Assignments

> Assignment 1

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to help you gain a better understanding of community food systems by investigating elements of the food system in your local community, city, or region.

Instructions

Use online resources, phone calls, and site visits to investigate the availability of different food types in your community, city, or region. Please include factors such as location, cost, gaps in food accessibility, and other challenges faced by members of your community. Include attempts in your community to address the food system problems noted in your assessment.

Your report should be a summary of your findings. Arrange your report using the following sections:

1. Community Description

• Urban, rural, suburban; geographic location; size; climate; transportation infrastructure; other factors unique to your area that impact food availability
• Characteristics of the people living in your community: population , SES, age, educational level, race/ethnicity, employment, etc.

2. Food Sources and Availability

• Where people obtain food in or near the community, such as large supermarkets, small grocers, specialty shops, corner stores, restaurants, farmers markets, pick-your-own, CSA's, roadside stands, individual farms or gardens
• Locations of these food sources and variations in use and accessibility by community members
• Types of food available

3. Food System Gaps and Problems

• Summarize the major problems noted from section two
• Briefly describe any efforts to address these problems

Your report should be a 1200-1500 word summary of your findings. Focus on the characteristics that are most important and/or unique to your community. Use the resources provided in Module 1 to guide your investigation.

> Assignment 2

Until recently public health has not been involved in the broader issues linking health, food production and the environment. This is beginning to change.

If you were given the opportunity to address the public health community in the U.S. and engage public health professionals 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 concepts from the course that YOU find most compelling and communicate it in your own words to the public health community.

Build upon these questions and develop a public health advocacy piece in the form of an editorial to the American Journal of Public Health. This is an opportunity to reach the 50,000 APHA members working in over 50 occupations of public health. Your Op Ed piece should make the issue compelling to others and should be written to appeal to your audience. 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.

Length: Not to exceed 750 words