What is a healthy community?
“A healthy community is one that encapsulates both the health of people and place, where people can be physically healthy and live in a neighbourhood that is thriving socially, environmentally and economically."
(http://archibullprize.com.au/healthy-communities/index.html)
"Healthy communities is being sustainable in every aspect of a community and making sure that every citizen in the community is living a healthy lifestyle".
(http://archibullprize.com.au/healthy-communities/index.html)
"Healthy communities is being sustainable in every aspect of a community and making sure that every citizen in the community is living a healthy lifestyle".
Categories of a healthy community
These all relate to establishing a healthy community for these reasons:
- Land – Land is very important, not just for farmers but for everyone else, as our population grows and with more people to feed there is competition for land.
- Water – Water is one of the most important resources for farmers and everyone else and we can increase water security and avoid environmental pressures by water recycling.
- Bio-diversity – This category takes care of all living things through providing ‘ecosystem services’. It provides for clean air, clean water, and shelter for food and fibre production, native animals and cultural value.
- Energy-Renewable energy is energy which can be found from natural resources that can be regularly refilled. Renewable energy technologies include technologies that use—or qualify the use of one or more renewable energy sources.
- Waste- waste consists of fashion and food, and one of the many issues that we have related to Healthy Communities is that the waste is sent to landfill. This is very expensive to the industry and economy. As a community, we can reduce this problem by doing something about it.
- Health and Nutrition – Everyone deserves access to safe, affordable and nutritious food and in return, everyone should value their food and be aware that physical exercise plays a role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, mind and body.
What are the different ways farmers use water?
On average, 80 percent of the freshwater withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used to produce food and other agricultural products. Farm water may include water used in the irrigation of crops or the watering of livestock.
Why is water so important to cotton farmers?
Because if cotton doesn’t get enough water, it will not grow successfully. 'Cotton is only planted when sufficient water is made available from rivers and groundwater sources through government regulated water licensing schemes. When there’s no water, there’s no cotton' (Cotton Australian).
Where does water come from?
LIQUID,SOLID, GAS The journey that water takes as it changes in state, travels to new locations and is used, is called the WATER CYCLE. Water on our planet travels through the water cycle continuously. The water keeps moving and changing state as it repeats the cycle millions of times over.
Why is water important to conserve?
Importance of Water is. Fresh, clean water is a limited resource. While most of the planet is covered in water, it is salt water that can only be consumed by people.
Why is a healthy catchment important?
The soil, plants, animals, and water are all stored in a catchment. Anything that can potentially harm one of these will also have a huge impact on the others. The well being of our catchments is significant for human existence because they are where all our food is produced.
Here is a useful fact sheet from cotton-info telling us about irrigation and farming and what that has to do with water. (http://archibullprize.cloverhilldairies.com.au/teachers/toolkit/water-in-rural-communities.pdf)
On average, 80 percent of the freshwater withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used to produce food and other agricultural products. Farm water may include water used in the irrigation of crops or the watering of livestock.
Why is water so important to cotton farmers?
Because if cotton doesn’t get enough water, it will not grow successfully. 'Cotton is only planted when sufficient water is made available from rivers and groundwater sources through government regulated water licensing schemes. When there’s no water, there’s no cotton' (Cotton Australian).
Where does water come from?
LIQUID,SOLID, GAS The journey that water takes as it changes in state, travels to new locations and is used, is called the WATER CYCLE. Water on our planet travels through the water cycle continuously. The water keeps moving and changing state as it repeats the cycle millions of times over.
Why is water important to conserve?
Importance of Water is. Fresh, clean water is a limited resource. While most of the planet is covered in water, it is salt water that can only be consumed by people.
Why is a healthy catchment important?
The soil, plants, animals, and water are all stored in a catchment. Anything that can potentially harm one of these will also have a huge impact on the others. The well being of our catchments is significant for human existence because they are where all our food is produced.
Here is a useful fact sheet from cotton-info telling us about irrigation and farming and what that has to do with water. (http://archibullprize.cloverhilldairies.com.au/teachers/toolkit/water-in-rural-communities.pdf)
What are the biggest threat to cotton farmers in relation to water?
The biggest threat that cotton farmers could face in relation to water is that they might not have enough water to supply fields and field of cotton farming with only minimum amounts of water.
What can we do to help?
What we can do as a whole community to help the cotton farmers supply of water for the cotton industry, is that we can recycle water and reduce the amount of water we use, for example; shorter showers or using rice water as cleaning water.
The biggest threat that cotton farmers could face in relation to water is that they might not have enough water to supply fields and field of cotton farming with only minimum amounts of water.
What can we do to help?
What we can do as a whole community to help the cotton farmers supply of water for the cotton industry, is that we can recycle water and reduce the amount of water we use, for example; shorter showers or using rice water as cleaning water.
What makes soil healthy?
What are the current issues facing cotton farmers (or farmers in general) in regards to land and soil quality?
Even though cotton farms only take up 2.5% of the world's agricultural land, it still attracts 16% of all the insecticides and 6.8% of all herbicides globally. Although there is a variety of techniques, one of the most common is using chemicals but lately there is a big focus on the need of reducing chemicals. Also Australia's cotton growers have lessened their use of chemicals by 90%. Other current issues that cotton farmers are facing is that if cotton is cultivated to quickly than it needs big amounts of water for irrigation.
You can read about other risks to cotton farmers by clicking here https://www.organiccotton.org/oc/Cotton-general/Impact-of-cotton/Risk-of-cotton-farming.php
What role does our young farmer, Casey onus, play in ensuring proper land usage and successful farming?
Casey onus is an agronomist who checks for bugs and looks for different ways to increase soil productivity. She also works to improve of seed and the nutritional value of crops.
What does a agronomist like Casey Onus do?
'A field agronomist can be found working closely with farmers to help them optimize their land for the maximum yield of crops, or arranging beneficial crops to grow together. An agronomist may also perform soil and water testing, and figure out the best way to farm with the least amount of environmental impact. An agronomist in the field might also work to figure out the best fertilizer for the type of soil an individual farmer is working with, as well as for the specific geographic area.' (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-agronomist.htm)
- Good fertiliser
- Organic matter
- Macronutrients
- Salt levels in soil
- Good Ph levels
What are the current issues facing cotton farmers (or farmers in general) in regards to land and soil quality?
Even though cotton farms only take up 2.5% of the world's agricultural land, it still attracts 16% of all the insecticides and 6.8% of all herbicides globally. Although there is a variety of techniques, one of the most common is using chemicals but lately there is a big focus on the need of reducing chemicals. Also Australia's cotton growers have lessened their use of chemicals by 90%. Other current issues that cotton farmers are facing is that if cotton is cultivated to quickly than it needs big amounts of water for irrigation.
You can read about other risks to cotton farmers by clicking here https://www.organiccotton.org/oc/Cotton-general/Impact-of-cotton/Risk-of-cotton-farming.php
What role does our young farmer, Casey onus, play in ensuring proper land usage and successful farming?
Casey onus is an agronomist who checks for bugs and looks for different ways to increase soil productivity. She also works to improve of seed and the nutritional value of crops.
What does a agronomist like Casey Onus do?
'A field agronomist can be found working closely with farmers to help them optimize their land for the maximum yield of crops, or arranging beneficial crops to grow together. An agronomist may also perform soil and water testing, and figure out the best way to farm with the least amount of environmental impact. An agronomist in the field might also work to figure out the best fertilizer for the type of soil an individual farmer is working with, as well as for the specific geographic area.' (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-agronomist.htm)
share the dignity
Our school is participating in the Dignity Drive run by 'Share the Dignity'. 'Share the Dignity' is a foundation that was established to give every woman in Australia the ability to manage their periods with Dignity. The drive runs twice a year, in April and August and asks the community to donate sanitary pads and tampons so that homeless women and women fleeing from domestic violence have access to these necessities. In the month of August our school is holding the Dignity Drive and we hope to help the women in need through this project. This drive is especially important to us as our industry, cotton, is a common ingredient in sanitary products. This is yet another example of the importance of cotton and how it helps both individuals and communities.
If you would like to help us in our drive and make a donation of sanitary items for Share the Dignity, you can drop off your packages to our front office at Blacktown Girls High School.
If you would like to help us in our drive and make a donation of sanitary items for Share the Dignity, you can drop off your packages to our front office at Blacktown Girls High School.