Final Reflective Assignment

1. I think that the most valuable thing that I learned from this class is that conventional food has an unseen price that cannot be accounted for until the damage is done. This class taught me that buying foods that are local and organic can really help to reduce the amount of damage done in transporting and growing food. Even though before this class I was aware of the damage that conventional food does, I wasn't acutely aware of it. Now I make sure to check labels of foods that I buy and to look for foods that better for me and for the planet.

2. The group project aspect of this course was really rewarding because we were working on something that would help People's in the long run and would have tangible results. Our group was challenged mostly by the farmers themselves. It was sometimes hard to get a hold of them and hard to get them to make a commitment to us for a farm visit or interview. We had to rely on strangers' capacity to welcome us and to invite to their farms which was awkward at best sometimes. Another struggle within the group was just finding time when our schedules corresponded to go to the farms. With five of us and three without cars, it was difficult to find shared free time to visit farms that were somewhat far away. We resolved these issues by trying to be as friendly and inviting to the farmers when we were setting up appointments to visit. Toward the end of the project, we realized that it was best to go to the farmers first and then plan our time around their time, whereas at first we tried to figure out when everyone was free and then try to call farms that could have us at that time. This helped us get together and rally around a time that was convenient for the farmer.

3. This class helped teach me that issues of food are issues of social responsibility. We all the responsibility to be knowledgeable about where our food comes from and how it is grown. In America, most of us have the privilege to vote with our dollar. By buying foods that are low impact on the environment we are making a statement about what we want the world to be like for future generations. More people in America need to realize the high ecological and health costs of cheap, unhealthy, processed foods and engage in the issues that allow big corporations to have control over what goes into our bodies.