The topic of zoos is always a difficult one. Do I enjoy them? Yes. Would I prefer these animals to be in their natural habitats where they are able to express all of their natural behaviours? Yes.

I do feel as though zoos can be beneficial. They create connection between people and animals, increasing the likelihood we will advocate for and protect the animals, while also playing an education role. There is a fine line to the education aspect: give meaningful, interesting information in a way that is not overwhelming, boring or lecture like. The goal is for people to leave with a sense of connection to the animals and recognition of their role/importance, not thinking “this animal is so boring”. Is it ethical to put animals in zoos? This is a difficult question. The easy answer is no. Zoos are far from perfect, I know. The animals can suffer seriously, have much shorter life expectancies and spend their whole lives in a space the size they would cover in 5 minutes in the wild. But there’s a problem, with urbanization, our increasing population always wanting more and consuming more of the land scape, where will the animals go? Many of them lack habitat in the wild, or are at serious risk of being poached/exploited. This connects to the conservation component of zoos. While again it would be ideal for these animals to be out in the wild, some are simple at too high a risk out there.

This now begs the question whether there is any better alternative to zoos, which I’m sure there is. I’m not exactly sure what this is or what it looks like but I’m sure the brilliant minds of the world could come up with a solution. I would think with the shift in our society toward more sustainable, green, animal friendly attitudes, we could see this solution sooner rather than later.

The oceans are beautiful and vast and make up the majority of our planet. Many people dream about swimming in them or vacationing near them, but how have we impacted them? Many of my concerns have been touched upon in lecture; overfishing, pollution (plastic and oil), etc. Additional concerns I have include shark finning and changes to ocean salinity and temperature.

We have left our mark on every inch of this planet; land, ocean and air. These “marks” I’m talking about aren’t things to be proud of. To many, fish are merely food or just creatures out there with a seemingly endless population due to the vastness of their environment and our lack of frequent interaction with them. I feel as though this has to do with lack of information stemming from the lack of connection we feel to them. Who’s favourite animated character or stuffed animal was a fish? No one I know. No one considers the role fish play in the oceans or how vastly different our oceans would be without them. Another “connection” problem to the ocean revolves around sharks. People see sharks as big, bad, murderous creatures. Us, polar bears and lions could also fit into this description, but it seems to be reserved only for sharks. Sharks, like the rest of us, have a role to play. Stay out of their environment and you’ll be fine, or be aware of the risks and be prepared to take your chances. There is a perception that sharks attack people much more frequently than they do, which is why some people are less outraged by shark finning than they are by the de-tusking of elephants for use of the ivory. These creatures have their fins sliced off then are thrown back into the water alive to sink to the bottom and die, and for what, a bowl of soup? This is so unimaginably cruel and we should be outraged.

People love going to places like SeaWorld to see the fish, dolphins, whales and other marine life but we have no problem polluting their natural habitats.
I feel as though people view the oceans as vast, pristine portions of our planet and therefore aren’t concerned or are oblivious to the problem. We spill oil in there, we throw our plastic in there, we pollute the atmosphere causing increases in temperature and melting ice which reduces salt concentrations further changing the habitat – whether intentional or accidental, it’s happening. We cannot continue on and not consider the consequences of our actions. We’ve abused and pushed the planet to a breaking point. Honestly, while I have a vision for a better, brighter future, I sometimes feel helpless and unsure of what the actual outcome will be. I sign petitions and try to spread awareness where I can, but these small acts feel like just that, small. I wish I had some brilliant idea to solve all of our problems, but I don’t. However, I will continue to support others who do in an attempt to better our oceans and our planet. I believe we are capable of better and we are on that path, I just hope we have enough time.

In my household there are three people: my mom, my older brother and I (four if we included our dog which we usually do).My brother and I are both students who still live at home making my mom in charge of groceries with our input of course.

What do I like about my food system? First, we always have food in our house, which is something I don’t take for granted. We also always have a variety of different foods in our house, from fruits, nuts, bread and vegetables to cheese, eggs, chicken and beef. Having this diversity of products allows us to meet our nutritional needs. Various different types of foods and ingredients also allows you to create various dishes/meals, keeping things interesting and tasty. We rarely eat out/order in/eat fast food which is both good for our health, the environment and finances. Little if any food waste is produced in our household thanks to my brother and our dog, Bugatti, who my mom and I lovingly refer to as garburators. On a more personal level, I have recently started to incorporate more vegetables and fruits into my daily diet for both health and environmental reasons.

What do I dislike about my food system? I wish I ate less meat for both environmental and ethical reasons. I am an animal lover but am also often referred to by my family as a carnivore, which is very conflicting. I can’t think of what I am eating as the animal it once was. Much of what we buy is from the Superstore as it is close to our house, very little of what we buy is local or organic. This is due to two reasons: convenience and cost. As I’ve already said the store is close to us, just down our street with various food options making it very accessible and convenient. I’ve also previously alluded to the fact the my mom is a single parent, making finances slightly tighter. This has caused us to sacrifice the environment and equity aspects of our food system for cost and nutrition. I wish we shopped more locally and bought more organic items mostly for environmental reasons, but there is an associated cost.

Overall, I would say I am happy with my food system as my needs are met but definitely recognize there is room for improvement to strive toward in the future!