Please write a 2- to 3-page essay addressing the following questions below:

1. What is a dead zone? What causes dead zones? What are the effects?
2. What are the leading causes of death for people in the U.S. today?
3. In what ways do the leading causes of death for people in the U.S. relate to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico?
4. What are some health problems that are largely caused by diet?
5. How are political/government, food/industrial agriculture and health care related to each other and connected to dead zones? (Hint: consider the growing of monocrops, concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs and the effects of processed foods as part of an unhealthy diet).
6. Chose one of the following strategies below designed to promote a sustainable food system and conduct your own independent research:

• Local farmers’ markets
• Urban gardening
• Farm-to-school programs
• Organic agriculture
• Pasture-raised animals

How can the strategy you chose help achieve a sustainable food system and improve our health?

What are some of the challenges to the strategy you chose?