Food Security and GMOs Discussion

Resources
We will be holding a Socratic Seminar on Tuesday, April 16th - the topics that will be discussing are
the current controversies surrounding Food Insecurity and whether or not GMOs are the answer
to the crisis of feeding a world of 9 Billion people.

These are the required readings and videos that you will need to have worked through BEFORE our
Socratic Seminar is held on Tuesday, April 16th. We will have computers on Monday to watch some of
these videos and then some of them you will be able to watch at home on your own. You are then
expected to take notes and add to what you have watched on each video. You have TWO required
reading articles and then you are to choose ONE of the optional articles to read and answer a series of
questions on. We will have two in class workdays on Friday, April 12, 2019 and Monday April 15th.

Summary of Resources:

Type Title/Link Description

Video Fresh! What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Available on Amazon Prime that you gained from this video?

***We will watch a PART of this in class, if you want to

watch the rest and you have Amazon Prime you can rent
it from your account
Video Coffee: The Greatest What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Addiction Ever (CGP Grey that you gained from this video?
video)

Video Subsistence Farming in What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Ghana: that you gained from this video?

Farming in Nepal:
Subsistence Rice

Video How Food Shapes our What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Cities—TED talk that you gained from this video?

Video Feeding 9 Billion What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
that you gained from this video?
Optional Worldwide Wheat What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Article Production that you gained from this video?
By Neal Lineback

Required GMO Pros & Cons What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Reading that you gained from this article and video?
+ Video
Optional The Next Green Revolution What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Article that you gained from this article?
Optional Women in the Green What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Article Revolution that you gained from this article?
Required Can we Feed the World and What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Reading Sustain the Planet? that you gained from this article?
Optional The New Geopolitics of What can you USE in your Socratic Seminar discussion
Article Food that you gained from this article?
From Foreign Policy

Task #1 - Background Information

While watching the video segment from Fresh answer the following questions:

1) What did the farmers say Americans are most concerned about when it comes to the types of food
that they eat?

2) How is agriculture today more like a factory process than it used to be?

3) What is a monoculture? What dangers does this cause? How are animals and crops in a
monoculture environment kept alive?

4) Why is livestock been taken off the family farm? What problems does this cause for both people
and the environment?

5) How did the separation of plants and animals create 2 problems?

6) What was the original cause of diseases like mad cow and avian flu? Why did people begin doing
this?

7) How has Joel Saladin tried to take cues from nature to repurpose his family farm?

8) How did Russ Kremer change his farming practice when raising hogs?

9) Why does organic food cost more? What food currently receives subsidies by the USDA?

10)How can you USE this information to help you in the Socratic Seminar?
Task #2 - Notetaking in Preparation for the Socratic Seminar (1/26/2018)

Instructions: When preparing for a Socratic Seminar, write questions using these sentence frames
to stimulate your thinking about the article(s) you read. Choose and complete 5 of the following:
What puzzles me is…

I’d like to talk with people about…

I’m confused about…

Don’t you think this is similar to…

Do you agree that the big ideas seem to be…

I have questions about…

Another point of view is…

I think it means…

Do you think…

What does it mean when the author says…

Do you agree that…

****For each article that you read you only have to answer 5 of these questions.

**** Think through these things as you read the articles/ or watch the video clips and be ready to discuss
them in the Socratic Seminar
 Food Security and GMOs
Agriculture Discussion Questions

Task #3 - Prepare for the Day of Discussion

During the discussion, you will take notes on each question. I will collect this sheet and grade your
participation in the discussion. As you read and watch the videos answer the following questions :

Discussion Questions:

1. How are the impacts of agriculture felt unevenly across the globe? Think about both production
and consumption.

2. How does food play a role in political stability?

3. How does the production of biofuels, such as ethanol, impact the food supply? What about the
expanding middle class in India and China?

4. What is “food nationalism”, and how will it impact food security?

5. How can we reduce the environmental impact of agriculture? Consider not only water and air
pollution, but also over pumping and soil management.
6. The authors of “Can We Feed the World and Sustain the Planet” propose a five-part solution to the
three challenges for the world’s food system. What would be required for these steps to be
successful?
a. stop expanding agriculture’s footprint

b. close the world’s yield gaps

c. use resources more efficiently

d. shift diets away from meat

e. reduce food waste

7. Should GMOs be an important part of the solution to food insecurity? Why or why not?

8. Now that you know more about food production and consumption, reflect on the application of
Thomas Malthus’ theory. Does it seem more or less applicable to our future?
Socratic Seminar - Levels of Participation

If you want an “A”

- Student offers enough solid analysis, without prompting, to move the conversation forward
- Student, through her comments, demonstrates a deep knowledge of the text and the question
- Student has come to the seminar prepared, with notes and a marked/annotated text
- Student, through her comments, shows that she is actively listening to other participants
- Student offers clarification and/or follow-up that extends the conversation
- Student’s remarks often refer back to specific parts of the text.

If you’re shooting for a “B”

- Student offers solid analysis without prompting

- Through comments, student demonstrates a good knowledge of the text and the question
- Student has come to the seminar prepared, with notes or a marked/ annotated text
- Student shows that he/she is actively listening to others and offers clarification and/or follow-
up

If you’re okay with a “C”

- Student offers some analysis, but needs prompting from the seminar leader
- Through comments, student demonstrates a general knowledge of the text and question
- Student is less prepared, with few notes and no marked/annotated text
- Student is actively listening to others, but does not offer clarification and/or follow-up to
others’ comments
- Student relies more upon his or her opinion, and less on the text to drive her comments

For a straight up “F”

- Student offers little commentary

- Student comes to the seminar ill-prepared with little understanding of the text and question
- Student does not listen to others, offers no commentary to further the discussion
- Student distracts the group by interrupting other speakers or by offering off topic questions
and comments.