Anthropocene : the time that we choose to live in
The definition of Anthropocene from Coral, Camila and Andrea stood up to me due to it’s high connectivity to our everyday lives and how we and our „foodways“ still contribute in creating and sustaining this geological era.
“Our food processes are contributing to this new epoch and all of the changes that it is bringing about.” This sentence from their definition especially stood out to me because it reminded me that we as citizens of this planet have the full capacity to influence the era we live even just by looking at our own food consumption and by getting more curious about different food processes. The era we live in is affected by our choices. Thus we are the creators of it with its benefits and its costs. If we look closer we can see what the Anthropocene and us created as Coral, Camila and Andrea emphasize in their explanation: “global climate change, disruptions in oceanic and atmospheric currents, the disturbance of the water cycle and of other important chemical cycles …, soil degradation, the rapid loss of biological diversity, pollution with toxic and non-degradable substances, all accompanying a continuous growth in the number of humans and their domesticates” (Horn & Bergthaller, 2). All of these consequences were created by us. Hence, we are the ones responsible. And how can we change it? Or at least mitigate such destructive outcomes of our behaviour? Simply, by just looking at our everyday lives and making small changes in our food choices and processing. The first thing you can start with is by looking at your plate and trying to understand the food and all the practises surrounding its production, distribution, consumption that all contribute to the destructive nature of the geological era we live in. One little step can go a long way and it all starts with the initial awareness!
Thank you Coral, Camila and Andrea for defining Anthropocene in a way that made me reflect on my own life.
Hi, I was also attracted by the term Anthropocene. I was first introduced to the concept in a geography class (GEOG 310). In that class, we explore sustainability, climate change and the role of humans. When I learned that we care about Climate change because it affects human beings, we wouldn’t be talking about it if our life was not at risk. However, as we as a generation won’t feel the impacts, we don’t take action. The term, however, is human-centred.
Another thing that caught my attention is that both the team and you address soil degradation in your definition/reflection. I think that SOIL is very often underlooked. I have taken most of the Soil classes at UBC, and it is one of my main areas of interest. So, reading that both of you included soil made me smile. Despite different technologies, most of our food today still use soil as a medium to grow. Therefore, having healthy soils is imperative if we want to feed our growing population.
Hi Katerina!
I’m glad that you found our definition so interesting, I certainly enjoyed doing the research in order to write it. I was also impacted by the idea that the very choices that we make every day have the power to affect the era that we live in. Furthermore, it reinforced the idea that our choices have the power to affect future eras, that future civilizations will live in. I agree that one little step can make a huge difference, especially if it’s one small step taken by a large group of people! You never know what could tip the balance, so we should do our best to educate ourselves on how we live our lives and what those systems actually involve. From there we can start to make decisions about what needs to be changed in order to slow down or reverse some of those negative consequences we’re seeing now.