Thursday, April 21st

 SOCRATIC SEMINAR: The Ethics of Food and Agriculture

Tomorrow, we will work on the reflection and the "talking points."

Tuesday, April 19

Debrief and reflect on Katrina’s visit

Make thank-you note deluxe with reflection!

Whip-around: What is one takeaway? Write your best thought on a post-it!

READ: Keep reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Part 4, the DIY Food Chain. Complete the annotations for seminar!

Food Freewrite #5: Reflect on some of your takeways from the most recent content: our guest speaker Katrina, Ron Finley's TED Talk, the field trip to James Ranch and Part 4 of the Omnivore's Dilemma. What pieces of the DIY food chain interest you most?   How can you imagine participating in your own  food chain? How might you personally get more connected to the source of your food?

Feeding Nine Billion: “Annotate” for Seminar (3 Connections, 1-2 Questions)

SOCRATIC SEMINAR: Seminar Prep due Thursday before sem: get yourself around!

Monday, April 18th

 Welcome, Katrina Blair!

Thursday, April 14

James Ranch Debrief

Review Chapters 12-15, OD

FOOD FREEWRITE #4:

Reflect on what you have learned about the differences between the paradigms of the industrial food system and that of local, sustainable, regenerative food systems. How does each show a different “ethic”, that is to say, a different kind of thinking about the human relationship with food and the human relationship with Earth?

Is change in our food system desirable? If so, what changes would you like to see? What would need to happen for change to occur, politically and personally? What are you willing/able to change about your own diet that might align with how you answer this question?

Ron Finley: “A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA”

Reading Time: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Part 4, Chapters 18-21

DIY food chain

Monday, April 11

 TOMORROW BUSINESS

• 3rd Hour: Let’s Order James Ranch: Online or on the Toast takeout app. OR Bring a sack lunch.

• REMINDER! Permission slip to Steve!!

• WEATHER HEADS-Up! Raincoats/Umbrellas and appropriate footwear advised

  

SHARE OUT: Reactions to film Fed Up

FOUR CORNERS

• The benefits of the industrial food system are worth the drawbacks

• I would rather go back to the more localized food systems of yesteryear even if it meant I sacrificed the benefits

DISCUSS THE MAIN POINTS OF THE READING (PAIRS/SMALL GROUPS)

Be ready to share out on the following:

1. What is his thesis?

2. What are the main points that he makes to support his perspective?

3. Brody asks:  “Is the correlation of prosperity with processed and packaged foods nearly 1.0?  Do you answer yes? Why or why not? Can you push back on this claim? How?

4. How does the perspective of this article change or complicate how you are considering the question of food ethics (if at all)?

5. What is his paradigm about the world, and how does it differ from Joel Salatin or Wendell Berry?

FOOD FREEWRITE #3: Reflect on what you have learned about the industrial food system. Where do you find yourself in the debate? Do you relish in the amazingness that the industry creates? Or are you concerned about the unintended consequences? What would you be willing to change about how you eat if it meant we could have a different system?

REFER to Food, Inc., Fed Up, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and/or the “Food Miles and Packaging” reading in your answer.

READING: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Part 3, Chapters 12-15 (as far as you can get…)

ANNOTATE!

• 3 Observations, Connections, Reactions

• 2-3 Questions about the chapters OR to ask our tour guides at James Ranch tomorrow

Friday, April 8th

More documentary richness on the industrial food chain! Same assignment as we did for Food, Inc. See Google Classroom for submission guidelines. 

Fed Up

Thursday, April 7th

Industrial Food Analysis, cont'd....

1. Get together with Chapter groups for 5 minutes to revisit your questions.

2. Groups 1-7 Share out learning! Feel free to use information from the film to flesh out your answers. Here are the questions if you lost your paper.

Food, Inc: Reactions and Annotations

Submit in Google Classroom:

1. THREE reactions, connections, A-ha’s, etc.

2. 1-2 QUESTIONS the film leaves you with. 

Advantages of our Food System

1. What is great about it? What do we love about it? (Brainstorm)

2. What is the deal with “Food Miles”?

3. READ/ANNOTATE:  Food Miles and Packaging: A Contrarian View

4. Discuss:

• What is his thesis?

• What are the main points that he makes to support his perspective?

• Brody asks:  “Is the correlation of prosperity with processed and packaged foods nearly 1.0?  Do you answer yes? Why or why not? Can you push back on this claim? How?

• How does the perspective of this article change or complicate how you are processing the topics (if at all)?

FOOD FREEWRITE #3:

Reflect on what you have learned about the industrial food system. Where do you find yourself in the debate? Do you relish in the amazingness that the industry creates? Or are you concerned about the unintended consequences? What would you be willing to change about how you eat if it meant we could have a different system?

REFER to Food, Inc., The Omnivore's Dilemma, and/or the “Food Miles and Packaging” reading in your answer.

Tuesday, April 5th

 SHARE WITH PEERS: Summary of Chapter and answer the questions. 

Food, Inc: Muckraking Journalism!

“Annotate” the film (seminar text!)

1. Jot down key ideas and come up with 2-3 questions that we might want to address in our discussion.

2. Look for bias! What is not being said? How are opposing perspectives presented? How might this film be rhetorically skewed?

Monday, April 4th

Project Description

Discussion Questions for Wendell Berry’s “The Pleasures of Eating”

1. Wendell Berry says, “eating is an agricultural act.”  What does he mean by this?  How is this representative of his food ethic? 

2. Berry is critical of the modern “industrial” eater’s food ethic. How does the industrial eater’s food ethic fail to recognize eating as an agricultural act? 

3. What is Wendell Berry asking of us?  What does he mean by “eat responsibly”? 

4. How does someone who embraces these mindsets and behaviors fundamentally alter their relationship with the Earth (as contrasted with the typical industrial eater)?

5. Analyze the meaning of the William Carlos Williams poem.  How does the poem represent a “food ethic”? 

6. Why is this essay called “The Pleasures of Eating”? 

FOOD FREEWRITE #2:

Choose one or more of the “Pleasures of Eating” discussion questions to answer in writing.

READ INTRO of The Omnivore’s Dilemma together.

1.  What is meant by the term “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”?  How does it relate to America’s modern industrial food chain?

2.  How do you think this modern industrial food chain could put our health at risk?

Chapters 1-7 Rapid Jigsaw

1. Count off by 7. 
2. Divide up chapters and try to get the gist of the content in 20 minutes. 
3. 5 minutes to meet with group/partner.  
4. Groups Share

GROUPS SHARE OUT.

Key points of chapter.

Include answers to the assigned questions below for your chapter. 

Chapter 1

1.  How are US-Americans “corn people”?

2.  Explain how corn has advanced itself as a species with the help of human beings.

 

Chapter 2

1.  What changes have occurred in farming in America in the last century?

2.  What are GMO’s and why do they have many people concerned?

 

Chapter 3

1.  How did farming in America turn from a sun-based system to a fossil-fuel based system?

2.  What are the side effects of giving the industrial crops too much fertilizer?

3.  Explain some ways that the US government has helped corn’s conquest.

 

Chapter 4

1.  What is a commodity?  How is commodity corn different than food corn?

2.  Create a graphic representation of the “river of corn.”

 

Chapter 5

1.  What is a CAFO and what happens there?  What is the advantage of raising animals this way?

2.  Compare the natural and industrial diets of cows. 

3.  What are some problems that arise as a result of the industrial diet of cattle?

 

Chapter 6

1.  Explain how processing food helps companies make more money from it.

2.  Why do you think processed food is less healthy for us?

 

Chapter 7

1.  What are some common reasons given for the obesity crisis?  What reasons does Michael Pollan add?

2.  What are the biological reasons some processed foods are appealing to us? 

3.  How do the economics of food work against the people with less money?