Food Intake

Within the last 24 hours I've consumed a wide variety of foods and drinks. Listed below in chronological order is my diet for the day.
Breakfast: Publix brand Spring Water 34 ounces, Simply Orange orange juice 12 ounces, Chic Fil A chicken biscuit, 4 count chicken mini's, blueberry bagel with 2 Publix brand eggs.
Lunch: Publix brand thin crust pizza.
Essentially all of my daily intake was purchased as well as pre made excluding the 2 eggs I cooked. Many of the products I buy are Publix brand and are manufactured and distributed from the same local processing plant. The same principle applies for products purchased from Chic Fil A. The ingredients are then cooked and sold at the Chic Fil A on campus. I assume most of these products are transported from factories and stores to my plate within a week; two weeks at the very most. I cannot measure the amount of energy used to produce my meals but I assume a significant amount because all of these products are pre produced. I was not able to produce any of these ingredients on my own. Almost all of the packaging for my foods are recyclable. My food choices are not as sustainable as they could be. If I had more free time as well as income, I would purchase groceries from farmer's markets and local vendors. To improve my food choices I can always choose more sustainable brands than Publix brand. Many smaller brands have a larger focus on sustainability and quality in their products.

Estero Island Historic Cottage

Fort Myers has more substantial, significant history than I would have ever known without this field trip. I'm very passionate about history as well as Florida and am surprised at how much I learned when visiting the historic cottage on Estero Island. The Calusa native americans as well as the Seminoles were involved in trading bartering and had established domain in the area. Years later by the time of the second world war, an air base was stationed nearby. Pilots would have routine drills over Fort Myers beach on a regular basis. I could only imagine what a sight that was to watch. Residents even speculated that there were German submarines just off the Fort Myers coastline; no declassified documents have confirmed these speculations yet. Speaking of the coastline, some record breaking fishing took place in those same waters. Tuna and sawfish measuring at twelve even fourteen feet in length were caught in the early 1900's. Sadly roughly only 10% of the world's large game fish are still alive. On a lighter note, the land environment on Estero Island is thriving. Many plant species flourish other than a cancer that spreads throughout red mangroves. There are many species such as resurrection ferns and strangler figs that thrive in such ecosystems, both symbiotically and parasitically. Where Resurrection ferns hold moisture on the trees they live on, Strangler Figs attach their roots and over time wrap around and constrict the host tree until it suffocates or in some cases breaks from physical pressure. I saw a fully grown Sabal Palm snapped in two like a twig by a Strangler Fig.  Strangler Figs can cause this devastation in a matter of years. Estero Island has a wonderful history connected by living generations that date back to it's earliest settlers. This field trip was very enlightening and I would recommend it to anyone, Florida native or not.

(The ruthless Strangler Fig)

Downtown Fort Myers

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Downtown Fort Myers. Downtown was much more diverse and "alive" than I expected it to be. I immediately noticed the historic aura of downtown. Many of the buildings have the same exterior structure they were originally built in. There are many convenient means of transportation such as the LeeTran public transportation system. Downtown is easily walkable and there are many parking lots conveniently located throughout the area. Most businesses seem very easily accessible and I had no difficulty navigating through downtown for the first time. I explored downtown by foot and noticed many traffic calming measures such as stop signs and prominently displayed crosswalks for pedestrians. These features play an important role in the relationship between automobiles and pedestrians and without a doubt keep the streets safe. Over the last decade I've noticed many areas have increased awareness of traffic calming measures such as my hometown of Miami. Three interesting landmarks I explored throughout my tour of downtown were the "Uncommon Friends" fountain in Centennial Park, the library, and Palm park. The fountain taught me new historic facts such as that Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and Thomas Edison were all winter residents of Fort Myers in it's earliest years. The fountain depicts the three historic inventors around a campfire with natural Florida wildlife such as alligators and manatees in surrounding waters. The library in downtown is one of the more modernized areas of town so that stood out to me. I noticed art installations displayed in the plaza and this was where I noticed the non-native vegetation but this area was one of the most well kept and felt safest. Palm Park was very shady and a great place to learn everything you need to know about the diversity of palm trees and their country's of origin. Palm Park is a small park that has more unique palm species than I could even account for. I could go there several times and find a new species every time. This park was important to me because it made me appreciate the world as a whole and how far some pam trees have originated from.