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Section 2: Overview

Feeding the World: Farming Practices

We will continue to build background knowledge about the food system and deepen our understanding of key issues and practices, such as agricultural methods, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and industrial agriculture, by reading a variety of materials and analyzing how authors structure their arguments. In light of the pressing challenges in the global food system we addressed in Section 1, we will investigate the following questions: How can we best feed the world using methods that are sustainable? Which agricultural practices are the most promising and sustainable? We will continue to study the concept of an argumentative position by learning how to delineate arguments and apply those skills to our own writing.

  • Lesson 1:

    We will review some of the main concepts from the previous section, including the definition of a food system, as well as some of the key challenges it faces. We will read an article that provides additional context to a key historical moment that shaped what is now the modern, global food system: the Green Revolution. We will be introduced to a tool that will help us evaluate ideas as they are presented in a text and begin to think about how ideas and language represent a writer’s perspective.

  • Lesson 2:

    We will expand our understanding of the concept of evidence and its importance in developing an argument. We will discuss what evidence is and why it is necessary, then independently read a chapter from Full Planet, Empty Plate: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity by Lester R. Brown. After reading, we will work in pairs to complete an Organizing Evidence Tool to assess how effectively the chapter builds and supports claims using relevant and credible evidence.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will learn how to delineate an argument using two texts about industrial agriculture. We will identify the perspective, position, claims, and evidence found in each argument in preparation for comparing how the two authors go about crafting their arguments.

  • Lesson 4:

    We will practice delineating arguments using a second text about industrial agriculture, Jayson Lusk’s op-ed argument “Why Industrial Farms Are Good for the Environment.” We will highlight the perspective, position, claims, and evidence found in Lusk’s argument and compare it to the University of Minnesota argument we previously delineated.

  • Lesson 5:

    We will continue evaluating arguments and claims by reading and analyzing two texts that describe the impacts of two forms of agricultural practices. We will learn more about organic agriculture and perspectives that support and challenge this method of growing food to sustain the planet. We will highlight the claims, evidence, and perspectives found in the texts to compare how the two authors go about crafting their arguments.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will explore the topic of genetic engineering in food and its global role in agriculture. We will view and analyze a video by Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist, who discusses how the genetic altering of seeds and crops can improve and advance sustainable agriculture. We will evaluate how the author organizes the evidence presented and practice identifying supporting claims in a text.

  • Lesson 7:

    We will learn more about the use of genetically modified foods and their role in the global food system by hearing a perspective that counters Pamela Ronald’s. Using the information we have gathered, we will prepare to defend and debate the two perspectives. We will use evidence from texts to analyze arguments on both sides, and discuss the role this technology should have in the global food system. We will then prepare for the Section Diagnostic by developing a position about promising and sustainable agricultural practices and begin to delineate an argument in favor of that position.

  • Lesson 8:

    We will prepare for the Section Diagnostic by reviewing the issues we have studied regarding challenges to the global food system and agricultural practices intended to address those challenges. We will develop a position about promising and sustainable agricultural practices and begin to delineate an argument in favor of that position.

  • Lesson 9:

    We will take a position about the viability of a chosen agricultural practice and explain how it is or is not effective, safe, and sustainable in addressing global food challenges.

  • Lesson 10:

    We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic. We will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 11:

    We will share the understanding we have gained through our independent reading and continue reading our texts.