A Man on a Misson

             Did you think our IHSS challenge project was difficult? For his "challenge project", Rob Greenfield is on a mission to dedicate a year of his life to solely eating food that he has either foraged or harvested. This massive project required an abundance of preparation including meeting with knowledgeable local farmers, reading various books surrounding flora, attending classes and even watching Youtube videos. Using his bike as a main source of transportation, he is not limited to the boundaries of Florida but instead travels nationwide in search of foods that provide to his restrictive diet. Since he frequently needs to ask owners of properties for permission to take fruit from their trees, he is inspiring individuals to start their own gardens as well. He is proving that food from nature is just as safe as produce from local grocery stores (which is not, in fact, pesticide free). Going from never eating a completely natural meals in a day to surviving by eating only foraged/harvested food for 100 days, Greenfield knows change is possible. He has hope that, by looking at life through a new lense, society can succeed in transitioning from an industrial food system, to a resource -beneficial routine.
           The way Greenfield gathers food is similar to how early tribes and developing civilizations searched for food. They could not just drive up to a fast food conduct, order a large burger with a side of fries and strawberry shake and zoom away. Contrarily, in order to survive, they were forced to support themselves by taking advantage of natural resources. In a way, Greenfield is demonstrating the first process in which these tribes gathered food: in a hunter-gatherer style. However, as more and more people are inspired to return to a nomadic lifestyle, together, we can become more of an agricultural society. As we learned while reading Guns, Germs and Steel, the development of farming quickly led to various societal advancements such as writing, currency, political organization, property ownership, etc. 
            Another way in which this article relates to what we have learned in IHSS is our challenge project. Greenfield needed to partake in heavy loads of preparation in order to learn how to harvest his food. After all, he had never even gone a full day eating only all natural food. Just like many students struggled in taking action, he has to figure out how to maintain a sufficient amount of starch and nutrients in his diet as well as also to face individuals who shared different beliefs than he did. For example, some individuals argue that we could be contaminated by pesticides if we were to revert back to a hunter gatherer lifestyle. 
           In conclusion, just like our challenge project, Greenfield's hope was to make a difference and impact others about a topic he is passionate about. While he himself went to the extreme, his one wish for others was that they would be inspired to maybe plant a small tomato plant or start a simple garden on their balcony. He even shares his recipes online, eager to inspire others. His overall goal was to open the world's eyes to the abundance of energy used by our nation alone. Shockingly, 25% percent of the world's resources are being used up by the United States, a country representing only who 5% of the world's population. Through determination, teamwork, and grit, Rob Greenfield knows that this number can change.

Article
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/rob-greenfield-of-orlando-florida-eats-only-what-he-grows-forages/

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