Human Interest

In a time where more people are moving away from their rural roots to try and make it big in the city, I think it's becoming more and more important that we focus on how to utilize our urban surroundings in a beneficial way. These photos are proof that it is possible, and I believe that cities in the United States should be more open to urban farming. It could be a way to not only take pressure off of families in cities trying to feed their children, but will also educate all sorts of people on where food comes from, and the importance of the environment. 

Urban agriculture is a reality in third world countries. In Dominican Republic almost everyone in the country side have its own land to plant necessary food and fruits. The most popular is plantain and fruit is orange.

In urban areas is rare to see this, so is surprising to see how central Asians are doing it.

I love Yann Arthus-Bertrand's photography; so many of them are geography lessons in and of themselves as he captures compelling images of the cultural landscape.  This particular gallery shows 32 stunning images including this one above showing urban agriculture in Geneva, Switzerland.    

"Worldwide, there are 800 million amateur farmers in built-up areas. In estates in south eastern Asia and some towns in central and South America, many people depend on this activity for survival. It’s the same story in Europe; in Berlin there are more than 80,000 urban farmers, and in Russia more than 72% of all urban homes till their own patch of land, balcony or even roof. Urban agriculture is on the [rise] and there could be twice as many people enjoying it within twenty years."

Tags: agriculture, food, landscape, images, urban, unit 5 agriculture, unit 7 cities. 

I used to teach students about the surprising water crises in central and SE Wisconsin, one of the most water-rich states in the US. They were always blown away. Now, teaching in CO, everyone seems to have an awareness (anxiety?) about local water scarcity. This story, though, has more of a national, even global scope. 

Thanks to my good friend, Seth Dixon for the original scoop.  There had been quite a bit of news reporting on the drought in central California this year, but this midwestern region has been experiencing water stress for years with little national attention.  I plan to use this article in both an upcoming presentation as well as an example when I teach "Tragedy of the Commons" in my Environmental Dilemma class.

Good to compare to how we use water resources in Australia

It is amazing what irrigation can produce.  The border between China and Kazakhstan is a perfect picture of land with irrigation and one without supplied water.  Eastern Kasakhstan has farmland but it is only subsidized by natural rainfall whereas on the greener Chinese side of the border it is supplemented with water by the farmers.  Great picture!

Seeing such a striking difference between two countries that are so close together is strange and thought-provoking. Knowing a little bit about the two countries can make a world of difference, though. In this case, we have China and Kazakhstan, two countries located in East/Central Asia. Kazakhstan borders China to the west, along the northern part of its western border. Much of China's inland land use is devoted to agriculture, as the majority of its industry is located near its coast. This is evident by the amount of green space seen in the satellite image above. With well over a billion people to feed, China needs to make use of as much of its arable land as possible. Kazakhstan, on the other hand is a much smaller country with much less land devoted to agriculture. Its farmland is mostly large and industrial, as a result of Soviet-era farming and is rain-fed rather than irrigated, like China's.

Knowing the history as well as the economic strengths of a country can therefore be useful in interpreting satellite images such as the one in this article. A lack of knowledge about China and Kazakhstan's economy and history may lead to an assumption that the Chinese are just better farmers than the Kazakhs. This is of course not necessarily true, but what is true is that China has a much larger and more immediate need for agriculture than does Kazakhstan and so devotes more of its land, time, and energy to farming. Likewise, it shouldn't be assumed that Kazakhstan has no need for agriculture at all. Instead, its history has largely influenced its economic strengths and needs, and the result is a country that looks very different from China. 

It's crazy to see how much human influences can reshape the landscape, or how things we tend to think of in more abstract terms- like national boundaries- can be very physical in nature. I liked reading about the differing agricultural approaches the two nations take, and being able to see the physical manifestations of those two different approaches so obviously. It's impressive to think that China is able to support such a massive population- one in every 5 people alive on the planet is Chinese- with so little land, and the consequences are plain to see in the image above. Increased irrigation efforts leads to the unnaturally bright green patches in the middle of a relatively dry area, serving as a symbol of man's attempts to bind mother nature to his will. Although not always successful, such attempts appear to be working well here. In contrast, Kazakhstan's population demands vary wildly from that of China's, and its solution for feeding its people can therefore take a more natural, backroads approach, with food production concentrated in a few areas. I wonder what other international borders can be seen so neatly with the naked eye.

there is also a negative side affect on this and that is now that planting marijuana is not making any money for the growers it is time to move to bigger and more dangerous stuff. The united states though the government  will not admit to, has a major drug usage problem and so it would be time to bring in another form of drug to make a profit. every so often there is something new that pops up on the streets and Americans want to experience them.

Events that we think of as local (Washington and Colorado legalizing marijuana use) have national and global implications, especially in a globalized economy.  This article is but one example of why geographers try to approach every issue at a variety of scales to more fully comprehend the ramifications and ripple effects of any given phenomenon. 

Tags: Mexico, narcotics, scale.