Organic Food: Yay or Nay?

Do we know what goes into our food? The answer to that is no. We only know what goes into our food if we grow it ourselves or if it’s organic. But the thing is, nowadays things that say organic on the packaging are probably not 100% organic. All foods have some kind of connection with the industrial food chain. The industrial food chain is a chain in which food products with artificial chemicals and fertilizers are incorporated into our food. It’s not the healthiest option but it is a lot cheaper. Personally, I think we should move away from the industrial food chain and start aiming towards organic food. Although some people can argue that too expensive and not worth the money, organic food is healthier and reduces our carbon footprint.

Some people can argue that there is no difference between organic and non-organic foods but they have been proven wrong. Organic food is much more healthier for your body than non-organic foods. Non-organic foods have been coated in pesticides spray so the bugs didn’t eat the mass amounts of food being produced at the time so now, when you eat a non-organic apple, you are intaking a chemical compound called Organophosphorus which from scientific data proves that this chemical can lead to autism and ADHD. Organic food can also increase your heart health as cows grazing on grass leads to an increase CLA which is a heart healthy fatty acid that boost cardiovascular protection which makes your heart generally stronger and much healthy. From seeing all the benefits of organic food, why would people want to buy non-organic foods? Artificial chemicals are dangerous to us and the environment.

Non-organic foods have been created with artificial chemicals and fertilizers. Some chemicals from artificial fertilizers can be toxic to the environment. An example of this would be the pollution of streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. When we spray our crops with different chemicals and fertilizers because we don’t want bugs to eat them, all the excess nutrients from the fertilizer runs off into our waterways, this cause algae to bloom that is sometimes big enough to make waterways impassable. When this algae dies, it sinks to the bottom of the waterway and decomposes in a process that removes all oxygen from the water. This means that all aquatic species can’t survive in certain water areas called ‘dead zones’, so they either die or move to greener underwater spaces with more oxygen. From reading this you might think that this won’t affect you in any way but you are wrong. When the chemicals from the fertilizers get into the waterways, the fish ingest them and become infected with the chemicals. Humans who eat these infected fish can become ill and infected, completing the circle that started from pollution from the fertilizers. These fertilizers that are keeping these crops from being eaten, is making a massive impact on the environment.

Even though organic foods are much better in many ways, people still seem to be bying non-organic producers rather than organic. The answer is simple. Non-organic foods are much cheaper as they haven’t been made with a lot of effort and are made in larger quantities. Imagine you had two apples, one in each hand. One was organic and one wasn’t. The organic apple was 3 dollars and the non-organic apple was a dollar. Which one would you choose? They look the same, taste the same, are the same weight and are the exact same size, why would you want to spend 2 more dollars on the exact same product? People usually choose the cheaper products because they feel there is either they feel like they are wasting money or they don’t think there is any difference but the truth is they are eating toxic chemicals and are not getting the proper nutrients. Most people in the world are not in that top 1% that can afford more and are very privileged. Most can’t afford to buy organic products because they are more expensive. Most people have families to feed and don’t have enough money to buy their kids organic apples so the simple solution would be to buy the cheaper products.

To sum this up, organic foods has it’s positives and negatives but I think that if we overlooked the price of organic foods and saw all the benefits organic food had on our body and the environment, we would want to stop buying cheap, unhealthy non-organic foods and switch to organic. Even though it would be very hard to stop the industrial food chain, maybe we could prevent the use of chemicals and fertilizers and switch to a more organic farming method, meaning it won’t have an impact on our bodies and the environment. Next time you go into your local supermarket, try and buy more organic, healthy and sustainable products so you know that in your heart, you helped the environment and your body become more healthy.

Hunger Games & Safe and Sound

Everyone has felt they needed someone to tell them that everything is going to be okay. That they will survive and will feel safe again. Suzanne Collins and Taylor Swift use this universal human feeling in the book “The Hunger Games’ and the song “Safe and Sound”. In “The Hunger Games”, Katniss is lonely in the arena and doesn't feel safe, like she won't ever see daylight again. In the song “Safe and Sound”, it’s trying to teach us all a message that even if nobody comes up to you and says that everything is okay, you can reassure yourself that it’ll be alright. You have the power inside you. In both “The Hunger Games” and “Safe and Sound’” we learn that everyone has felt scared in their lives, but sometimes we need to know that everything is going to be alright, even if nobody tells us.

A common theme between both texts is the feeling of doubt and not being safe. The feeling of, if no one says something, anything, it’s wrong. In “The Hunger Games”, Katniss is continuously doubting herself. She doesn’t think she is good enough to win the battle against the other tributes, but mainly the fight between herself. ‘I can’t win. I know it in my heart’. She tells herself no because no one said yes. Yes, that she was strong and capable of winning for her family, for her district, but mainly for herself. And in the song “Safe and Sound’ the speaker says ‘The war outside our door keeps raging on. Hold onto this lullaby.’ These two lines suggest that someone is scared about the war which has started. Either physical or mentally. The speaker knows something big is going to happen but says it’s going to be all right. Even if someone doesn’t mean it when they say yes, it still has an impact on the person receiving the message as they believe that it’s possible.

Although both texts show us that we can tell ourselves things are going to be okay, there are differences between how the theme occurs in the two texts. In ‘The Hunger Games,” Collins shows us that the tributes in the arena, especially Katniss were scared because no one said yes but it was just for the public. A country tradition that gave the public a good show to talk about until the next annual Hunger Games. ‘It’s just for fun.’ In contrast to ‘The Hunger Games,” and the song “Safe and Sound” made it seem like from the speaker's perspective that people were doubting themselves still because of the people in charge but it’s not a joke. ‘The war outside’. From the context of the song, it seems like this person who the song is talking about has been fighting a battle either physically or mentally for a long time and need reassurance that everything will be alright.

In both the book “The Hunger Games” and the song “Safe and Sound,” I can surely say that the theme can mean the same thing as it’s trying to teach their readers or listeners the same message, the outcome of the messages on the characters himself in the text, are different. Whether it’s just for fun, or something that could potentially be life threatening. I think that the message Suzanne Collins and Taylor Swift are trying to teach their readers is a very important message but the way the readers read or listen to the text, can interpret the message in different ways. Some of those ways could include if you don’t say yes, it could be life-threatening or something that they would take in their stride and potentially make them stronger.

Spirit Days at UWCSEA

On the 28th of October 2015, at UWCSEA east campus, all middle school students got the chance to dress up for twin day. Twin day was one of the three dress up days decided by the middle school community. The two other dress up days included Pyjama Day and Halloween Day. Spirit days at UWC represent the community and brings everyone together. Everybody asks each other about their costumes and there is a big buzz around the middle school. When the day finally came when middle school students could dress up, students and teachers would comment on unique costumes and talk about all the small things. On student said “I love seeing everyone dressing up, everybody put so much effort into everything!” Another said “”It’s so exciting to dress up! It makes school much more fun.” Students at UWCSEA love spirit days because it brings everyone together.

Spirit days don't just bring students together. Spirit days bring classes and whole grades together. One of the grades in middle school that really glued together were the Grade 8’s. There was lots of pressure on the Grade 8’s as of the dragon’s cup. Dragon’s cup is an new exciting and exhilarating competition between the Grade 8 Mentor groups. On the 28th of October, each mentor groups were going all out on costumes to win the most dragon points. Dragon points are awarded to the mentor groups that has the most people dress up and also with the most spirit, skill and determination throughout the day. Whichever mentor with the most points at the end of the year wins a trophy and a pizza party. By adding dragon cup points, most Grade 8 UWCSEA students wanted their class to win so everyone tried to some up with the best costumes. This shows grade school spirit but does this mean that students are just putting on a show for the points? Or for actual team spirit. Does this mean that spirit days are going to better with dragon points on the line. Will spirit days never be the same again?

Spirit days might never be the same again and neither might someone’s purity. Do parents have a say in spirit days? Do they have a say on whether or not you're going to do your homework? Most mothers would say something along the lines of “Why are you sending so much time on that costume! Why not do your homework! Don’t you want to get a good grade?” Others would say something like “Get your priorities right! You don’t need to know how to be a fashion designer, you just need to know how to do math so you can get a good job!” Spirit days are supposed to be fun but then why would someone be getting told off for spending lots of time on a costume? Just to get the dragon points. To solve this problem, someone would have to stop the dragon cup. But would that be the right decision?

Teenage Insecurity

Oh the things we do to fit in. We go so far but really? How far are we going?

It’s a Wednesday afternoon and a girl is crying in the bathroom alone because she doesn’t feel good enough. She put in so much effort into studying at home but she get’s a 4 in her test. She decides to lie to her parents because she doesn’t want to let them down. She lied to the people closest to her. But why?

Feeling like you're not good enough is very common. A middle school student quotes, “Because we have access to the internet, we have created this perfect body image that nobody can achieve”. This evidence signifies that if a girl doesn’t feel like she meets the standard of the perfect girl, then she is useless and isn’t perfect but then again, nobody is perfect. Middle school girls can feel many different ways. Like they’re not smart enough, popular enough, fun enough, good enough for anyone and anything. They can feel like this at home, at school, with their friends and when they’re alone.

More and more teens are feeling insecure everyday and one of the main factors of this is social media. Most girls have social media. According to Jon Negroni, he says that “Bragging can cause low self-esteem. As a result of this, it’s not just bragging anymore, it’s become a social competition.” Teens go on social media and see what other people are doing and how much fun they’re having. This causes them to feel left out and them wanting what that person has. But why would we want what others have when we could have just as much as them.

Why can’t we accept what we have and what we don’t have. Why do we have the want for everything else? Why can't we accept what we have and who we are and not try to change because everybody is perfect and nobody should have the want to change to get someone’s approval.

Social media does have its’ pros and cons for example seeing what your family is doing and keeping in touch with friends but then again, social media can lead to insecurity and in major cases depression. Social media can be perceived in many different ways, many good and many bad. That’s all up to the person who is affected by social media in the first place.

Another factor that plays a big role with insecurity and teens is not talking to their parents/ guardians. 7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or measure up to their parents expectations. What is revealed here is that girls need to talk to their parents about their expectations and what they can and cannot achieve. Being scared about your parents is not the way to go. The top wishes among teenage girls is to communicate with their parents better.

This indicates that if teens just talked to their parents, they wouldn’t have to be insecure about most the things they are with. They wouldn’t need to be scared of not looking good enough for their friends, for getting the best grade on a test and fitting in. Because if girls just talked to their parents, they could receive some great advice which would help them in the future, for anything. Talking to your parents could be the easiest remedy for teen insecurity.

If you are feeling insecure for whatever reason, try talking to the people closest to you. For example your parents/ guardian, teachers or friends. They will understand what you're going through and will want to help you as much as they can. Another thing to try is disconnecting from social media for a while. Enjoy your life as it is and not what other people are doing in tiny minescule pictures on your screen. If you want to wear something or do your hair in a different way, just do it. Nobody should care what people think because if you like it, then that's what matters. What matters is that you're happy and that you are living life to the extreme.

We need strong empowered woman in this world and if girls are feeling insecure about how they look, the world is going to crumble. Yes boys do work and put in the effort and woman can do the exact same thing as them and in some cases, even better. If girls are insecure, the school will struggle. No one will have a strong opinion about how girls are treated and act making the boys push the girls around. Girls should be able to stand up for themselves but if everyone is insecure and afraid, then how are girls going to stand up for themselves in the real world past school?

What if most of the girls in the world were insecure, what would the world look like? Girls would have no rights or any privileges.  If you know you are insecure or know somebody who does feel insecure, talk to them and all of their problems could be solved. You just need to talk.