What should cities do to address the problem of excess food waste?
Cities should encourage educational campaigns amongst shoppers and consumers to acknowledge the invisible psychology of overconsumption, thereby helping to integrate a culture of ethical consumerism. As a result, companies will reduce waste at the production level as well.
More applicable to modern times than ever, there is an increasing need to address consumer culture and evaluate how these values will influence lifestyles and, inevitably, the future of the natural world (Kimmerer 2013 ; Mourad 2016). There are some varying points of views in regards to the elements of culture that have resulted in this overconsumption. Mourad suggests that irresponsible corporate companies are at fault when it comes to manufacturing unsustainable products in the first place (1). However, Kimmerer differs, suggesting that waste can be reduced if kids are taught “to pick [the single grain] up and kiss it” (189).
The following is my revised summary for “The Importance of Urban Forests,” by Amy Fleming.
Amy Fleming’s “The Importance of Urban Forests: Why Money Really Does Grow on Trees,” suggests the potential environmental, financial, mental, and physical impact trees can have on modern living. Referring to public health expert William Bird, Fleming emphasizes the decreasing value of trees within younger generations (5). Bird compares this idea to an “extinction of experience” (qtd. in Fleming 5). In other words, an increasingly scarce number of people will be able to identify with trees as a means of finding groundedness. Due to the stress-relieving qualities of nature, withdrawal from these experiences will become the new normal, resulting in higher levels of anxiety (4). Subsequently, Bird reports that less people will have the “energy to be active” (qtd. in Fleming 5). His point here is that a collective deficiency in self-care will result in increased health care costs. Additionally, as trees become a trivial idea, fewer people will understand the ways in which trees can reduce heating and air conditioning costs (2), encourage “empathy and altruism” (Fleming 4), and promote active lifestyles through the reduction of stress (4). Collectively, lack of understanding will put a heavier financial strain on modern living. One way or another, Fleming suggests that “children will ultimately understand and value nature less” (Fleming 5). Therefore, the accumulative lack of understanding for trees will result in unhealthy lifestyles, air pollution, and financial tension for generations to come.
