Lesson 5

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • “7 GMO Myths Debunked by Vandana Shiva,” Julia Kent, North Atlantic Books, January 22, 2016
  • “‘Fate of Food’ Asks: What’s for Dinner in a Hotter, Drier, More Crowded World?,” Terry Gross, Fresh Air, National Public Radio, 2019
  • “Food System Primer: The Food System,” Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University
  • “Local Food Systems,” Evan Fraser, Feeding 9 Billion, February 21, 2014
  • “The Vertical Farm: A Keystone Concept for the Ecocity,” Dickson Despommier, TEDx Warwick, April 9, 2013

• • Excerpts from The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet, Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimizu, PublicAffairs, 2012
  • “Nourish Food System Map,” Nourish, WorldLink, 2014
  • “The Future of Food and Agriculture: Trends and Challenges,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2017

Materials

Tools

• Delineating Arguments Tool

• Evaluating Arguments Tool

• Video Note-Taking Tool

• Global Food Production: Vocabulary List

Question Sets

• Global Food Production: Section 3 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Delineating Arguments Tool

• Evaluating Arguments Tool

• Global Food Production: Section 3 Question Set

• Video Note-Taking Tool

Activity 1: Discuss

We will begin with a class discussion about the following questions: what is a local Food system? is it a potential solution to Food system challenges such as climate change, population growth, and the higher cost of growing Food?

As a class, we will discuss the following questions: What is a local food system? Is it a potential solution to food system challenges such as climate change, population growth, and the higher cost of growing food?

In your discussion, consider some of the main issues and challenges brought up in previous lessons and sections of this unit. This can be a time to review and discuss these major issues and consider their impact on a local level.

Activity 2: View – Write

We will watch “Local Food Systems,” narrated by Evan Fraser, and make notes about key concepts using the video Note-Taking Tool.

Step 1

Watch the first five minutes of "Local Food Systems," an animated video narrated by Evan Fraser, who writes about issues related to food and food systems at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Recall that you watched another related video in Section 1 titled “Feeding 9 Billion.” This video, number five in the series, introduces and argues for the concept of local food systems, where food is grown, produced, and sold within smaller communities.

As you watch the video, use the Video Note-Taking Tool to identify and write down text-based evidence, which may include key details, quotations, or examples that tell you something about the issue being presented.

As you watch the video, also keep in mind the following guiding questions:

1. What are the arguments and issues about how our food system will be unable to meet the rising demands of a global population that Fraser presents at the start of the video?

2. What are Fraser’s main claims supporting local food systems? What are the environmental, social, and economic benefits he lists?

3. Why does Fraser say that many “question how this vision of alternative food systems can provide a viable food security strategy for humanity’s growing population”?

4. How does Fraser address such counterarguments in the video? What are some examples of the counterclaims he presents?

5. What position does Fraser take about locally produced food and its role in a national or global food system?

6. How would your own food choices and habits change if you bought food within a local food system?

7. What questions do you have about local food systems after watching the video?

Step 2

As a class, use a Delineating Arguments Tool and your notes from watching the video to delineate Fraser’s perspective, position, major claims, and evidence presented in the video.

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will learn more about local Food systems and their challenges by reading and annotating excerpts from the book the locavore’s dilemma: in praise of the 10,000-mile diet by Pierre Desrochers.

Step 1

In a small reading group, you will be assigned a selected excerpt from the book The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet by Pierre Desrochers, located in the Unit Reader.

In your group, read and annotate the selection assigned to you. Record claims and evidence you find in your section on a Delineating Arguments Tool.

As your group reads, keep in mind the following questions:

1. How does Desrochers’s perspective differ from the perspective of Evan Fraser and other proponents of local food systems?

2. What are some of the main claims Desrochers makes against locavorism?

3. What evidence does Desrocher present to support his claims?

4. What environmental, economic, and societal impacts of agriculture does Desrochers discuss?

Step 2

Excerpt 1: "Physical Geography and Agricultural Specialization" (paras. 1-7)

1. According to Desrochers, what is the most glaring shortcoming those in favor of more locally produced food often argue for?

2. According to Desrochers, what role does geography play in growing food?

3. What is Desrochers’s position on polycultures and how they should be used as a form of growing food?

Step 3

Excerpt 2: "The Debate Over Land Use" (paras. 8-15)

1. What is Desrochers’s perspective on vertical farming? How does his perspective compare to Dickson Despommier’s perspective?

2. How does the author define and use the term trade-off? What examples does the author give?

3. What economic impacts of agriculture does Desrochers describe? How might these impact where food is grown and how it is distributed?

Step 4

Excerpt 3: “Myth #3: Locavorism Heals the Earth" (paras. 16-22)

1. What misconceptions regarding the effects of human activity on nature does Desrochers describe?

2. From Desrochers’s perspective, what has the relationship between humans and nature been historically? What should the relationship between humans and nature look like going forward?

Step 5

Excerpt 4: "Climate Change, Locavorism, and Food Security" (paras 23-29)

1. According to Desrochers, what are the potential challenges that a more local food system might face in the event of crop failures as a result of weather-related events?

2. How does climate and difference in climate impact food security locally and globally? What are examples of climate-based crops?

Step 6

Excerpt 5: "Let Them Eat Global Cake!" (paras. 30-39)

1. How does Desrochers describe an ideal food system? What elements does he include that are different or similar to a local food system?

2. What evidence does Desrochers use to support his claims for a more global food system?

Activity 4: Read

As a class, we will review the claims made by Fraser and Desrochers and discuss how each author has constructed his argument about the topic of local Food systems.

Step 1

As a class, review the notes and Delineating Arguments Tools from your reading groups, focusing on the claims and evidence presented by Desrochers. Develop a conclusion about what you think Desrochers’s overall position is regarding local food systems. Discuss why you think he titled his book The Locavore’s Dilemma and how it might relate to the book we previously read excerpts from The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Step 2

In your previous reading groups, review your notes and Delineating Arguments Tool from the video by Fraser. Using the Evaluating Arguments Tool as a guide for your discussion, compare how each author has developed his argument about local food systems.

To guide your group discussion, think of the following discussion questions:

1. After viewing and reading the two arguments, how would you describe a local food system?

2. What are the potential benefits of local food systems? What are the potential challenges?

3. How does each author’s background, approach, or language indicate a bias that affects his perspective or reasoning?

4. What is the main claim or thesis statement of each author?

5. What evidence did the authors use to support their claims?

6. In your opinion, which author made a more convincing argument? Why?

Activity 5: Write

We will use our notes to write a short paragraph outlining our own perspective on local Food systems, drawing ideas and evidence from the two arguments we discussed.

Using your notes, write a paragraph that outlines your own perspective on the following questions:

1. To what extent do you think local food systems are a viable response to the challenges of feeding a growing population? In what ways might they (or might they not) be effective, safe, and sustainable?

2. What role, if any, should local food systems play in regional, national, or global food systems?

In your paragraph, make sure to do the following:

• Include examples and references from both materials discussed.

• Present your own personal perspective.

• Identify one main claim and one counterclaim that relate to your perspective on the question.