Don't Soil Our Soil!

Nicole Wojnowski

Prof. Melissa Santos

ENGL 102-037

23 March 2017

Don't Soil Our Soil!

            On Monday this week, each student in the class prepared a meal that was of significance or relevant to a tradition or culture. I made a delicious Polish dish called Kopytka which is a potato dumpling that originated from the Eastern Han dynasty but had also taken a different form of dumpling in Poland. After Russia, Prussia, and Austria annexed areas of Poland. The idea of dumplings began to spread out as more countries formed which also helped other countries develop this form of food. I really enjoyed this project as it was neat to learn about other peoples’ cultural background and knowledge. I believe that this was a great way to find connections and similarities between all of us. To tie this into other class discussions, this also gave me the opportunity to shop for organic foods and purchase local brands to support farms and promote the growth of healthy foods.

            Today we viewed a short video titled, “SOS Save Our Soil”, which was very interesting as I had not known how much of an issue, saving our soil really is. As stated in previous blog posts, as the former President of SEA Club, I find this information to be useful and inspiring to me. I feel that I will be more aware about what is beneath my feet and think about how I can help prevent the loss of large amounts of foliage and vegetation. Saving things has always been a hobby of mine whether it’s animals, people, or Earth. It’s very important that we bring these types of things to people’s attention because what we as humans do greatly impacts our environment. Between humans, animals, and the environment, we all work hand-in-hand to continue to keep what we can alive. As discussed in the video, cow manure is a great source of fertilizer and helps bring oxygen and nutrients to the soil to act as a food to keep it “healthy”, as one of the interviewees said while tasting the soil.

If more people became aware of these issues, I feel that more people would become cautious about their everyday decisions. Do you do your part to contribute to a healthy environment? What ways can you go out into your community? Try going online and looking at local organizations that you take part in. You can even try looking at clubs at school! These are all suggestions that in the long run, could be the difference between the life and death of Earth.