Abstract The “Standard American Diet” has been a growing health hazard to human health over the years. Each year, more and more unhealthy ingredients are being added to our everyday foods, while less and less healthy ingredients are present. These added ingredients are putting all Americans’ lives at risk for chronic diseases and decreasing our lifespans (6). Critics of food and diet claim that the SAD is only a small contributing factor to diseases later on in life. I believe that what you put into your body is far more important than genetics or lifestyle, due to the amount of […]

Introduction There is no question that global warming and climate change are having a variety of harmful effects on our planet, which can seriously pose threats to life on earth. Temperatures are rising, air quality is changing, and habitats are being destroyed. The main cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels, which can be done in the engine to run your car, and to create energy at power plants to run and fuel your home. Renewable energy is a very plausible way to create this same energy without the harmful effects of fossil fuel combustion. There are […]

Introduction Figure [1] picture of how many bags are used by an average grocery store purchase Imagine the following situation: It’s a Sunday afternoon in your suburban Pennsylvania town, and you’re doing a weekly reset before a busy week. Naturally, you buy a week’s groceries at the local grocery store. When you arrive home you realize you have forgotten eggs. Because it’s only a five-minute drive away, you quickly go and buy enough eggs to last the week. At the checkout, the cashier doesn’t even ask if you’d like a bag and places your one container of eggs you purchased […]

About Me Before I went to college, I had never heard the term “regenerative agriculture” before, and it wasn’t until I came to Bucknell University that my eyes were opened to the potential that regenerative agriculture could have. In my freshman seminar class, we took a tour of the Bucknell Farm. At first I wasn’t very excited about it because I had to walk all the way across campus at eight in the morning, but as the tour concluded, I felt the complete opposite. I felt as if I wanted it to go on forever. While on the tour, Jen, […]

Initial Introduction to Hydroponics: My first exposure to the practice of indoor hydroponic farming was during an entrepreneurship club meeting that was hosted my junior year of high school. As one of the leaders of the club, I decided to host a meeting with the other leaders to further discuss a potential speaker to come talk to the group. Through a family connection one of the members of the group had, we were able to invite the CEO of a local grocery store in our area. When I heard the news that he had agreed to come speak to us, […]

About Me I was in middle school when I first did a project on food coloring. At that age, I adored foods with coloring, as every kid does, even after learning the health risks you take when you ingest them. Every kid dreams of sitting in a room full of bright sugary candy or popular chips. It wasn’t until now, doing similar, but now more advanced research that I realized how prevalent food coloring is in your everyday life. It is sad what our world has come to. The inefficiency in our industries, combined with product scarcity, creates a vicious […]

Introduction Many things are normalized in the United States such as access to clean water, easily accessible food, and unfortunately wasting food. Food waste affects everyone even if they don’t know it. Whether they are causing the problem or being affected by it. Huge amounts of food are also lost simply because we throw it away. Supermarkets, shops, and households simply throw out 35% of the wasted food.[1] This means that around 1.3 million tons of food can be used to help starving people. This number doesn’t just represent the amount of food lost but also the energy, resources, labor, […]

Imagine transforming your health, protecting biodiversity, and preserving the environment—all with a single dietary choice. This is possible by following a plant-based diet. It is evident that a plant-based diet is the ideal diet for positive individual health. They contribute benefits to one’s overall well-being while promoting a healthier planet for all living beings. Although it is clear and certain that plant-based diets have the best effect on the body, it can be argued that a fully non-processed diet has a better effect on the environment. This diet can be plant-based, but it could also be possible to find non-processed animal […]

Imagine something so small that it has attached itself to almost everything around you yet, you can never see it with the naked eye. Imagine blindly consuming toxins that circulate throughout almost every part of your body day in and day out, never conscious of the significant bodily damage taking place inside of you. What I am describing is the unfortunate reality for humans in today’s plastic-obsessed world. Microplastics exist in almost all corners of the environment, and their potential harm to human health and the environment has received increasing attention from the public and the scientific community. Through explaining […]

Introduction The unbelievably low prices of clothing and the super-high sales look enticing and make you think “Oh, why not just buy this cute outfit, it’s only X amount of dollars.” However, once you understand everything that goes on behind the scenes to make inexpensive clothes at a low price, you will think twice about your purchasing decisions. Fast fashion is the “rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing.” (Rashmila, 2024). On the surface, this process seems harmless and efficient, but after starting my research I very quickly realized that this is not the case. There are endless amounts […]