Share and Voice 8: Can You Imagine Being Force-Fed at 10 Years Old?

Last weekend, I was getting my hair done and I was reading through a magazine and found one interesting article. I'm not one to look through magazines so I was shocked to find myself wrapped into this one, but the story was jaw-dropping I had to read it. The picture was a woman extremely overweight with stretch marks and had a caption to go along with it that said something along the lines of how beautiful she was. She is from a country in Africa called Mauritania (pronounced more-tane-ya) which is one of the very few countries in the world where being fat is considered attractive. In fact, it is seen as more than attractive, it is seen as wealthy, too. This is a very old practice the US even had many, many years ago with having women being extremely overweight because it showed a sign of wealth. Mauritania still has this view. It is only practiced in women, though, and men are said to 'drool' at the sight of them! It starts at a very young age for females, around 10, and they are literally force-fed all day. These girls are said to take in between 14,000-16,000 calories a day! That seems absolutely ludicrous and surreal, but for these girls it's nothing short than normal. To achieve this caloric intake, many of the foods they eat are pure fat, or fat rolled into balls slathered with more fat on top of it. The article explained that if these girls are to refuse, their punishment is to eat MORE! If they are to vomit up what they eat, they have to eat their vomit! One lady had commented that her boyfriend she has constantly compliments her on how beautiful she is. The problem is she said she wants to lose some weight and wear jeans and heels like she sees in magazines, but she is too scared her boyfriend won't like her anymore. 
After reading about this I have researched a little bit here and there and can't find that exact article from the magazine, but have found some other ones. BBC News has the most recent article I found called Mauritania's Wife-Fattening Farm and said that although many rural women in this country are still practicing this tradition, it is slowly fading out. Check out the article and see how these women are treated! I found this video which describes it all! Very interesting ritual, but scary at the same time! I would love to go over there and educate these women on how they are jeopardizing their health. 

Read 'n' Seed 4: Third Quarter of "Last Child in the Woods"

Material Covered and What it Consisted of:
For the third quarter of our Read 'n' Seeds, I read 7 chapters which contained 84 pages. The 16th chapter focused on how school's curriculums need to incorporate nature, how nature is  not 'improving' like technology, and that other countries that have nature activities included in their school days produce higher scores and grades. An example of how nature isn't improving is when a little boy was asked about gardening he had a problem with it because it's not improving like TV's and computers. He said, "All these old wood gardening tools haven't changed in decades" (Louv, 213). 

This made me step back and think that one through because does have some truth to it! For the 17th chapter, Louv explains that the third frontier hasn't completely formed, but general characteristics of it include detachment from our source of food, disappearance of family farms, suburbs shrinking open spaces, etc. It is sad to think a child may not know what he or she is eating or where it came from. In addition, I think it is very sad to see family farms disappearing especially coming from parents who grew up on them. Neither of my parents took over their farms, and it makes me wonder why. Chapter 18 was Louv's explanation on how an approach to the fourth frontier could be having legal areas to play, which could help depreciate the rate of lawsuits that go along with injuries on properties. He doesn't give a definition of the fourth frontier, but he implies that it is a way to get kids reconnected with nature. I really like chapter 19 because it had so many examples of eco-friendly homes and how to improve your house and being more green. Some examples include a green roof and green walls. 

Some countries in Europe have already been doing this, and have saved so much money, as well as, helping our environment. It is a good investment, because it has shown to save money later down the road. The last chapter, chapter 20, was focused on how farmlands have increasingly been invaded and becoming more scarce. One lady made a comment that there is something warming about being in a city like Sioux Falls, SD where you have quick access to nature, yet still have a big town compared to Sacramento, CA. It was cool to read about this because my whole life I have always been wondering how our country will end up if we keep adding more housing developments on vacant land. How will we continue to farm? It will be very interesting when I'm retired and see how much our country has evolved. 


I learned:
I learned a lot about myself after reading chapter 20. Ever since I was a little girl, all I have wanted to do is move away from ND (or the midwest). I have been focusing on that this semester with finding a job, but the past few weeks I have been contemplating if I truly want to move away, and after reading that chapter it has definitely made me think a lot harder! This book has made me realize how much I enjoy being outside, but never realized how important it is for my health. 


Implications and Affects:
The main point has persisted in these chapters with how important it is to incorporate nature in our lives. It is hard changing your lifestyle if you were never raised with camping or encouraged to go to nature camps, but that doesn't mean it's too late to integrate nature in your life right now! Personally, I remember when I was little and it would blizzard out and I would love looking outside, but feel cozy in my house. I think we all have some type of memory like mine that makes you remember how great nature is! 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 6: Weekly Update

What and How?
My SMART goal is to use my reusable bags 100% of the time I go to the grocery store or other stores for the next 6 weeks, and start checking products I use to become more aware of how hazardous they are. I did a good job of setting aside time last Thursday to look at some products I use. It didn't take much time, but I had to be sure to find some products that are on the list. I didn't bring my bags with me to Walmart last week, but it was because I only got 4 things and I figured I can just carry them anyways!




Successes and Challenges

I was fairy successful last week with my goal. Even when I didn't bring my bags with me, I found a way around getting plastic bags, and did so by carrying the items by hand to my car. This was also a challenge as I didn't have my bags, but I was quick to resolve it. I also succeeded in finding time to look up some products I use to see where I can improve on being environmentally friendly. I just to be doing laundry and noticed an environmentally friendly logo on my SHOUT bottle, but when I looked it up, it was not on the list. It was cool to see that though!




Feelings
I feel really good about continuing to achieve my SMART goal! I have all around been more aware of being eco-chic and love doing it! I feel good about being the person setting an example for others, and makes me feel smarter too!




I Learned
I looked up four products of mine I use and they are Right Guard deodorant, TRESemme hairspray, Garnier Fructis Mousse, and TommyGirl Perfume. The deodorant scored a 5 out of 10 for hazards and deemed to result in developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, and other concerns. My hairspray and perfume had the exact same results consisting of cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, and other concerns. However, my hairspray scored a 5 and my perfume scored a 7 out of 10. As for my mousse, it scored a 9 out of 10 and had potential repercussions of cancer, violations, restrictions, & warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity, and other concerns. This is absolutely crazy to think this could happen to me! I need to keep looking at that website and see what other products I can start to use that can replace those that are less hazardous and that I like to use.

Plans

As far as next week goes, I still plan on keeping my SMART goal exactly the way it is. I feel like I am doing a good job of maintaining it, as well as, becoming more aware of products I'm using by looking them up. On the whole, my goal for next week stays the same with: using my reusable bags 100% of the time I go to any store, and continuing to look up products I can start to veer towards that are better for me.


Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 6 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

Here are my political representatives of the US, ND, and Fargo:

President of US: Barack Obama, Obama's Website
Congressman of ND: Early Pomeroy, Pomeroy's Website
ND Senators: Byron Dorgan, Dorgan's Website; Kent Conrad, Conrad's Website
ND Governor: John Hoeven, Hoeven's Website
ND Senate Legislators, ND House of Representatives Legislators
County Board Presidents
Fargo's Mayor: Dennis Walaker; Walaker's Website

There are more than a few people for the ND Senate and House and the County Board Presidents. If you click on the link, it will direct you to a website of their names. I knew all of the people in the positions above, other than ND Senate and House and County Board Presidents. This is a great way to get students to realize political representatives if they don't know all of them.