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A World We Dare to Imagine - Part 3: Appeel

Appeel is the name of my organization, with the purpose of reducing food waste in the food and agriculture industry by half through the upscaling of food, food products, and food waste that is typically deemed unpalatable in a restaurant setting. In restaurants, it is estimated that half a pound of food is wasted per meal, and approximately 85% of the food that isn’t used in a typical American restaurant is thrown out while only a small percentage is recycled or donated. Learning from sustainable practices (especially those of other cultures), however, it is clear that there is much that can be done about this exorbitant amount of food waste, and Appeel seeks to mitigate those effects to build a world that is not only waste-free, but also food-secure. I am passionate about the work of Appeel first and foremost because I firmly believe in the mission. The world generates at least 3.5 million tons of solid waste every day, and our practices for handling that waste is far from ideal. Tack...
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A World We Dare to Imagine - Part 1

Reading through the quote, phrases like “shared accountability for common human values,” “extend the notion that all men are created equal to every human being on the planet,” and “global structures and products,” really spoke to me. There are few greater “common human values” than the desire to fill your stomach. A massive issue in the world, even with the advent of unfathomable agricultural technology, remains to be food security and access to clean drinking water. And yet, if I am not mistaken, there is more than enough food produced on a daily basis to feed every person alive, and there is ample clean drinking water in the world as well. Given that such is the case, what holds us back from providing adequately for the world? The agriculture industry, at large, is plagued with a plethora of sustainability issues (waste, pollution, water footprint, pesticides and aerosols, and many more) and prioritization of profit over fair distribution. In providing ample food for all, then, it wo...
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Random Post 2

Is it COVID or not? You wake up on a Friday morning, and you have a slight tickle in your throat that won’t seem to go away. You were supposed to go to class at 11, get lunch with a friend at noon, more class at 2, a club meeting at 7, and a party that night. But should you just cancel all of that now? Your sore throat might just be another sore throat, but remember your friend’s birthday get-together you were at two nights ago where no one was masked? What if it’s COVID? And now you run a very real risk of spreading it to others if you go to your scheduled events of the day. And if you spread it, you’ll be known as “that person that gave me COVID” to a number of people. And no one wants to be that. So you cancel your plans, avoid going to the party, and stay home the entire day, desperately hoping it’s not COVID, but you can’t tell for sure until you lie to TrojanCheck about your symptoms and get tested the next day. All to find out, you are COVID negative and the whole thing was a s...
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Book 2 Post 2 - Losing Eden

  Book 2 Post 2 - Losing Eden The book I chose for book 2 was Lucy Jones’ Losing Eden. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I chose this book for more perspective on my enjoyment of the outdoors in my time as a boy scout. I don’t think I got the exact answers I was looking for from the book, but I learned things I never imagined that I would, and overall it was a pleasurable experience. The book touched on many topics, each chapter talking about a different aspect of nature, the future of nature in relation to humans, and the ways that nature can be healing and beneficial to humans. In many ways the lack of childhood involvement with nature in recent times has been linked to many problems plaguing the current generation, and the book serves as a great reminder that the world is not composed of people and nature as separate entities, but rather as intertwined and related in many fundamental ways. One fact in the book that stood out to me was the eventual phasing out of many natu...
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Book 2 Post 1 - Losing Eden

  Book 2 Post 1 - Losing Eden The book I chose for Book 2 was Losing Eden: Our Fundamental Need for the Natural World and Its Ability to Heal Body and Soul by Lucy Jones. After reading through the recommended book descriptions, it was difficult to narrow it down to one particular book, since they all looked interesting and would grant me a perspective that I hadn’t had previously. But upon further inspection, Losing Eden definitely spoke to me the most at a first glance. As an Eagle Scout and someone who has been in scouting since 6th grade, I’ve done my fair share of hiking growing up. I don’t do it much anymore, since most of the community I’ve found at college doesn’t really hike that much, and I’m the kind of person that’ll do something more for who’s at the event than what we’re actually doing. When I was in middle school, I’d actually say I wasn’t a big fan of hiking, since it was tiring and hot and sweaty; I’d have much rather been at home playing video games or sleeping. As...
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AMDP Investment Proposal - Lettuce Grow

  AMDP Investment Proposal To: Professor Clark Hansen, CEO, AMDP From: Leon Hua, R&D Analyst Date: March 2, 2022 Re: Investment Proposal - Lettuce Grow After comprehensive research and analysis, I recommend Lettuce Grow as a worthy investment opportunity. Lettuce Grow is a company dedicated to innovation against problems caused by big agriculture to ultimately allow for sustainable food solutions across the globe. Lettuce Grow is a company that is rethinking sustainability and environmental impact in the agriculture industry, and meets our rigorous standards, making it an ideal candidate for inclusion into our investment portfolio.  AMDP Standards Before continuing further discussion regarding Lettuce Grow, I would like to reiterate our standards for consideration of potential investment.  Triple Bottom Line The Triple Bottom Line is a term coined by John Elkington in 1994 to measure company performance (Investopedia). He summed up the three bottom lines with three P’...
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Random Post 1

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  The Art of Red-Braising Red braising, also known as red cooking, red stewing, or Chinese stewing, is a traditional Chinese method of slow braising food to adequately flavor and tenderize it. The resulting dish has a reddish-brownish color, left by ingredients like soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and spices. It’s a staple of Chinese home cooking, and I have many positive memories associated with my grandmother’s long day of stewing meat just for me to come home from school to enjoy a hot meal. It’s a great way to prepare any kind of food, especially meat, and the flavor profile distinguishes itself heavily from Western methods of braising or slow-cooking. As someone who started cooking more seriously after the pandemic began, red braising has quickly become one of my favorite and most comfortable ways of cooking food, and I’m hoping that more people can be exposed to this amazingly delicious cooking technique! The most commonly associated ingredient to red braise is pork belly. ...
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