Lesson 2

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • “Food System Primer: The Food System,” Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University
  • “The Dizzying Grandeur of 21st-Century Agriculture,” George Steinmetz, The New York Times, 2016

• • “Nourish Food System Map,” Nourish, WorldLink, 2014

Materials

Tools

• Analyzing Relationships Tool

• Mentor Sentence Journal

Question Sets

• Global Food Production: Section 1 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Analyzing Relationships Tool

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• Global Food Production: Section 1 Question Set

Activity 1: Discuss

We will begin by brainstorming possible definitions for the term Food system.

As a class, brainstorm answers to the following questions:

1. What is a system?

2. How do the production and distribution of food include interrelated elements that interact and form a unified whole?

3. Where might I fit into a food system?

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will read and use an Analyzing Relationships Tool to examine the article, “The Food System” and gain a deeper understanding of the different elements that make up a Food system and how they are related.

Step 1

Follow along as your teacher introduces or reviews the Analyzing Relationships Tool, which is closely related to the Visual Analysis Tool and the Attending to Details Tool you used in the previous lesson. Notice that while you read, you will be considering a guiding question again, attending to and noting key details, but then analyzing how those details are related and explaining how they contribute to the meaning or tone of the text.

Step 2

As a class, read and study the first section of “The Food System” online article from Johns Hopkins University. Begin by examining the images and captions to the right of the text, considering the following question:

1. What elements are involved in food’s journey through the food system?

Now follow along as your teacher models the use of an Analyzing Relationships Tool as you read the fictional story of Ashley and her yogurt, then the explanation of how “food takes a complex journey.” As a class, note key details and ideas in the text, considering the following guiding question:

2. How does the example story that begins the section illustrate an important idea about the food system?

Then, analyze relationships among the details you note and explain the effects of the details on the meaning or message of “Food’s Journey.”

Activity 3: Write – Discuss

We will examine other sections of the “Food System” online text. After reading and analyzing the text, we will discuss some of our key findings as a class.

Step 1

With a partner, use an Analyzing Relationships Tool to closely examine either the second (Food and the Environment) or third (Food and Health) section of the article, starting with the illustrative images, then moving to the text and considering the following guiding question:

1. What claim by poet and writer Wendell Berry begins the section of the text? How do the images, illustrative story, and details of the text relate to Berry’s idea?

Form a group of four, with two students who have read the other section of the article. Share and compare what you have noted on your Analyzing Relationships Tools and your analysis of how the text is related to the Wendell Berry quote that begins it.

As a class, briefly discuss the two Berry quotes and what you think they mean in relationship to your understanding of the food system.

Step 2

On your own, read the final section of the article, thinking about the statement that begins its last paragraph:

Learning about these connections [in the food system] can empower people to become “food citizens” who make informed food choices (“voting with their forks”), advocate for policy, and even grow and process some of their own food.

In your Learning Log, write a short paragraph in response to the “Food System” article, explaining how you see yourself as a part of the food system, what you would like to learn about the system, and how you might see yourself in the role of a “food citizen.”

Activity 4: Read – Write

We will examine claims by poet and writer wendell berry found in the article, “The Food System” and discuss the meaning, syntax, and sentence elements of berry’s statements.

With a partner, read the claims by poet and writer Wendell Berry quoted in the article, "The Food System":

How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used.

People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are healed by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.

After reading Berry’s claim statements, think about the following questions:

1. What claim is Berry trying to communicate? How would you summarize what he means?

2. What makes the sentences effective in conveying Berry’s meaning?

3. What do you notice about the structure and punctuation of the sentences?

4. What effect does the punctuation have?

5. What do you notice about his pattern of words and phrases?

6. How might the meaning of the sentences change if the punctuation or pattern changed?

Write down these sentences and your responses in your Mentor Sentence Journal. As you continue to read the texts in this unit, use your Mentor Sentence Journal to identify sentences that stand out to you as interesting or that represent a strong example of a particular concept you have learned. You can use these sentences to build a writer’s toolbox, wherein you have a number of techniques at your disposal to use when writing.

Activity 5: Read – Discuss

Now that we have a working definition of a Food system, we will look at a map that organizes the Food system into major realms and subsystems.

Step 1

As a class, begin to examine the diagram that represents elements and influences within the food system: the “Nourish Food System Map.” Find details in the map that help you answer the questions in your Learning Log and then discuss your responses with the class:

1. At the top of the map, the system begins with farming and inputs. What are the inputs that influence farming as depicted in the map? What do the graphics of the map suggest about their relationships?

2. On the left side of the map, the environmental systems, factors, and influences are depicted. What are the elements of the biological system? How do they influence, and how are they influenced by farming? What do the graphics of the map suggest about their relationships?

3. On the right side of the map, the economic systems, factors, and influences are depicted. What are the elements of the economic System, and how are they related to farming? What do the graphics of the map suggest about their relationships?

4. At the bottom of the map, the social systems, factors, and influences are depicted. What are the three subsystems within the overall social system? How are their elements related to each other? What do the graphics of the map suggest about their relationships?

5. At the center of the map is the word supply, and underneath it a person thinking about food literacy. Think about that person as you. What do you need to understand better so you can be “literate” about food and the food system?

Step 2

Using the organization, graphic features, and words presented on the map, discuss the following questions:

6. For each segment of the food system presented in the map (farming, environmental, economic, social), what do you see as major challenges that might need to be addressed?

7. In order to meet the challenges within each system presented in the map (biological, economic, political, social, health), what sort of farming practices might be most viable and sustainable?

Activity 6: Write

For homework, we will write a short expository paragraph answering the following question: what is a Food system?

For homework, write a paragraph in response to the following question: What is a food system?

In your paragraph, make sure to discuss social, environmental, economic, and farming influences within the food system. Incorporate at least one real-world example to help explain or illustrate what a food system is and how it works.

Cite evidence from the texts we have read and discussed thus far to support your response.