Let's Discuss

Social Studies educators believe discussion is a crucial aspect of instruction which allows students to think critically and logically. This promotes the skills needed for civic engagement. Planned discussions reflect what the teacher thinks his/her students need to know and should be obtained through dialogue.

Discussing Food Industrialization:

1. Do you think the food purchased in grocery stores is safe to eat? Why or why not?

2. If there are federal laws (FIFRA, TSCA) on the use of hazardous materials when it comes to the food citizens consume, why is the government not enforcing them?

3. Why do you think many citizens do not know the negative health risks connected to the use of pesticides and hormones on farms?

4. How does desertification contribute to poor land use? According to http://www.dictionary.com/ desertification is the rapid depletion of plant life and the loss of top soil...usually caused by the over exploitation of grasses and other vegetation by people.

    How can the use of land be improved based on your previous answer?

Four Kinds of Approaches to Discussion:

• Responding to a problem
• Responding to an observation
• Responding to a question
• Reflecting on classroom activities

An example of approach number one, responding to a problem, would be "How can citizens learn about specific hazardous farm practices, and the food that is affected?" This would be in response to the problem that not enough people are aware of the harmful affects of farm practices or where their food comes from.

Best Practices to Facilitate Discussion:

• At the beginning of the year discuss what makes a good discussion with students.
• Create a set of rules for discussions that ensure civility.
• Plan the discussion. What topics do you want to cover? In what order? What happens if nobody answers?
• Create a starting question to create controversy, it should grab students attention.
• How will you respond to students propositions and questions?
• This should not be a lecture! Insert the planned agenda through student's comments so that it feels natural.
• Use whole-class and group discussions.
• Open up one student's question to the whole class for further thinking.
• Ask students to relate their comments to the specific content they read, viewed, or heard.
• If you are silent, the students will speak!
• The pace should be slow so students have time to reflect.
• Instead of responding ask another student their opinion.

To start a discussion on food industrialization  I would ask, "In recent research why has some corn created kidney and liver failure in rats?" This question provokes concern and inquiry, while also discussing a current event about the Monsanto company. Discussing about a vegetable that many students would have eaten or at least tried in their lifetime brings it into personal context.

As a teacher it is important to understand what students already know about the subject. I would ask students, "What do you already know about farm practices such as the use of pesticides and hormones? Where does your food come from?" Students will be able to apply what they have heard or seen about food industrialization, whether they heard it on TV or read it on the Internet.

After placing students in groups to research the issue of food industrialization I would ask students, "What laws/acts are in place to protect citizens, farm workers, and farm animals from the use of pesticides and hormones?" This allows students to discuss the issue in groups and as a whole-class.

During this lesson/unit I would have the students keep a journal filled with questions, concerns, reflections, and ideas about the issue. Some questions could be written on the board for students to answer in their journals such as "What does the word pesticide mean to you?" or "What improvements could farms make to create less health concerns with their product?" This will give students time to think about the questions before discussing them with the whole-class.



Check point for service learning project: Our plan is to visit two separate farms and compare their practices, such as the use of land, pesticides, and hormones. Katlin is planning on visiting Connors Farm in Danvers MA due to its convenient location. They have apple trees, pumpkins and grow other plants like tomatoes, and butternut squash. Greg would like to visit a farm in Western MA, where his friend works during the spring, that grows exotic plants such as kiwis. As for presenting solutions to our problem we have some great links and Greg is creating a lettuce garden plan that involves little work.

Blog 3

The critical attributes are the essential elements that encompass the whole issue. Land degradation, health risks, and in-humane animal treatment are the main critical attributes. Industrial farming is risky for the health of the land and all beings surrounding the farms is the procedural knowledge we are dealing with. This big idea is soundly supported by known health risks, pesticides used, inhuman treatment of animals and farmers, desertification, court cases, hormones injected in animals, and known restrictions of industrialization farming. To make sure people can fully become educated in industrial farming we would create a presentation that encompasses the overall views of this farming practice. At the end of the presentation we use as a hook there would be a list of links, movies, and books to allow people to develop deeper comprehension of this issue. These different venues allow viewers to learn the information using Multiple Intelligences that Howard Gardner founded.

Service Learning Project: Members of our group will visit three individual farms. During our time observing and learning about their practices we will acknowledge pesticides, hormones, and land use. We will come together and compare/contrast our experiences and practices of the farms.

Interviews

Kristin's Interview: I decided to interview my friend Stephanie, she is a Graduate student here at Salem State University. I discussed the issues with farms and pesticides and the affects that pesticides have on our environment, our health and foods. I started by asking her,

Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not? She agreed that there is a definite problem with the food industrialization, she mentioned how when she was younger her Abuela always made her double wash all the veggies and fruits before anyone eat them or else she could get sick. She said why is it that the food we are in taking needs to be washed or else we will get sick, do you really think washing will do anything?

Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not? Stephanie said that yes there are others in the community that think this is a problem but not enough. Many people just let the topic pass by until it affects them personally. We see changes trying to be made but are the rules being enforced?

What policy, if any, does government have now to deal with this problem? She wasnt really sure of any specific policy, had just only been introduced into the topic with me.

We went on and just talked about the different acts that have been brought on by the EPA and it seems she has formed a real interest in the topic. Maybe all we need is a little more information and talking being brought to the general public.

Greg's Interview:
My Dad Peter
　
Is this a problem you think is important?
“Yes because we are all eating this stuff“. After further coaxing I got another answer. “ If I don’t care the liberals will hunt me down.”

Do you think others in our community think this is a problem?
“Yes but I do not think many people know or care about it. It is a problem though and more people should think about it.”

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?
“ I do not know anything about government policies.”
I confirmed that my family usually blanks out when I start talking about farms and other various horrible practices we currently support. My Dad is more into Philosophy than govermental policies. He also knows more about farms and what systems we currently have but I feel in ways does not like to acknowledge that he does. I also learned that even myself actually know very little about policies that have been passed on most any issue. The fact that these things are problems is directly linked to people not knowing what happens behind closed doors. If there was a slaughter house open the the public down town anywhere I gurentee this facility would be cleaner and more humane.

Katlin's Interview: I interviewed my co-worker Jen. We worked at Children's Island Day Camp (located in
Salem MA harbor) during the summer from 2008 to 2010. After and overnight I saw Jen using fresh water to clean off strawberries. Since the island's water is from the ocean I knew she was using her own supply. I asked her "Why are you doing that?" and she exclaimed, "Do you know how many pesticides are on these?"

I asked Jen the following questions and she replied:

Is this a problem you think is important? "Yes this is absolutly a concern! This is a problem because of all the health risks related to pesticides and hormones especially to those who work on the farms, live near the farms, and people who consume their products."

Do you think others in the community think this is an important topic? "I have met many people who agree that it is an important problem, but I also know many people who do not know about it."

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem? "I don't know of any specific policy, but I understand there are rules in redards to the use of pesticides. New research shows that corn produced by the super company Monsanto shows organ failure in rats. Hopefully scientists can keep up the good work and persuade the government to change agricultural policies."

Do you have anything else to add about this topic? "I drive a truck for http://www.farmdirectcoop.org/ on Tuesdays getting locally grown produce. This includes vegetables, fruit, cheese and bread. They are organic or IPM (integrated pest management) which means they are minimally sprayed when necessary.

     

  

Intro to Food Industrialization

Hi we are currently students in the block education course at Salem State University .Our group is doing a project on food industrialization, which is the mass production of food. Monoculture farms have effected American culture and the environment. From chemicals to poor land use there have been an array of issues that have arisen from these farming practices.


"Right to Farm" is a Massachusetts law passed in 1979 (all states have a similar law). This law states that no one can complain about farmer activities and by-products. ALEC has played a major role in the foundation of these laws.

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
- This act requires all pesticides sold or distributed by the US to be registered in the EPA. Along with that it has labeling requirements which control when and under what conditions pesticides can be mixed, stored, used or applied. It also has Worker Protection Standards (WPS) that protects the safety and health of those that handle pesticedes. Along with the protection of the workers it requires all handlers of the pesticides to be trained in the use of them.

Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA)
(1)allow state and local planning for chemical emergencies, (2) provide notification of emergency releases of chemicals, and (3) address communities' right-to-know about toxic and hazardous chemicals.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) or SUPERFUND
- This act allows the EPA to respond to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that can affect the public health, welfare or the enviroment. The CERCLA forces those parties responsible for the hazardous act to clean it up or reimburse the SUPERFUND for the clean up performed by the EPA.

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
- This act granted the EPA the authority to create a regulatory framework in order to collect data on substances so they can assess, evaluate, mitigate and control risks that may be presented during the manufacture, processing and use of the substance. The EPA may, if a substance is discovered to be hazardous, ban the manufacture, limit the use, control the distribution and many other things.

More Information on the Acts Discussed Above

This is crazy!

Check this article out! Dirty Dozen: The 12 Fruits And Vegetables With The Most Pesticides

Greg's thoughts: Factory farming and mass productions of food is bad for the health of animals and the land. The cycle of growing more and more crops and buying more technology is bad for farmers. The more they grow the higher inflation rates rise and in doing so they need to harvest even more crops the next season. So factory farming is not even that profitable to farmers. It is profitable to corporations which flourish since this is a capitalist nation  I am less of a supporter on local farms and more of a supporter of home gardening and the creation of food forests instead of mini african landscapes in our backyards. I am thankful for the fact that our ancestors where able to figure out ways to feed their family but now with the knowledge we have on agriculture it is about time we change to a new system that meets the needs of this modern world where land is scarce.

Katlin's thoughts: Our blog topic is new to me. I only became aware of the harmful effects of pesticides in 2010 when creating a health project for class. I had no idea the amount of pesticides that farmers use and the negative effects they have on citizens, especially children. Out of all the information that I have learned throughout school, I have never been informed on the humane treatment of animals on farms and where the meat I eat comes from. Hopefully this project will build my knowledge about farm practices and how laws have influenced the industry.

Kristin's thoughts: When going through the list of topics to choose this seemed like the one that affects me the most. I have never taken the time to think about what is done to the food I eat and how the animals are treated. For years I have heard about the problems with pesticides but only to a certain extent. I am excited to dive deeper into the issues and the specific areas that are affected by these bad practices.