This session informed me of the inner workings of a dairy farm upon visiting a technologically advanced one which made me more aware of the source of my food as I consume meat on a daily basis. Several controversial issues were brought to light such as: Is it right to conduct artificial insemination to create the best possible breed of cow? Should cows be kept indoors, or should they be exposed to the outdoors? This visit also brought to light issues such as farmers not getting equivalent money for the milk that they produce.

What interested me greatly was the organisation of “passports” which allowed the farmers to see records such as family history and how often the cows chose to get milked. This then provided useful information when considering which bull to match with which cow through artificial insemination which I was not previously aware that this system was used in farms. Additionally, when we first arrived and saw all the cows being kept indoors, it did bother me as I believe cows just like all animals should be free to live in their natural environment which for cows would be outdoors, however, I soon realised that the cows were content being indoors through the silence and that they were getting all their needs and being treated extremely well which caters for animal welfare.

Next, we attended a workshop where Sammi Jones, an Education and Engagement Officer, from Soil Association Scotland gave a presentation about Food for Life, soils and Future Farming.

I was thoroughly engaged in this presentation as geography had always been an interest of mine throughout high school, but what really interested me is just how much of our food comes from the soil as “one-quarter of the world’s biodiversity is found in the soil which supports most of the food chains on our planet”. (Sammi Jones, 2016). Furthermore, this linked to issues raised in the lecture whereby overfishing causes specific species to adapt to this sudden change or find other food which impacts the balance of food chains. There will be more competition from species as larger species may eat all the food that smaller species rely on which leads to those species dying out. This issue is significant as the balance of life in the ocean impacts on all life and results in “healthy people, food security, regional stability and a flourishing ‘blue economy’”. (WWF, 2016).

A useful experiment that was brought up by Sammi Jones that could be conducted in the classroom was investigating the effect covered soil has vs no cover to demonstrate the importance of having vegetation on soil. Children can investigate the impact of three different kinds of cover on soil Sammi Jones introduced several effects, one of which included heavy machinery and over-grazing has on soil that is not covered as soil requires nutrients, water and air which is all clogged up as there is no space for plant roots to find these nutrients and grow. Having learned about this, it is important that I continue to expand my knowledge on environmental issues that affect all life caused by human activities and solutions for these issues and other impacts that affect soil and solutions for these in order to correctly educate children and make them aware of concepts such as erosion, contamination, sealing and compacting which were the main issues affecting soil that Sammi Jones brought up.

References

WWF (2016) Oceans [Online] Available: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/our_global_goals/oceans/ [Accessed: 20/10/16]

Sammi Jones (2016) Soil Association Scotland [Module Resource] Available: Sustainable Development module on Moodle. [Accessed 20/10/16].