10. Find a partner.
Brainstorm at least FIVE successes and
problems associated with agriculture and food
today. Write separately on sticky notes.
Stick each success or problem in appropriate
category – economic, environment, and social.
11. Abundant food supply in the developed world
Fresh fruits and vegetables available year-round
Cheap food
Luxury foods such as coffee, tea, chocolate, and spices
easily available around the world
Effective food preservation technologies
(refrigeration, freezing, canning, packaging)
Convenience foods
Mechanization produces high labor efficiency
Improvements in soil conservation
Availability of agricultural inputs for quick solutions to
productions problems
12. Continuing soil loss
Food safety (e. coli, antibiotic resistance, toxins and pesticides)
Water pollution
Habitat loss
Continuing hunger
Air pollution; odors
Failing farms
Declining communities
Water depletion
Energy use
Obesity
Climate change
Chronic diseases linked to agricultural chemicals
Farmland loss to development
15. “Foodshed” – used 80 years ago in “How Great Cities
are Fed” by W.P. Hedden
Describes the flow of food from producer to consumer
Geographic area where vegetables, fruits, nuts, oils,
meat, and grains feed citizens within the region
Answers the question: “Where does my food come
from?”
Can include:
Farmer’s Markets
Community supported agriculture
Sales to local restaurants and institutions
Farm-t0-table programs
16. Historically – eating within a LOCAL foodshed was the
ONLY way families gained access to food!
17th and 18th centuries – food was grown in an area of
less than 50 miles
Connection to foodshed and land
Ate seasonally
Ate what was available
Grew, cooked, preserved, canned…
17. US’s Foodshed is global – international grocery chains
Lost connection to the food and the land
Someone else is growing it, harvesting it…
Increase in food waste
Increase in food miles – distance 1,500 or more…
Food available anytime of the year, almost anywhere
Soil degradation, pollution… - environmental costs
Inhumane treatment of workers
No local dollars to support local economies –
disappearing small farms…
18. More sustainable ways of producing, distributing, and
consuming food
Global to regional – decrease in miles
Industrialized to small farms –
decrease in scale
Emphasis on:
Fresher foods
Local economy
Connection with farmer (or grow your own)
Reduction in resources (packaging and fuel)
Direct to consumer (cut out the middle man)
Reduction in pollution
More environmentally sustainable methods
19.
20. Farm
Production
Processing
Packaging
Distribution
Marketing
Retailing
Table
31. Farm
Production
Processing
Packaging
Distribution
Marketing
Retailing
Table
32. Farm
Production
Processing
Packaging
Distribution
Marketing
Retailing
Table
33. EVENTS
What happens?
What is generally
UNSEEN PATTERNS & TRENDS
What’s been happening?
What are the trends?
What changes have occurred?
UNDERLYING STRUCTURES,
ORGANIZATIONS
What influences the above patterns?
MENTAL MODELS:
Assumptions, values...
What assumptions do people have about the above?
L
E
A
R
N
I
N
G
34. EVENT:
Purchased bag of
baby carrots
PATTERNS & TRENDS:
Normal
Any time of year
Convenient
Industrial
Low prices
UNDERLYING STRUCTURES:
Cost doesn’t reflect environment or human health
Cheap labor is necessary
Human rights and immigration issues
What subsidies make this possible?
MENTAL MODELS:
Cheap and convenient are better no matter what
Predictable and uniformity is safer
It doesn’t matter who grows my food or how they are treated
Editor's Notes
I’m a huge advocate for local food. Right now my main passion is backyard homesteading. Starting a farm in WA next year. I’ve been advocating for chickens, goats, and bees for Summit County residents for the last 2 years.
I love growing food and incorporating it into a landscaping setting. Experience – permaculture, Colorado Master Gardener, started off in garden design, working for HC3 for the last 6 years, established several local food programs in the community – Summit Garden Network, Food Policy Council, and Summit CSA for CMC students. I am also taking a Certificate Program in Sustainable Food and Farming at UMASS Amherst. I am working on a sustainable food track for CMC. I am also a hobby photographer and love photos so you’ll see a LOT of photos in my slides. 5 MINUTES
Have the class list things they’ve learned in other classes, films they’ve watched, farms they’ve visited, books they’ve read, websites they’ve visited…
Remember to emphasize communication and to check canvas email and announcements for the most up-to-date info on deadlines and changes.
Sustainability – what does this mean to you? Anyone have a definition? A general definition in relation to food is “following agricultural and food system practices that that do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their food needs” Who is familiar with the 3 E’s of Sustainability? Who can explain this diagram to the rest of the class?
How do these apply to food or agriculture?
Pair people who are familiar with the 3 E’s with those who aren’t. 10 minutes.
Have the students brainstorm both successes and problems associated with agriculture and foodtoday. Have them list them in categories – economic, environment, and community.
Hedden contrasts foodsheds with watersheds by noting that “the barriers which deflect raindrops into one river basin rather than into another are natural land elevations, while the barriers which guide and control movements of foodstuffs are more often economic than physical.” Hedden describes the economic forces that influence where foods are produced and how they are transported to the cities in which they are consumed.
Foodsheds can include: the land it grows on, the route it travels, the markets it passes through, and the tables it ends up on…
Industrial model. What is involved in both of these processes? What is involved in each step that will impact the environment, economy, and social equity?
How complicated is your foodshed?
Is your foodshed closed loop?
What does your foodshed value?
How many connections does your foodshed make? How does it benefit your community?Incubator Farms – Support for beginning farmers; access to land in exchange for “rent” in the form of farm fresh products; can be one or more parcels of land with one or multiple producers are farming and marketing farm products through their own new farm business enterprise with access to trainings and assistance. Plant a row programs – nationwaide initiative that encourages gardeners to grow a little extra and donate fresh product to local hunger-relief organization (food banks). Food Venture Centers – shared-use kitchen incubator help local businesses launch and grow without overwhelming initial investment and intensive certifications. Kitchens fully equipped and available for hourly rent…
What are the inputs and outputs and do they balance? Provide benefits? Create pollution?
Does your foodshed support ALL people, cultures, and concerns…?
Does it strive for a triple-bottom-line that meets the goals of the 3 E’s?
Is it local?
Does it tell a story?
Is it inclusive?
Going back to this industrial model – Again, what is involved in each step that will impact the environment, economy, and social equity?
Discuss the foodshed process for each type of carrot. You may want to refer back to this during your Follow Your Food Assignment later in the year.
This model will pop up numerous times in our lectures as we continue to evaluate certain food systems.
What has been happening – over time it has become more normal to purchase baby carrots at the grocery store; you can find them any time of the year; you can count on them always being in the store; they are already peeled and washed = convenient; convenient packaging they even have them in little packages for kids; industrialized model is normalized – you don’t need to think about the transportation or inspection… that makes it all possible but you trust that its all safe and you know that its there; baby carrots may also be cheaper than FM carrots. Underlying Structures – true cost isn’t reflected such as the cost to the environment or human health; cheap labor becomes necessary to uphold the cheap prices… which leads to human rights and immigration issues. Mental Models: Belief cheap and convenient is better; predictable is safer; I don’t really know who grows my food but it doesn’t matter to me; migrant workers don’t deserve or want the same rights.
How is this model different from the industrial model we explored with the carrot? Which do you predict to be more sustainable?
