permaculture

[Alia Tsang <alia@dietrick.org>]

I have a friend that teaches a course that includes trips to the farmer's
market. One thing that surprised her was the amount of students who had
never seen a persimmon before (I think she said one thought they were bad
tomatoes). An interesting question to include could be along the lines of
"Are there any fruits/vegetables you've never seen before?" And maybe an
encouragement to try said alien produce. Also, to add to the price
comparison question, where (what country/how far away) is the supermarket
produce from?

Alia

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 12:52 PM, venaurafarm 
<venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>wrote:

>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Help with planning a farmers market lab?
> Date:   Mon, 20 May 2013 12:57:34 -0400
> From:   Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com>
>
>
> How would you recommend helping students understand where food comes from?
>
> Am teaching an online course this summer.  Including labs.  One lab goes
> along with class concepts of carbon cycles, foodsheds, watersheds, food
> webs, etc.  And with human microbiomes and how to nourish them (see
> Michael Pollan's article at NYT Magazine.)
>
> Here's the lab draft, please comment and help me improve:
> 1)  Visit one or more local farmers markets (this will be in July.)
>    Photodocument (with permission) the variety of foods available.
>    Compare prices with a local supermarket (excluding sale items).
>
> 2)  Goal is to buy, locally, all the primary ingredients for the
> complete meal, from the one(s) who grew the foods.  Take pics (with
> permission) of the foods and the growers.  Ask for recipes.
>
> 3)  During purchase, ask farmer/grower if they could please share why
> they grow and why they sell direct to consumers.  If they are still
> willing to talk, ask farmer/grower where the crop nutrients
> (fertilizers, etc) come from, and what they depend on for water.
>
> 4)  Cook this locally purchased meal and share it with at least one
> other.  (Been doing this part for years, as an in class activity with a
> single food at a time.)
>
> 5)  Reflect, with writing, pics, narrative, etc, on the experience of
> sourcing a local meal.  Would you be willing to do this more often?
>    Explain reasons why/why not.
>
> Suggest changes to any or all of the above.  Again, goal is to help
> students connect with the abstract concepts of foodsheds, watersheds,
> food webs, and to experience a single supply line: one grower to one eater.
>
> Thanks for any and all feedback!
> Richard Moyer
> Castlewood, VA
>
>
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