Farm-to-Table
Writing
Assignments Handout
All papers, whether short abstracts or longer pieces, should focus on basic questions:
· What are the main themes evident in the narrative?
· What is the scope of the work? Is it located in time and space (geographically)? If so, how?
· What evidence does the author use? Case-studies? Demographics? Scientific studies? Government documents? Agency reports? Surveys?
· Is the work written from a social, economic, environmental, scientific, political or other perspective?
· What drives the argument? Economics? Human action? Ecological systems? Political or sociological ideology? Public Policy?
· Does the author offer solutions, goals, ideas for resolving or addressing a problem? If so, how and in what manner?
ABSTRACTS
16-credit students are required to write abstracts of journal articles they find for their Food Systems assignment (Tues., Week 3, April 15) related to themes in Freyfogle’s The New Agrarianism and for the Feenstra article[1] on closed reserve (Tues. Week 5, April 29).
Both 8-credit and 16-credit students should use the abstract model for their annotated bibliographies due with their final projects.
A good abstract begins
with a complete bibliographic citation, then notes the main themes found in the
text and also offers a short analysis of the material. The abstract should be
written in 12-pt Times New Roman font, be double-spaced, and should contain
300-500 words (one or two pithy paragraphs). Hence:
Wilkins, Jennifer. 2000. “Community Food Systems—Linking Food, Nutrition and
Agriculture.” Cornell Cooperative Nutrition—Food and Nutrition Section. http://www.cce.cornell.edu/food/expfiles/topics/wilkins/wilkinsoverview.html, downloaded, 3-26-03.
Wilkins offers a simple,
digestible overview of the “Food Systems” concept in this online
article offered by Cornell’s Cooperative Extension site. She gives a
definition of a “Food System” followed by a list of components that
distinguish local from global systems. Here, food security, proximity,
self-reliance, and sustainability are all defined and connected to the food
systems theory that is well located in the present. Along with a list of goals,
Wilkins also offers a list of practical, community food system elements
recognizable in many urban communities. Community-Supported Agriculture
enterprises, along with farmers’ markets and community gardens, are among
the most common elements found in local food systems. She also offers hints for
individual consumer behavior that will enrich and support community food
systems along with suggestions about how to incorporate them into individual
lifestyles. Wilkins ends with a good list of reference works for further
reading.
This
overview affords beginners with easy access to terms and descriptions about
food systems that are easy to understand and visualize. Highly descriptive in
her treatment, Wilkins offers little analysis, trusting that readers will
determine that this course is rational from economic and ecological
perspectives. (This example is not double-spaced for paper-conservation
reasons. Yours should be!)
Lappe, Francis Moore and Lappe, Anna. 2002.
Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a
Small Planet. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher-Penguin Putnam Pub.,Inc.
Moore begins her this
book with an analysis and description of her acclaimed earlier work, Diet
for a Small Planet. Here she
announces once again that global food security is possible using available
technology and sustainable growing practices. She reiterates that world hunger
is a symptom of political allocation of food resources rather than a result of
food scarcity. To make her point, Moore and her daughter, Anna, describe and
analyze case-studies from the United States, Brazil, Bangladesh, New Delhi,
Kenya, Holland, Belgium and France. Most of these studies offer some historical
perspectives related to the social and political contexts in which the subject
projects were formed.
Moore
offers substantial arguments based on these case-studies, and with them, hope
for a better food system that feeds us globally by focusing on sustainable,
local, agricultural development and on strengthening and creating global
policies that foster such a mix. Though an interesting read complete with good
recipes and resources, Lappe’s book lacks a good index and so requires a
thorough reading. It’s not useful as a reference resource but better
lends itself to enrichment of political and ideological arguments about the
necessity of supporting local food systems throughout the world.
THEME PAPERS:
All Farm-to-Table
students are required to write two short (3-5 page) theme papers for this class
and one, even shorter, analytical book review (Schlosser’s Fast Food
Nation, 1-2 pages).
The first paper (due
Thurs., April 17) demands that students pick out one or two themes in
Freyfogle’s The New Agrarianism.
·
Once the student has
identified these themes, they are required to find at least one journal article
that relates to the theme(s).
·
Seniors wanting
advanced-level credit need to use two articles. Use the article(s) to
inform a paper that describes and analyzes the theme(s) you’ve chosen
from Freyfogle. In short, integrate the article(s) with your Freyfogle themes.
·
Begin with an
introductory paragraph describing the themes and how the articles relate to the
themes.
·
Fill the body of the
paper with examples that explain and define your argument, using several,
cited, examples from the texts, lecture and other course material.
·
Finish with a conclusion
that reinforces your introduction and that offers a statement about the
theme(s) and about the evidence you’ve presented. DO NOT spend very much
time talking about “liking” or “not liking” what
you’ve read. If you have criticism to offer, do so with examples and
clear questions related to the material.
·
Always cite material
in the body of the text (using footnotes, endnotes or parenthetical citations)
and finish with either a full bibliography or endnotes that offer full
citations of the works used.
·
First-year students are not required to write
the second paper and will, instead, offer a
final draft of the first paper. Depending upon student initiative, First-years
may incorporate more than one journal article into the paper and may exceed the
5-page limit by a page or two on their second draft.
The Second Paper (due Thurs., April 24th) focuses on a description and analysis of Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. Only 2 pages in length, it should look like the abstract described above, but with a little more substance. Cite several, specific examples from the text and lectures as you describe and analyze the material.
The Third, Synthesis Paper
(due Thurs., May 16th) requires that:
·
Students read and
analyze Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation and then link it to specific themes and ideas outlined in
Barndt’s Tangled Routes,
Chapter 3.
·
Learn how to
incorporate block quotes when necessary.
Use
block quotes (indented five spaces from both margins, justified, single spaced)
when quoting more than three sentences from any text. Block quotes are great,
but shouldn’t be over-used. You should outline and analyze material using
your own words rather than copying large sections from the texts.[2]
·
We suggest beginning
with Tangled Routes and then
linking themes from that to pertinent ideas expressed in Fast Food Nation. Several connections should be evident, so
don’t look for a “right” answer. This paper demands a
thorough reading of both texts. Always cite specific references to ideas taken
from, or quotations taken from, the texts.
FINAL PROJECTS:
8-credit students are
required to write a 1-3 page thesis prospectus that outlines major theme,
describes rational for the selected texts and that offers the reader a context
for the readings selected in your bibliography. This paper should read like a
bibliographical essay. In this sense, the body of the paper should be fashioned
like a literature review—one that offers a description and short analysis
of texts related to a central theme or themes and that includes material from
class lecture, etc.
16-credit students must
write a longer paper (7-10 pages) that functions much like a bibliographic
essay (see above) and that expands on identified themes using specific, cited,
references to source material from texts, lecture and other course material.
Annotated bibliographies
should be comprised of at least 10 sources, three or more of which must be peer
reviewed journal articles. Students wanting advanced-level credit must
incorporate 12 sources, half of which (6) must be peer-reviewed. See
Abstract description.