Investigating My Favorite Snack Food

After watching the Future of Food, I decided to investigate my favorite snack food Sun Chips. Sun Chips are produced by the Frito-Lay company in 1991. They are multi-grain, fried, rippled chips. I was originally drawn to it because it looked like a healthy snack food because it doesn’t have any cholesterol or trans fats. I really wanted an alternative to greasy, unhealthy, artery clogging chips. “Sun Chips bags note that they carry 6 grams of fat per 1 ounce serving (as opposed to the normal 10 grams of fat per one ounce serving in regular potato chips), and have no cholesterol nor trans fat. Sun Chips also contain 75mg of Potassium per serving. Sun Chips are also labeled as one of PepsiCo's "Smart Choices Made Easy," a list of their products marketed by the company as healthier alternatives to other snack foods”. (Sun Chips)

One thing I did not know about this product is that it contains animal enzymes. “Frito-Lay's web site[3] states that they use enzymes from pigs (porcine enzymes) in some of their seasoned snack products to develop "unique flavors". (Sun Chips) I am a vegetarian so I am not pleased with this information. I don’t think people would expect animal products to be included in chips. I think I really need to research what I am eating because these days you never know. However, I did find out that they support the Susan G. Komen charity. Also, in 2010 they made their chip bags out of biodegradable materials.

I have discovery from their main web site that they are really environmentally friendly. Their plant in Modesto, California, one plant out of the eight they have, uses solar energy instead of fossil fuels to make Sun Chips. They are also building a plant in Greensburg, Kansas to participate in rebuilding the greenest town in America! They are also partnering with National Geographic to co-sponsor the Green Effect that will award $20,000 to the group who makes the best proposals for making their community greener. Their main website contains a lot of information on how they participate in “The Green Effect”. So my favorite snack food is holding up well environmentally. I think this is an excellent example of a company being environmentally responsible. I hope that everyone check’s out their website and supports their company.
http://www.sunchips.com/index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Chips

ECHO Field Trip

Echo is an organization that assists farmers and communities all over the world. They teach communities how to survive by educating them on alternative ways in which to farm. Echo also provides poor farmers with seeds in which to start crops. Through extensive research, they find crops that will grow in various climates.

It is essential to Echo that everything they use must be multifunctional. For instance, the bambo they grow is utilized to make fenses, to use as tools, or to eat.

Above is a picture of a rice crop. They have two different types of crops. One that utilizes the standard technique which requires the soil to be saturated. The other rice crop only requires that the soil is damp. This allows rice crops to be grown in areas that don't have access to a lot of water.

Since there are different terrains acrosss the world, Echo had built a mound so they can practice techniques on farming on mountains and hills.

Below is an example of raised bed gardens. Raised bed gardens reduces the damage that is caused by flooding and it improves soil fertility.

Not only does Echo teach people how to farm but they also try and help solve problems that farmers are confronted with. Sometimes farmers have trouble keeping their livestock from eating their crops. So Echo came up with a Zero Graze Unit that protects crops from animals and provides for the collection of manure.

They have a wide variety of crops to meet the needs of farmers all over the world as seen in this picture.

Above is a picture of my guide Laura doing a demonstration of how an irrigation pump works. An irrigation pump can radically improve a family's life by providing them with water without needing electricity. Amazingly, they constructed the wheel of this pump with a bicycle tire.


Below is another example of an irrigation technique for a small crop. This type disburses water efficiently and evenly.

As stated previously, Echo uses everything as a resource including manure. Below pictured is a biogas digester which removes methane gas from manure which creating an alternative energy source.

And these are the little manure producers!!!

So cute! These goats provide vital manure. Manure can be used for alternative energy or for fertilizing the soil. They use the animal droppings from all animals on the farm incuding the ducks and goat.

I can't keep a plant alive with expensive soil and fertilizers and they've found a way to use fabric and old cans to grow their plants. A wick garden is a method of growing plants in which they use fabric to conduct water throughout a garden bed.

Echo has designed an alternative to allow crops to grow in urban environments. Here they have used a tire, a sock and aluminum cans to create a crop.

Below is an example of a typical "home" in Haiti which usually holds approximately nine people.

It really shows how impoverished Haiti is and how little they have to work with. It's great that an orginzation such as Echo is helping farmers all over the world.


I had a wonderful time a Echo and really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot.