Santa Ana College, Biology 200

Assignment #2: Farmers’ Market

Introduction

For this assignment, you will be experiencing the numerous benefits of shopping at your local farmers’ market. Understanding how you, your community, and our society as a whole can move towards a more sustainable existence is one of the main tenets of Biology 200, and farmers’ markets go a long way towards that goal. Consider the following:

(a)There is nothing better than looking into the eyes of the person who grew and harvested the food that you put into your body. This is impossible when you buy produce from a large industrial supermarket (which by the way includes Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or Fresh & Easy). But at the farmers’ market, often the person who is handing you your fruits and vegetables was picking that produce just hours before! And even if the person working the booth is not the farmer, the number of middlemen back to the farmer is much shorter, which means fewer stops for the food before it gets to you. Farmers benefit since they usually get a higher profit, you get fresher food that is usually better for you (if it is grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides), and the prices are usually better for the quality you receive. Farmers like this arrangement since it provides them with direct feedback from consumers, and it provides them with a regular venue to sell their produce.

(b)The amount of transportation required to move the food around is usually greatly reduced. Your vendor may even be from OC or somewhere near OC. This means less fossil fuel is use to feed you. The next time you are in a supermarket, look at the label on the bananas, apples, and tomatoes. The bananas are usually from Nicaragua, the apples are from Washington State, and the tomatoes are from central Mexico. Eating bananas, apples and tomatoes grown here in southern California is just plain better for the environment. No airplanes or semi-trucks needed, and no excessive packaging required! And by buying organically grown foods, this encourages farmers to continue to grow their produce without using synthetic materials.

(c)The local economy benefits from farmers’ markets. One of the added benefits to buying at your local farmers market is that the dollars you spend tend to stay in circulation in your community. This helps keep local economies thriving, and in some cases, the local chamber of commerce supports advertising for farmers’ markets.

This Assignment

This is a self-guided field trip. You may attend any farmers’ market in southern California. For your convenience, here is a website that lists the location and times of all the farmers’ markets in Orange County.

Goals:

  1. Recognize different strategies and the environmental benefits of sustainable agriculture
  2. Promote the quality and diversity of local agriculture and the fun of dining locally
  3. Experience through sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste sustainability in action
  4. Learn that sustainability can be fun, functional, profitable, and delicious

Task:

-Answer the initial few questions on this page. Use your book or legitimate web sources to help you.

-For full credit, you must complete this electronic document. Fill in all the blanks and then upload the assignment as an attachment in Blackboard. It is not necessary to hand in a printed copy. You may take notes while at the farmers’ market and then transcribe your answers here along with your digital picture of yourself at the farmers’ market.

-Bring your own re-usable bag for your purchases and your own cup for coffee/beverages

-Take a digital picture of yourself at the market enjoying your beverage and food (smile!). The picture must have you in it, and something that identifies the farmers’ market you visited. The picture must be uploaded to Blackboard along with this electronic document.

-Interview THREE vendors to learn about their businesses & practices

-Do some taste-testing!

INITIAL QUESTIONS

A. Define sustainable agriculture

B. What is the mission of the Farmers’ Market you visited? Their website may have helpful information.

Come up with5 different ways to make agriculture sustainable? Use your textbook or other sources for guidance. In the small left box, list a category (some ideas could be transportation, pesticides, distribution, food quality, soil management, water usage, etc.). You may use a category more than once if you have more than one action for that category. Under “actions”, cite what you would do differently to change how your category is currently run in a typical industrial model. Under “benefits”, you should briefly state why your action would be more sustainable. These answers should be short – one sentence at the most.

TYPE CATEGORY BELOW / TYPE YOUR ACTION AND BENEFIT BELOW
1 / Action:
Benefit:
2 / Action:
Benefit:
3 / Action:
Benefit:
4 / Action:
Benefit:
5 / Action:
Benefit:

VENDOR INTERVIEWS

Name of Farm/Vendor #1:
What do they sell?
How far away is their operation?
Is this a family business?
What sustainable practices do they utilize?
Name of Farm/Vendor #2:
What do they sell?
How far away is their operation?
Is this a family business?
What sustainable practices do they utilize?
Name of Farm/Vendor #3:
What do they sell?
How far away is their operation?
Is this a family business?
What sustainable practices do they utilize?

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS

What is the most interesting thing you learned doing this assignment?

Industrial food production (the stuff in grocery stores) is responsible for soil degradation, water pollution, air pollution, and massive use of energy through the production of synthetic pesticides (made from oil), fertilizers (made with oil), and transportation (most food travels >1000 miles before it gets to your house). Based on your experience at the farmer’s market and tasting some of the food there, what do you think of sustainably grown food?

EXTRA CREDIT!

Earn 3 points extra credit if you upload a digital picture of yourself using an alternate form of transportation OTHER THAN a personal vehicle to get to the farmers market. The picture must clearly demonstrate this – either taking the bus, riding a bike, or walking. I’ve decided to not include any type of motor driven personal vehicle for this extra credit. No motorcycles – sorry.

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A.K. Morris, Ph.D., Bio 200, Assignment Handout 2-1.