Creating the next step...

The second and final unit of our STEAM course, Economics, has finally come to an end and I must say, its been pretty interesting. From calculating interest and inflation to learning about the wonders of doughnut economics, everything I learned this unit is perfect for starting my life as a new adult. When reading the book Doughnut Economics, written by Kate Raworth, we dove into all 7 chapters that encourage readers to think like a modern-day economist and provide ways for us to change our economy for the better. This Action project was all about writing the 8th chapter of that book. Write the 8th and final chapter of the book that focuses around a specific idea that can change our economy for the better. That was the task, and I think I executed it pretty well. Below you will find my chapter 8 summary, commentary, and an image relating to the chapter. Enjoy!!

JH, Redistribute for social prosperity, Noun Project, Marie Neurath

Summary:

When thinking about a functioning economy, there are three key features to keep in mind. The flow of the economy, or how well the system in place for making things function, works; The second is the social fluidity of the economy; How people are divided or included in the economy, how communication for work happens, and how much feedback is implemented into the change the economy inevitably has to undergo. After these three factors are considered, then we can effectively review the economy and rate it as good, bad, effective, efficient, or in need of big changes or even replacement. All three of these factors are overarching themes of two big problems that our current economy faces even with new changes in production. Food waste and obliviously throwing away recyclable products are causing a social divide in our supposedly thriving economy and here’s how: Our food production has always been lower than both our food our population growth, thus only allowing for only a few people to consume. Considering this, why is so much of our food wasted? Restaurants throw away an average of 10 percent of the food they purchase. They throw it away simply because they can’t get it to customers before they close because the food is slightly “bad” according to regulation and whatever reasons they may have. The worst part about it is, this is food that could go to the millions across the U.S that are starved, poor, or in a position where they need this food. Waste from reusable materials could be used to house homeless people, to produce more products, or even be used as fuel somehow.


Commentary:

One of the most prominent features of a modern-day economist is looking at our economy and trying to discern between what is bad and what is good. After identifying these two things, a modern-day economist would look for ways to implement new methods to change the “wrong” they see in the economy. Another way of thinking that modern-day economists should add to their repertoire is trying to use what we have to change as opposed to adding more to overpower the wrong we have. That’s what this 8th chapter is all about. The “wrong” is the complete waste of food that we produce, as well as the waste of recyclable resources we have. We waste these things and throw them away while there are still people; whole communities, rather, that could make great use of what we throw away. The change that we can implement is utilizing this current system and just restructuring it so that these things aren’t being wasted and rather used to their fullest potential. We can redistribute the food we waste to poor communities and starving communities. Obviously, the idea would use perfectly good food that is thrown out by culinary establishments and such. For the repurposable waste like plastic, glass, and such, we could become a recycling society where all of that is repurposed and used to make new things.

In a TED Talk that Kate Raworth gave on how to become a modern-day economist, she said, “You want to be an economist? Fantastic, leave money aside for a moment, let’s leave money aside for a moment. Let’s talk about human well-being and what it takes to achieve that. That each of us has human rights and what it takes to achieve that.” She would co-sign this chapter as it is aiming to achieve just that. In our world, making money has seemed to be more important than the betterment of human beings as a whole. People have been cast aside and used to ensure the prosperity of the rich. Chapter 8 aims to eradicate this idea by killing two birds with one stone. Eliminating the severity of world hunger through redistribution of careless discarding of food, and repurposing materials that only pollute our planet when thrown away. A popular 18th-century economist, Thomas Malthus, even had an interesting theory about population growth versus our food production, consumption, and neglect. In an article written about the Malthusian theory, “The relationship between food production and food supply was first expressed by an English Economist called Thomas Robert Malthus. Malthus stated that population increased in a geometric progression while food production increased in arithmetic progression” Even back then, we could see our food production, consumption, and neglect as an issue in relation to the rate of population growth. Malthus noticed this was a problem then and would become an even greater problem in the future, which it has.

According to resources provided by nutritionconnect.org, over 80 billion pounds of food is thrown away each year. That’s more than 40 percent of the U.S’s food supply wasted because of “seemingly reasonable” policies. Not being able to serve people or provide food past a certain time and throwing out the surplus, Processed products going a day over the expiration, but obviously still good. Even the fact that certain foods are thrown away because of how they appear even though they are perfectly fine to eat. These are all policies that can lead to the excessive amount of food waste the U.S produces, annually. There’s even a great service already dedicated to lessening the amount of food waste and container waste that we produce. ToGoodToGo is working feverishly towards that goal. With their website, culinary establishments are getting the option to sell their surplus food for significantly less, but for a profit nonetheless. This is a good solution that benefits both profit and the betterment of us as a society. Looking at this issue from the perspective of a modern-day economist is a very good approach because it can eliminate the problem, and if not, at least it would lessen it dramatically. Focusing on these two aspects of socio-economic effect even directly relates to SDG(sustainable development goal) number 2. Although it directly aids the progress of achieving SDG2, there’s a domino effect that could transpire, thus affecting SDG 1(no poverty), SDG 3(good health and well being), SDG 8(decent work and economic growth), SDG 10(reduced inequalities), SDG 11(sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 12(responsible consumption and production).


Sources:

The Reality of Food Waste at Restaurants | Move For Hunger. “The Reality of Food Waste at Restaurants | Move for Hunger.” Moveforhunger.org, Move For Hunger, 2017, moveforhunger.org/startling-reality-food-waste-restaurants#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20recent%20report,percentage%20is%20recycled%20or%20donated.. Accessed 8 Nov. 2021.
‌https://moveforhunger.org/startling-reality-food-waste-restaurants#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20recent%20report,percentage%20is%20recycled%20or%20donated.


“Land Resource: Food Production.” Ccsu.edu, 2021, web.ccsu.edu/faculty/kyem/GEOG473/5thWeek/Food%20production%20and%20GM%20foods.htm. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.


“Become a Partner.” Toogoodtogo.com, 2020, toogoodtogo.com/en-us/business?utm_medium=search&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=us_b2b_paid_marketing_search_google_brand&utm_content=127049537214&utm_term=too%20good%20to%20go&ad_creative=552063345318&ad_extension=&ad_position=&visitor_device=c&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ad=552063345318&hsa_acc=2882638550&hsa_src=g&hsa_cam=1741014919&hsa_ver=3&hsa_kw=too%20good%20to%20go&hsa_tgt=kwd-329997651495&hsa_grp=127049537214&hsa_mt=e&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5oiMBhDtARIsAJi0qk2Z5wjr6mlYuAR2TW2v-nihsvy_5f6AppWICQSFPwxsPrHUUNVn8-8aAuCoEALw_wcB. Accessed 3 Nov. 2021.