Impacts of a Borderless Society

Have you ever bothered to find out where the foods and other products you purchase originated and the resources needed to get them from point A to Point B? How about the ecological and economical impacts that all of this has on our world. I wanted to get an idea of these impacts so I kept track of what I ate for one breakfast and one dinner. My breakfast was pretty simple. I had milk and a bowl of cereal. The milk came from a local farm right next to where I live, in Eugene, Oregon. The cereal was transported from a plant in Chicago, Illinois. My dinner came from all over the U.S. I had Alaskan Cod, which was of course from Alaska and Fettuccine Alfredo from Chicago, Illinois. I also had green beans from Rochester, New York and a beer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All of the items in these two meals originated from different areas in the United States. They were then transported to a Safeway super market in Junction city, Oregon, also in the U.S. It is not always this simple many of the products that you and I enjoy everyday originate in other countries around the world. No matter where the products come from the ecological and economical impacts are still there. Because of a global market, products are being produced in much larger quantities and being shipped around the world. Think of the fuel that is required to transport and the large scale of pesticides that are being used. How many trees were cut down to make room for grazing herds? These are just a few of the impacts. A great deal of money and resources go into the making of each product. Let’s look at the pasta I talked about earlier. Even before the finished product can be shipped out, the company must bring all of the ingredients together. They need whatever ingredients are needed to make the noodles and all of the different spices for the seasoning packets. Some of the ingredients may even have to be shipped from other regions. There are many ways that the global market affects our lives and our planet....