ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Francis Wardle's comment on this Exchange landed on the wrong page, so I'm copying it here to respond: "My feedback is for the article on the environmental impact of different foods and drinks...I would like to see the algorithm they used. I bet no farmers were involved in this study! My brother owns an organic farm in Wales, where he has sheep, cattle, and used to have pigs. He no longer has pigs (pork) because pigs destroy the land they are on (the reason pigs have rings in their noses). His farm is very ecological - not like an industrial farm. On the face of it this study makes little sense to me - and is the kind of "academic" approach he and other farmers dislike!"
Francis, as always, you shine a light on the importance of context and deep thinking. I should have mentioned they were aiming to help consumers who are making decisions about multi-ingredient products. The algorithm they adapted is from https://www.hestia.earth. They then made their own tool to assess relative quantities of individual ingredients. So of course, anyone who cultivates and eats 'close to the land' and uses organic methods is going to have a lower impact than someone who purchases a bag of potato onion crisps. Many people aren't so fortunate to work on or live close enough to farms or gardens, nor to be able to afford purchasing them. All societal issues I would love to see us address and shift. (If you're curious about how this can happen on a medium scale, check out the cover story on Spaces of Opportunity from the May/June issue of Exchange. I think you'd appreciate what they are doing. http://www.exchangepress.com/article/spaces-of-opportunity-redefining-learning-growth-belonging-and-abundance-in-south-phoenix/5026531/ Again, thanks for exchanging your ideas with us. ALWAYS appreciated!