Off Campus Activities --> Local Meal(s)

The off campus activities for this course are designed to get you to experience first hand the people involved in food-related practices and reflection studied in class During the second half of the semester, you will visit a farm stand or farmer's market to purchase food for one or more meals, interview the farmer or farm staff, and observe your own communal or solitary eating. (You will sign up for both visits on the course content page in SacCT.) This experience will serve as the foundation for the Food Culture Report.

IMPORTANT:

• You must *choose a farmer's market or stand that sells food grown within 100 miles of your home.*
  
  
• I strongly recommend that you go with at least one classmate, family member or friend. Though the people in charge of these sites are always welcoming, you should take the same precautions as in any other public place.

Planning & Observing Your Local Meal(s)

Before your plan your meal(s), you may want to print outor at least view the appropriate worksheet

Food Culture --> PDF/MS Word

and consider what kinds of questions you'll need to ask and respond to in reporting about your local meal(s).

Your two options are

1. spend **AN ENTIRE DAY** cooking & eating meals mindfully by yourself.
   
   *OR*
   
   
2. gather friends and acquaintances to share and talk about the meal.
   

NOTE: a single meal will not satisfy the requirements of this assignment. If you can't make time in your schedule to cook & eat in solitude, choose the second option.

These two options both begin with visiting a farmer's market or farm stand that sells food grown within 100 miles of where you live, and interviewing the farm hand or staff. But after that you will proceed differently depending on your choice.

1. A DAY OF EATING ALONE:

If you want to prepare and eat your locally produced food alone, choose a day when you can realistically do so. Explain to friends, family & roommates your intention and ask that they not disturb you during meals.

IMPORTANT: if you choose this option, you must go through the following process for a full day of meals (a minimum of 2, ideally 3).

• To prepare each meal, spend time combining ingredients yourself, whether they are from the farmer's market or not. Avoid packaged meals and carry out.
  
  
• Just before each meal, put away your cell phone, TV, computer, and any other elecronic media, as well as any reading materials. Spend 30 seconds to 2 minutes imagining the various places where your food was grown, acknowledging both the natural elements and the people involved. Also become aware of the forces and processes keeping your body alive, which will digest and assimilate the food. If it is your habit to pray before eating, or if you just want to try it, this reflection can be part of your prayer. But you can also approach this simply as time for reflection and observation of thoughts and sensations, without any reference to supernatural beings or spiritual forces.
  
  
• As you eat, study your food. Consider to what extent the term "sacred" applies to the food, the elements and people it came from, and your body's ingestion of it. If you notice yourself eating fast, pick a certain number of times to chew that you can commit to (25-50 is a reasonable range) and then stick to it. If you suddenly realize that your mind has wandered to thinking about something else, welcome it back to awareness of the present and refresh your commitment to observing the process of eating.
  
  
• When you finish each meal, spend time writing about what occurred to you or, if nothing did, just start writing and see what comes out. You may want to print out and read over the Food Culture Worksheet (download PDF | MS Word) and perhaps fill in some of the details you'll need to write about; but if you have time I encourage you just to write what comes to you rather than just answering the questions on the worksheet.

2. A COMMUNAL MEAL:

If you want to share your food and your thoughts about food with others, you'll need to decide who to invite and plan a meal for 4-10 people, who may include students in this class. If your meal is a potluck, ask those you invite to get at least 2-3 ingredients for each dish from a local farmer's market, sharing with them the recommendations noted above under 1(a)/2(a).

• Whatever you choose to make, combine the ingredients yourself, whether they are from a farmer's market or not; avoid packaged meals and carry out. If hosting a pot luck, ask you friends to observe the same guidelines. Another option is to prepare the food together with some or all of your guests.
  
  
• Before sitting down to the meal, put away cell phones, shut off TVs, computers, and any other electronic media, and gather everyone together. Tell everyone the intention behind hosting this meal; you could describe the focus of this assignment in your own words, or state what you hope to get from hosting such a meal, or some of both. Then talk a little bit about each item and tell one or two stories about how you got the ingredients that are local, offering appreciation for those who grew them. If your guests are contributing food, ask each of them to say something about their contribution and what is local about it. If you are with friends whose habit it is to pray, you can include a prayer here, but this opening presentation can also be strictly reflection and observation, as modeled in by Pollan's description of his organic and "perfect" meals.
  
  
• Beforehand, arrange the seating and environment to encourage conversation, keeping ambient music on low volume and TVs and computers off.
  
  IMPORTANT: Include a time at the beginning of the meal to formally introduce the food, explain which ingredients are from local growers, and describe what you learned about that food from interviewing one of its growers. If you wish, you can include a song or a reading.
  
  Then observe the topics of conversation that arise, up to and including parting thanks and good wishes at the end of the meal. Consider to what extent you and your guests are reflecting and appreciating the significance of the food being eaten and what is sacred about it (even if no one uses this exact term). It's fine to bring up some version of these questions yourself one or two times, but otherwise just see what unfolds spontaneously.
  
  
• As soon as possible after the meal, write about what occurred--both the observable details of what they did and clues about people thoughts and emotions, including but not limited to their words. You may want to print out and read over the Food Culture Worksheet (download PDF | MS Word) and perhaps fill in some of the details you'll need to write about; but if you have time I encourage you just to write what comes to you rather than just answering the questions on the worksheet.

CAUTION: As with the Worship Report, I urge you to dwell as much as possible on what you actually saw and heard (e.g., “Sam’s face lit up when I talked about the man from whom I'd bought the lettuce;” “I was struck by how cheerfully everyone talked about the local ingredients in the food they brought.”) rather than noting general moods or judgements (e.g., “Sam seemed really excited;” “I felt really impressed with my family's willingness to bring something for this meal.”). You may find it helpful to consult my description of "Essential Elements of Culture," which includes additional pointers about observing such details.