used to. Living in an apartment, I'm not sure how possible it is for us to do humanure composting (we're not even allowed to vermicompost - a 'rule' we should probably pretend we're unaware of), but for anyone who can make it happen, I would recommend it. We can't offer any advice on <I>how</I> to do this as we haven't looked into it seriously ourselves, but one can't <I>always</I> live by example. Anything we can do to lower our "interest rate" is worth a go.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00212452090036526603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-16141368717150562952008-08-13T17:19:00.000-05:002008-08-13T17:19:00.000-05:00This is one of the reasons I really liked the Huma...This is one of the reasons I really liked the Humanure book. The way we treat human poop & pee now is wasteful. If recycled through humanure composting, it ultimately can become food. In this way, we could lower the interest on that loan.Chilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11406176434011890590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-54597651847741696292008-08-13T09:22:00.000-05:002008-08-13T09:22:00.000-05:00I think the biggest point to be made - and you did...I think the biggest point to be made - and you did a great job - is that the Earth is a closed system. The energy is not necessarily lost, however when it is condensed into essentially unusable forms (i.e. pollution), it creates many problems, such as what we are now seeing with greenhouse gases and so on.<BR/><BR/>All these strategies that we have employed that you describe, the clear cutting of forests, tilling, trying to change the natural course of rivers, all have negative consequences, some of which we are seeing now, some might not be apparent for some time. But it brings me back to the concept that you discussed: the analogy of the Earth's energy supplies as a savings account, I think that concept could be generalized to things like soil fertility as well. Yes, by clearing land and tilling soil we get more production NOW, but it is at the expense of having production LATER. The problem with humans, as I see it, is generational "amnesia", we don't see the long-term consequences of our actions because we simply aren't around long enough to.<BR/><BR/>Reducing our dependency on this savings account is by no means an easy task. It will involve (in the West at least) fundamentally changing not only the way we do things, but the way we live our lives, and what is possible. It also likely means that, over time, we are going to have to reduce our population AND consumption (and I am not advocating sterilizing those in Third World countries, Westerners are a larger burden on the planet than they are in most respects). Otherwise there will come a time when all humans are impoverished - and there is no "away" for wealthy elites to go to escape. It would do all of us well to remember that we are, in fact, all in the same boat.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01760009169211682230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-67726492064828927172008-08-12T14:26:00.000-05:002008-08-12T14:26:00.000-05:00This makes me so sad in light of Bush's decision t...This makes me so sad in light of Bush's decision to take away some Endangered Species Act protections that will keep people from trying to curb greenhouse gasses in order to save endangered animals, like polar bears (yea, I know run-on sentence). <BR/><BR/>It's so amazing that the Republicans are STILL denying global warming...like really? Are you that selfish that truly care more about profit than the future of the planet?!<BR/><BR/>Sorry, I know that's a bit off topic...but I just read that news story in the paper, and then I read this about conserving...and it makes me sad that people like us aren't in power but evil people who don't care about the planet are...Biancahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11545245728462853370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2507829329403685696.post-42300676865532990932008-08-12T10:26:00.000-05:002008-08-12T10:26:00.000-05:00Quite right. Conservation of natural ecosystems an...Quite right. Conservation of natural ecosystems and biodiversity is our top priority.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888732615181532548noreply@blogger.com