Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO)

                My family and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the ECHO farm Saturday, June 18^th 2011. I had no idea what strides this organization has made and currently working towards to end world hunger. We participated in the Global Farm Tour, which my one and only complaint was that our tour guide was up in years and seemed more interested in getting the tour over as quickly as possible due to the heat. He rushed through many areas that I a long with other participants wished to view areas for a lengthier amount of time. Other than this one criticism I was completely blown away with their assortment of plants and planting methods.

                One method which really fascinated me was the rooftop garden. With the use of tires, pine cones, soda cans and other assorted objects they demonstrated how people living in crowded areas which do not promote growing in fields or on ground can plant seeds to grow an assortment of vegetables and fruits on their roof to feed their families.

                I was also dumbfounded with the information provided of the smoke inhalation endured by people in certain areas while cooking. Our guide explained that while a mother might be cooking over a fire with her baby or small child on her back the child receives the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes a day from smoke inhalation. Their solution to this problem is a very ingenious set up, a tank filled part with manure and water turns into gas within a few days and travels and is stored in a half deflated tire. When it is time to cook, they now use a gas stove top which runs from the gas tire to the stove, solving the problem of breathing in smoke.

                Along the tour we were treated to a few different leaves of the plants that are grown in different areas of the world to combat hunger. The one that made the most impact in my opinion is the moringa, or miracle tree. The nutritional value in one serving of the leaves is amazing and even more amazing is the impact that it has had on members of poor areas that are nutritionally deficit. From our guides tales of the importance of the plants nutrition my wife and I could not pass up the opportunity to buy one of these trees ourselves for our own yard with hopes of benefiting  from it’s incredible nutritional worth.

                ECHO is a great organization which I hope lasts for generations to come. The breakthroughs, the strides against hunger and their pure wanting to make the world healthier and happier is an amazing feat which they should be commended for. Regretfully they don’t receive government grants due to their being an inter-denominational  Christian organization, which I do not believe is a valid reason for our government to overlook the value of these peoples work. I am very proud that such an organization is in this world with so many going hungry every day and I plan to support them in any way I can.

Visit to Lovers Key State Park

   We made a family trip to lovers key Saturday, June 4^th consisting of my wife, daughter, my wife’s uncle and his two children, and of course myself. Starting the Black Island trails were exciting, but as the time crept by, we all realized that there was rarely any shade throughout the trail and it was 90+ degrees. The sun was scorching hot and the water and refreshments that we brought thinking we were adequately prepared disappeared before we finished half of the trail. It was extremely quiet, almost eerily so. There were no animal sounds in the trees or shrubs and the only bird we saw or heard was an osprey flying overhead. We stopped at each of hooded benches for breaks with hopes of seeing the bottlenose dolphins or manatees that are publicized in the area, but the water was still with only a couple spotting of fish. At this point I began wondering if the animals had the right idea by hunkering down during the high temperatures and the blazing sun. My four year old required to be carried through half the trail which my wife and I traded off on carrying her. During the last quarter of the hike my wife began feeling nausea and dizziness which scared me thinking she was beginning to experience heat stroke. Thankfully we finished the trail just in time to take the tram down to the beach and jump into the extremely beautiful and refreshing water. It was not the most enjoyable experience, but I wouldn’t consider it the worst either. I think next time we won’t go in mid day when the sun is the highest or when the temperature is high. Next time we will go either earlier or later in the day and take hats, even more water than we thought was necessary this time, and a stroller for our daughter.

   Water is the most dominant element of the island. Water was visible a long most of the trail and is definitely the defining factor in the shaping of the land. Weather has created erosion along the soil line causing shifts in where plants should be. I’m not sure effect of fire on the island. We did not run into anyone along the trail to ask, so I can only speculate that fire is used on some vegetation to keep it healthy and to keep other plants from overgrowth.

   The land seemed to be a good deal higher than the water line along the trail. And the trees on land seemed to be very dried out, like dead wood. The water in this area looked murkier. As we got into areas where the water touched the land more, closer to the beach, the trees and vegetation became greener and healthier looking. Also more birds were visible in these areas of greener vegetation and fish jumping in and out of the water. The water in this area looked more clean and clearer, and the water on the beach was visible to the bottom which enabled us to see the stingrays swimming along the shore. I believe that the water quality did have a lot of influence on the health of the vegetation and trees in certain areas and also the clearer water attracted more animal life.

   There are several different species of trees in the areas between the trail and the beach. A few tree species that I recognized were the strangler fig, it shares a common "strangling" growth habit. This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark forest where the competition for light is intense. Also a lot of the red mangrove trees were present, they protect and stabilize low-lying coastal lands and provide protection and food sources for estuarine and coastal fishery food chains.  Further investigations of the area lead us to the Australian pines used for erosion. The Gumbo limbo, who adapts from dry to moist conditions and is very tolerable to salt water. And finally we were able to see some Jamaican Dogwood, and Sabal Palms. A few of the non-woody were the cactus, Brazilian pepper which is non native and is in the process of being eradicated, railroad vines, coastal sandspur, and beach panic grass. Even though we did not see much wildlife in the area, some of the bird species that we did see was the osprey, the anhinga, the American oyster catcher, a hawk, and a great egret. Other than these birds, the only animal that made itself visible along the trail was a squirrel. The trail almost seemed deserted of all wildlife. Closer to the beach we found traces of animals, but no sightings. On the beach we saw a crab scurrying along the shore, groups of tiny fish, and stingrays.

   Mangroves are a forest of salt tolerant trees. The mangroves make the water muddy and rich in nutrients acting as fish nurseries. Estuaries are ecosystems of many organisms that exist between the interface of salt and fresh water. Having salt and fresh water creates a high level of nutrients in the water column and sediment and having both types of water actually creates a very productive living environment for several species.