Assignments

> Assignment 1: Community Assessment

The purpose of this assignment is to help students gain a better understanding of community food systems by investigating elements of the food system in their local community, city or region. Using online resources, phone calls and site visits, students will investigate the availability of different food types in a "community" of your choice. They will explore factors such as types of food sources, location, cost, gaps in food accessibility, and other challenges faced by members of your community. Students will consider attempts in their community to address the food system problems noted in their assessment and use the outline and resources provided in Module 1 Readings and Resources list to guide their research.

Instructions

1.  Select a "community": The "community" students choose should be a defined geographic location with which they are familiar and are able to give a current and accurate description. It can be a small rural village or a defined neighborhood of a large urban city. The community should be small enough to thoroughly investigate in the allotted time and summarize for this assignment, but large enough to provide at least some diversity.

2. Explore the community and its food system: Students will use the outline to closely examine the many different aspects of the community and its local and regional food system. Students should provide a summary of their findings, focusing on the most important or notable features of the particular community.

3. Analyze the community's food system: Students will provide an assessment of their most important findings.

Grading Criteria

Students will be graded on how well they: 

• Summarize the key characteristics of the community in relation to food access and availability
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the food system in their final assessment 

Outline

Students will use the following outline to investigate and evaluate their chosen community's food system. If an important question or topic is not applicable or information is not available, students will briefly note the reason. Studnets will note sources of information where requested or where appropriate by standard academic practices.

Section 1:  Community and population description (100-300 words)

Students will name and describe the important characteristics of the community they are investigating. This should be in their own words and suitable for the assignment, NOT a travel guide type description. Students should include:

• Geographic location, size, climate, rural/suburban/urban
• Other unique and notable community features related to the food system and pertinent to this assignment (ie, transportation infrastructure, land use, development and farm preservation issues)

Students will provide an overview of the population in the community and any unique features of the community (providing sources where available).

• Descriptive summary (ie, population size, age, income, educational levels, race/ethnicity). Note: a simple list of census data is insufficient.
• Other unique and notable population characteristics (ie, large employers in the area, migration patterns)

Students will explain briefly why they chose this community and their relationship to the community.

Section 2:  Food sources and availability (100-300 words)

Students will briefly describe the sources and types of food sources available to and utilized by various members of the community. Students should use the categories below as a guide for what to include, focusing on characteristics that are most important or notable for the community and summarizing their findings. Students should include food sources in and around the community, considering differences in access, utilization and/or purchasing of types of food among different population subgroups.  Where does the food in the community come from? If food is produced in the area, is it consumed by the community? Does the community rely on food produced and transported long distances?

• Large, corporate grocery store chains
• Smaller, specialty grocery stores and markets
• Corner stores and convenience marts
• Cooperatively owned markets
• Restaurants and fast food outlets
• Farmers markets
• Farms, including pick-your-own, and roadside stands
• CSA's (community supported agriculture)
• Community gardens, individual gardens
• Direct farm purchasing programs (farm-to-school, farm-to-restaurant, etc)
• Food Assistance (NGO, faith-based, government-operated, etc.)
• School-based meals (school breakfast and lunch programs)
• Other food sources (please comment)

Section 3:  Food system assessment (400-600 words)

Students will summarize the strengths, weaknesses and major gaps in the community's food system. They will briefly describe efforts currently underway to address these problems, if any. Students will offer their own suggestions for what can be done to improve their community's food system. Students should include a discussion of the potential, limitations and challenges to the idea of a local/regional foodshed in the area.

> Assignment 2: Letter to the Editor/Op-Ed

Description for students

If you were given the opportunity to address the public on issues and topics explored during the course, what would be your call to action? How would you support your arguments?

Take one or more of the core concepts from the course (see examples below) and develop a public health advocacy piece in the form of an op-ed to a newspaper of your choice.

Your piece should make the issue compelling to your audience and convince them to take action. The tone you use depends on the issue you choose and the manner in which it is framed. Originality and the ability to maintain the interest of the reader are very important criteria for editorial pieces.

Your letter should NOT be a summary of the course. Rather, you should select one or several closely related topics from the lectures, readings or other course material as the foundation of your argument and develop it/them as a call to action to your audience.

Topic Selection

Below are examples of core concepts that are appropriate topics for this assignment. You are NOT required to limit your topic to one of these core concepts. They are provided only as a guide. Keep in mind all topics should relate to your audience.

• Antibiotic resistance in a particular food-animal industry
• Farm policy/the farm bill or a section of the farm bill related to this course
• The role of GM crops in agriculturally-challenged areas
• A notable aspect of your community's food system
• Promoting a specific aspect of sustainable agriculture, local food systems etc.

The following are examples of issues that are NOT core concepts of the course, unless directly tied into other components of the course as indicated above:

• Obesity and/or campaigns to reduce obesity
• Food advertising and/or marketing

Guidance on Writing An Op-Ed

Choose your audience - public health professionals, the general public, elected officials, etc - and the appropriate news outlet to reach that audience.

Your op-ed will open with your central thesis, followed by supporting arguments. The piece should close with a reiteration of your central thesis and a clear call to action to your audience.

Citations are necessary only if you reference a journal article or specific data. Citations are more commonly used in letters published in scientific journals.

Other points:

• Consider that many local papers give priority to hometown authors.
• Check the newspaper's guidelines - each paper is different.
• Follow the newspaper's guidelines on word count.
• Tag the article with a short, punchy headline; use a strong lead sentence which summarizes the opinion.
• Don't rely on e-mail (if offered, double up with a fax); reply asap; contact op-ed editor by phone, if possible.
• Include your name, address, phone number, e-mail address with the letter.
• Let us know if you submit and if it gets published!