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Reading Response 2
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Description
Course Description
Food is at the center of many serious social, political and economic issues, like starvation, obesity, eating disorders, malnutrition, climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, inequality, colonization, and imperialism, among other topics. Food is more than just a biological need, it is also a way people interact with the biosphere, express culture and communicate about class/gender/race relations. Although food sustains people on a daily basis, modern industrial agriculture is causing the planet to become unsustainable for future generations.
In this course, we critically analyze the possibilities and limitations of urban agriculture as a way to improve our food system, become food sovereign, promote food justice, and build community food security. We will learn about the history of urban agriculture, and read case studies about modern urban agriculture projects in Canada and around the world. We will also ‘get our hands dirty’ by getting involved with urban agriculture projects in and around our communities.
Course Format
This course will be given remotely via Zoom. Students are expected to attend the lectures and participate in the online activities during the times allotted for the course. Special arrangements can be made for those who cannot attend the course because they are not in the same timezone or if there is a major schedule conflict.
The lecture portion of each class will be filmed and made available to students. The discussion and activity portion of each class will not be recorded or made available to other students (or the general public). I am not recording the discussion/activity part of the class so students can feel comfortable sharing ideas and thoughts without fear of being filmed and broadcast.
In the course, I will use a variety of pedagogical styles including lectures, discussions, guest speakers (possibly), field trips (maybe), community service learning and/or experiential learning. Sometimes I will upload a prerecorded lecture or podcast to watch for the first portion of the course, then I will sign in and lead a discussion. At other times, I will give a live lecture and film it for others to view. Nonetheless, students are expected to attend the course online as if it were a course in person.
In class (online), students will engage with each other through interactive activities, discussions and by talking with people who work in urban agriculture. Depending on how everything is going with the pandemic, I will invite you to participate at the COVIQ Collective Garden with me. I may hold class there one Friday afternoon if conditions are right. Students will be given sufficient notice if we will go to the garden or on another field-trip. Furthermore, students who are not in Canada will not be required to come to the garden or attend any field-trips, instead they will be given an alternative assignment to make up for the participation grades. I will also video-record field trips and garden days when possible.
| Course Evaluation | Grade Weight |
| Inspiring Urban Agriculture in Montreal Blog Post | 20% |
| Design a Garden/Urban Farm Blog Post | 20% |
| Reading Response (2×10%) | 20% |
| Participate with COVIQ Garden or Another Urban Agriculture Project | 30% |
| Participation and Reading Notes | 10% |
Participation and Notes: Starting on September 18th, students must submit hand-written notes (so I know that they are authentic and not copied and pasted) for each weekly reading (you can send me a scan or photo) and must participate in classroom activities every week. Students will receive .5 for the weekly reading notes and .5 for completing the classroom activities for 12 classes. This number will be converted to a value on 10%. Students must email the reading notes by Friday at 11:30am. The activities will be done remotely via Zoom altogether on Friday from 11:45am – 2:30pm. For those who cannot make it to class, you can fill out the activities on your own and send them to me by email by the following Sunday at noon.
Inspiring Urban Agriculture Blog: There are many inspiring urban agriculture projects in Montreal and across the world. Students will interview collective/community garden participants, urban farmers, urban agriculture organizations, city ‘food’ planners, backyard gardeners, and/or other exciting urban agriculture projects. Students then write a blog of about 600 – 1000 words about the project. Although this is a blog, the information conveyed must come from research, not conjecture. The blog must contain at least five reliable, valid, credible sources. The blog must make reference to classroom readings, lecture topics classroom discussions, and other information from the course. Students with production skills can produce a video or a podcast instead of a blog, however this must also be approved by me (Erik Chevrier).
Power Point Presentation and Grading Rubric for Inspiring Urban Agriculture Blog
Link to Video with Explanation of Blog #1
Design a Garden/Urban Farm Blog:
Many people are interested in turning their yards into urban gardens, starting green alleys, or starting a collective garden, but they don’t know where to start. The purpose of this blog is to help people plan and set up a new garden for the first time and/or persuade someone to take up urban agriculture at a collective garden or in their backyards.
Students will write a blog of about 600 – 1000 words about one of the two topics:
1 – Setting up and designing a garden.
2 – A persuasive piece advocating for the merits of getting involved with urban agriculture at home or as part of a collective – (must be a critical analysis and not a cheer-leading exercise).
Although this is a blog, the information conveyed must come from research, not conjecture. The blog must contain at least five reliable, valid, credible sources. The blog must make reference to classroom readings, lecture topics classroom discussions, and other information from the course. Students with production skills can produce a video or a podcast instead of a blog, however this must also be approved by me (Erik Chevrier).
Students can also make this blog practical by helping to redesign the COVIQ Collective Permaculture Garden, which has not been taken care of for years. Students, who can come to the COVIQ Collective Garden, can help redesign the permaculture garden by using the knowledge they gained from the course and from their own research. These plans will be taken into consideration by the COVIQ team and may be implemented as the new design for the permaculture garden.
Power Point Presentation and Grading Rubric for Design a Garden/Urban Farm Blog
Reading Responses: Students will answer two comprehensive questions about the readings and lectures twice during the course. The objective of this assignment is to evaluate whether students understand the information covered in the lectures and readings. Students will be given the questions a week before the reading assessment is due. The report must incorporate references to the readings from the course and at least three external sources.
Power Point Presentation and Grading Rubric for Reading Response Assignments
Final Project:
1 – Complete a specific project with the COVIQ Farm for at least 10 hours.
2 – Complete a specific project with another urban farm for at least 10 hours.
3 – Write a research paper/literature review about a topic related to urban agriculture.
4 – Help develop the Lachine Food System website – finalize a food mapping project from the summer and/or develop the site.
You must be in a group of at least 3 people unless I give you permission to do something different. You must all contribute to the report, but you can get graded for your individual contribution if you wish. If you are not part of a group and didn’t get permission to work on your own, your grade will be reduced by 15%.
Final Project Power Point and Grading Rubric
Link to Video Explanation of Final Project
Link to Video Introduction to Final Assignment
Letter Grade Equivalency
Your numerical grades will be converted to letter grades as follows:
A+ (93 – 100%) B+ (77 – 79.9%) C+ (67 – 69.9%) D+ (57– 59.9%)
A (85 – 92.9%) B (73 – 76.9%) C (63 – 66.9%) D (53 – 56.9%)
A- (80 – 84.9%) B- (70 – 72.9%) C- (60 – 62.9%) D- (50 – 52.9%)
F < 50%
Course Materials and Text:
The required readings:
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Lecture Schedule: Themes and Required Readings
This is a TENTATIVE schedule and is subject to change. Be sure to consult the course website regularly to be aware of any changes.
Course schedule, topics and required readings:
September 11 – Introduction to the Course
Video of Lecture from September 11, 2020
September 18 – Introduction to Urban Agriculture
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 4 – A World Food In Crisis (p. 59 – 72)
Chapter 5 – The New Food Movement and the Rise of Urban Agriculture (p. 73 – 80)
September 25 – What’s Wrong with our Food System
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 1 – What’s the Matter with Food (p. 1 – 10)
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 1 – The Facade of the Modern Grocery Store (p. 23 – 31)
Chapter 2 – Industrial Food (p. 33 – 46)
Chapter 3 – Industrial Eaters (p. 47 – 57)
Power Point Presentation – Critique of Our Food System and Solutions
October 2 – Raising City Vegetables and Fruits
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Chapter 5 – Planning What to Grow and Raise (p. 67 – 88)
Chapter 7 – Container Gardening (p. 113 – 134)
October 9 – Building Soil, Maintaining Crops and Managing Pests
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Chapter 8 – Building Soil Fertility (p. 135 – 159)
Chapter 10 – Planting and Maintaining Crops (199 – 237)
Chapter 13 – Managing Weeds, Pests and Disease (p. 278 – 304)
October 16 – Localizing Food via Urban and Suburban Farming
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 2 – Past Forward to Local? Let’s Be Real (p. 11 – 24)
Chapter 3 – Preserving Rural Agriculture Land for Food Production (p. 25 – 34)
Chapter 4 – Converting Urban and Suburban Lands for Growing (p. 35 – 48)
Chapter 16 – Is Local Food Safe (p. 231 – 237)
October 23 – Making Urban Farms Viable
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 7 – Economic Sustainability: Making the Economics of Agricultural Urbanism Pay (p. 81 – 100)
Chapter 8 – Economic Development through Urban Agriculture (p. 101 – 116)
Chapter 12 – Farmers Markets and CSAs: Making the Most of Direct Sales (p. 167 – 180)
October 30 – Building Community via Urban Agriculture
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 13 – Growing Community with Community Gardens (p. 181 – 195)
Chapter 17 – What We Can Do: Systemic Changes, Personal Choices (p. 239 – 257)
November 2nd – Reading Response 1 Due at 11:30am
November 6 – Roots of Modern Urban Agriculture
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 6 – Paris – The Roots of Modern Urban Agriculture (p. 81 – 105)
November 13 –Urban Agriculture in Canada
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 9 – Vancouver – Canada’s Left Coast (p. 159 – 197)
November 20 – Urban Agriculture in Canada
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 10 – Toronto – Cabbagetown 2.0 (p. 199 – 226)
November 27 – Urban Agriculture on a National Scale in Cuba
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 14 – Cuba – Urban Agriuculture on a National Scale (p. 283 – 305)
December 4 – Greening and Eating Our Cities
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 15 – Conclusion: Greening and Eating Our Cities (p. 307 – 316)
December 13 – (NO CLASS) Final Paper Due at Midnight Participate with an Urban Agriculture Project
A list of Student Services and Useful Resources
Counselling and Psychological Services: http://concordia.ca/students/counselling-life-skills
Concordia Library Citation and Style Guides: http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/citations
Student Success Centre: http://concordia.ca/students/success
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Financial Aid and Awards: http://concordia.ca/offices/faao
HOJO (Off Campus Housing and Job Bank): http://csu.qc.ca/hojo
Academic Integrity: http://concordia.ca/students/academic-integrity
Access Centre for Students with Disabilities: http://concordia.ca/offices/acsd
CSU Advocacy Centre: http://csu.qc.ca/advocacy
Dean of Students Office: http://concordia.ca/offices/dean-students
International Students Office: http://concordia.ca/students/international
Student Hub: http://concordia.ca/students
Sexual Assault Resource Centre: http://concordia.ca/students/sexual-assault.html
Indigenous Directions: http://concordia.ca/about/indigenous.html
University Rights and Responsibilities
Academic Integrity: “The Academic Code of Conduct sets out for students, instructors and administrators both the process and the expectations involved when a charge of academic misconduct occurs. The regulations are presented within the context of an academic community which seeks to support student learning at Concordia University.” (From Article 1 of the Academic Code of Conduct). Full text:
http://www.concordia.ca/students/academic-integrity/offences.html
Plagiarism: The most common offense under the Academic Code of Conduct is plagiarism, which the Code defines as “the presentation of the work of another person as one’s own or without proper acknowledgement.” This includes material copied word for word from books, journals, Internet sites, professor’s course notes, etc. It refers to material that is paraphrased but closely resembles the original source. It also includes for example the work of a fellow student, an answer on a quiz, data for a lab report, a paper or assignment completed by another student. It might be a paper purchased from any source. Plagiarism does not refer to words alone –it can refer to copying images, graphs, tables and ideas. “Presentation” is not limited to written work. It includes oral presentations, computer assignment and artistic works. Finally, if you translate the work of another person into any other language and do not cite the source, this is also plagiarism. In Simple Words: Do not copy, paraphrase or translate anything from anywhere without saying where you obtained it! Source: Academic Integrity Website: http://concordia.ca/students/academic-integrity
Disabilities: The University’s commitment to providing equal educational opportunities to all students includes students with disabilities. To demonstrate full respect for the academic capacities and potential of students with disabilities, the University seeks to remove attitudinal and physical barriers that may hinder or prevent qualified students with disabilities from participating fully in University life. Please see the instructor during the first class if you feel you require assistance.
For more information please visit http://concordia.ca/offices/acsd
Safe Space Classroom: Concordia classrooms are considered ‘safe space classrooms/virtual classrooms’. In order to create a climate for open and honest dialogue and to encourage the broadest range of viewpoints, it is important for class participants to treat each other with respect. Name-calling, accusations, verbal attacks, sarcasm, and other negative exchanges are counter-productive to successful teaching and learning. The purpose of class discussions is to generate greater understanding about different topics. The expression of the broadest range of ideas, including dissenting views, helps to accomplish this goal. However, in expressing viewpoints, students should try to raise questions and comments in ways that will promote learning, rather than defensiveness and feelings of conflict in other students. Thus, questions and comments should be asked or stated in such a way that will promote greater insight into the awareness of topics as opposed to anger and conflict. The purpose of dialogue and discussion is not to reach a consensus, nor to convince each other of different viewpoints. Rather, the purpose of dialogue in the classroom is to reach higher levels of learning by examining different viewpoints and opinions with respect and civility.
I acknowledge that Concordia University is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which we gather today. Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community. (Indigenous Directions Leadership Group, Feb. 16, 2017)