February 2014 Blog Posts (154)

In order to increase food security for someone around me there are numerous steps I can take. Earlier this week, I took one of my friends to dinner at Zoe's Kitchen. I paid for her meal and we both enjoyed a delicious, healthy dinner. One of the most important things I've learned during this mission about food security is that it's not only important for people to have access to food, but access to healthy food. It does no good to eat 3 meals a day if they are filled with artificial…

Like many communities in the United States, Gainesville is no stranger to problems with food security. According to an article published in the Gainesville Sun in 2009, there are roughly 28,000 citizens of Alachua County utilizing government issued food stamps and this number is growing every year. What does this fact mean to me? Initially, it stuns me to think there are so many people who need this assistance to feed their family and maintain their health. It also makes me want to become…

One significant aspect of food security is the assuring the safety of commercialized and refined food products, particularly Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's). In the United States, produce companies are not required to label GMO's accordingly however it is estimated that 75% of corn and 85% of our soybean crop is genetically modified.

Recently local groups organized for a protest against the largest GMO's producer in the world, Monsanto. I participated in the protest where many…

Instead of following a leader on the Internet, I followed a leader in my community. His name is Jared Ginsburg and he is service leader in a mentoring program at Lincoln Middle School in Gainesville. His organization, Greenhouse Ministries, has been working with students at Lincoln for several years. In our training session before our first mentoring session, Jared told us, "this is the trenches where the next generation of poverty will be fought." His words really resonated with me. I, like…

In my region, the most likely disaster to occur is a hurricane. If a big enough hurricane hits, the massive winds and storm can cause great damage along with serious flooding. When I was younger, hurricanes had hit our area so hard that people's property and many roads flooded. Many people were left without electricity or an easily accessible way to leave/return to their homes. Some people's properties were so flooded that they had to boat to and from there house. Ourselves and our neighbors…

It's the year 2020, six years since I helped the young 4-H girl apply to college. She is now graduating from college with her Master's degree and already has a job secured as a 4-H extension agent. In her new position, she will be empowering youth every single day. She will help young boys and young girls to become the best that they can be. She is graduating with honors from her university and is eagerly awaiting to start her new job. She has already developed a new curriculum about…

Although Evoke is constantly working to help empower women around the world, I've also done some work of my own helping to empower women in my own community. Through my county's 4-H program, I have been able to both participate as a 4-H'er and now volunteer as a 4-H leader. 4-H helps children grow in knowledge and skill in many various areas, all as a part of youth development. Through this organization, I have been able to develop my own skills and knowledge as well as help other younger…

When the Philippines were hit by Typhoon Haiyan late last year, at least 15 million people were affected by its destruction. Many of the people affected were women- pregnant, nursing, of reproductive age, etc. The many women who were left homeless, hungy, without family and under many other hard circ**stances are now largely at risk of sexual abuse, trafficking, gender-based violence and unsanitary conditions. In an effort to empower these women to remain safe and healthy in the face of…

I think that the best way to shape the future of money is to develop a globally recognized currency. This would solve matters of opposing currency rates between countries and would allow anyone to spend money (stimulate the economy) in any country. However, in today's world I think the most interesting form of alternative currency is gift cards."Gift certificates and gift cards are considered a form of scrip, or alternative currency, and have become a major way consumers pay for goods and…

This was not this week, however I went to Europe last summer and was able to use a new currency and take part in bartering. This experience was so interesting because when we got off the plane we had to go to a currency office and exchange our US dollars into Euros. I think that it is so interesting that the majority of Europe was able to come together to use the same form of currency. On our trip we were also able to go to a small market and barter for little trinkets.

BREAKING NEWS!:

A small rural county in the U.S.A. has developed their own currency for use among citizens. Gilchrist County in the state of Florida has developed the "Gilchrist Gurrent", a currency strictly for community members. Each resident of Gilchrist County has been given a personal currency ID card. These currency ID's contain the holder's personal photo and name as…

I would create some kind of contest testing people's ability to conserve water. There would be entrants from people across the globe. The person who can conserve the most water doing an array of tasks (showering, brushing teeth, going to the bathroom, eating and drinking) would be the winner. It would encourage people to not waste water.

I chose to friend request Patric Young of the Florida Gators Men's Basketball team on FaceBook. Patric is a role model on and off the court for the Gainesville community and given the team's success this season, the rest of the country is noticing Patric as well. He is not only am amazing basketball player, but he also uses his social media accounts to promote the pediatric care at Shands hospital by posting pictures of him visiting ill children and encouraging people to donate funds to the…

I liked the quote "Learn everything there is to know about the specific context." I think this is a valuable lesson in life because learning should be a life-long habit. Whatever you do and where you are, there are always more things you can learn to better yourself and enhance your life.

My favorite secret is "What you have matters more than what you lack". Accepting this concept is very important as a social innovator because if you focus on what you lack you most likely won't be able to move forward and achieve your goal. Learning to be innovative with what you have can and will allow you to achieve things that you never thought were possible. #LEARN1

In year 2020 I plan on being married, and have two children. I plan on being married to my boyfriend now who is commissioned in the Army. So we will be living wherever he gets stationed. I hope to have a happy life with other military families. My children learning leadership and teamwork through sports, along with learning what freedom is and the price their dad is paying fighting for our country along with men and woman.

When Alchemy calls for the food crisis in Tokyo I hope they my…

My favorite secret is keep learning from your customers. I am a strong believer that we are always learning. We learn from every thing we see. Every event, smell, sight we learn something from. We learn from our experiences. Whether it is good or bad. Its like when we are little and we touch something hot, we burn our finger and learn that that is hot and if we touch that again we will burn our finger. I learn from my elders. I watch what they do and see the results. This also brings in why…

I donated money to charitywater.org, who uses 100% of donations to go to aiding those in need. This is a great organization that uses private donors to run the organization so people like me can get satisfaction in knowing my money is going to the right place.

I learned about the Lifesaver Water Filter while listening to a Ted Talk. The creator, Michael Pritchard, is an engineer who used nanotech technology. He decided to make the problem smaller to work on an individual scale. He created a filter system to give to those without access to clean water. These amazing filters can take the filthiest water possible and make it crystal clean drinking water. You can see his presentation…

My sorority is taking part in a campus wide water security program at the University of Florida called "How Low Can You Go?". We are all encouraged to take part in a competition to reduce the amount of water we consume. We are also encouraged to attend seminars and workshops on how to save more water to reduce the water crisis. To do my part I have worked to take faster showers, turning off the shower while shampooing and conditioning and to turn off the water while brushing my teeth.