orientation to readings
& unit 4 reading guide

BRING PRINTED COPY of WORKSHEET FOR
**Food Culture Report**
(PDF/MS Word)
@ beginning of class
on **Wednesday, 11/14**

BRING FINAL PRODUCT of
*Food Culture Report*
@ beginning of class
on **Monday, 11/19**
(+ POST in Assignments tab of SacCT)

LOCATE details re: assigned TERMS & EXCERPTS in primary sources:

• "Pastoral: Grass" (TOD, 123-40, 151-169, 185-202, 208-25)
• "Waiting for Asparagus" through "Life in a Red State"(AVM, 23-58, 86-107, 173-211)
  [NOTE: the reading assignment for this TRA has been cut in half; remainder assigned for Application Exercises 4a & b, as noted below]
  

LOCATE additional details re: assigned TERMS in these overviews:

• "Describing the Unseen" & review entire "Essential Elements of Religious Life" essay
• EB articles: "Dimensions of the sacred," "Worship of Animals" & review/skim entire article that contains these two, as well as “origins of agriculture”
  

VIEW/BROWSE images related to terms & sources:

• trailer for "Ingredients"

prepare food & think about the sacred for Thanksgiving!!

TRA #4

(same as above)

Application Exercise #4a

(*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word)

REVIEW & COMPLETE "Pastoral: Grass":

• "Big Organic" (TOD, 134-40, 151-69 + 169-84)
• "All Flesh is Grass"..."The Animals" (123-33, 185-202, 208-25)
• [ALL NEW READING:] "Slaughter"...."The Meal" (TOD, 226-73)
  

PREPARE NOTES addressing the following focus:

Juan, a sharp-witted farmer you meet and interview at a farmer's market while shopping for your local meal, is enthusiastic in describing how he grows his produce. But when you ask him about the sacred, he tells you:

"Farming sustainably is mostly a matter of technique. There are just certain things you have to do to make the food grow well; it really doesn't have anything to do with religion or the sacred. I personally do pray that I'll get a good harvest. But when I'm on the farm, I just do what I have to do."

While you deeply respect Juan's farming skills and his dedication to what he does, you think he might be missing something about the way thoughts and feelings regarding unseen things influence what sustainable farmers do.

Drawing on the assigned sources (see above, including pages not assigned for the TRA), your group will try to convince Juan that thinking about nature as a complex, dynamic mysterious and endlessly fascinating web of relationships issignificantly impacts sustainable farming--even if he himself doesn't often think in this way moment to moment. To prepare, consider EACH OF THE THREE SETS OF PAGES listed above, and gather evidence of farmers' thoughts & feelings about nature as a web of such relationships, and their thoughts & feelings about farming as responsible tending of that web, which impact their sustainable farming practices. Guided by the above bolded terms, make sure to identify

• words, images, and emotions described by Pollan and the people he represents;
• what kinds of people these are; and
• objects, actions, words and locales involved in the sustainable farming practices that those people are motivated to keep doing.

*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBERS FOR EACH EXAMPLE*

Application Exercise #4b

(*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word)

REVIEW & COMPLETE Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:

• "Waiting..." through "Gratitude" (AVM, 26-58, 86-113)
• "Zuchini Larceny"..."Smashing Pumpkins" (AVM, 173-211 + 219-37, 259-71)
  
• [ALL NEW READING:] "Celebration Days" through "Time Begins" (AVM, 277-354)
  NOTE: "Where Fish Wear Crowns" (AVM, 242-59) is OPTIONAL
  

PREPARE NOTES addressing the following focus:

Professor Wang, who teaches the nutrition class you are taking, hears your describe this "Food, Farming & the Sacred" course to your peers one day before her class. She comments:

"It's important to know how different cultural groups honor the sacred through their use of food, but you also have to be practical. No matter what their culture, people just need to be taught certain basic nutritional facts, however they may think of the sacred. Understanding those facts is the primary thing that will motivate people to eat nutritious foods."

You certainly don't want to contradict a professor! Still, after class you tell Nancy & Vang, two classmates you know well, that you think the professor might be unaware of the extent to which viewing food & nature as sacred impacts good nutrition. They are intrigued and ask you to explain.

Drawing on the assigned sources (see above, including pages not assigned for the TRA), your group will demonstrate to Nancy & Vang that thinking about nature as a mysterious and endlessly fascinating web of relationships has a significant impact on the food practices of Kingsolver's family. To prepare, consider EACH OF THE THREE SETS OF PAGES listed above, and gather evidence of thoughts & feelings about nature's web impacting the way Kingsolver's family gathers, cooks & eats a broad range of nutritious foods. Guided by the above bolded terms, make sure to identify

• words, images, and emotions described by Kingsolver and others she describes;
• what kinds of people these are; and
• objects, actions, words and locales involved in gathering, preparing and eating nutritious foods.

*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBERS FOR EACH EXAMPLE*

Application Exercise #4c

(*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word)

*IF* YOU ARE PLANNING TO TURN IN A SOURCE ANALYSIS ESSAY: SUBMIT WORKSHEET
(in Assignments tab of SacCT)
for Unit 3-4 **Source Analysis**
(PDF | MS Word)
by **FRIDAY 12/7, midnight**

REVIEW IN DEPTH:

• selected students' Observation Reports
  (download from the Learning Modules tab in SacCT)
  

PREPARE NOTES addressing the following focus:

Over Christmas break you once again see uncle Ted, the local farmer's market enthusiast. You tell him about the broad application of the term "sacred" in the second half of the course, and especially the idea of nature as a mysterious and fascinating web of relationships. He responds:

"I liked the examples of religious rituals you told me about before, and I do think it's true that some religious people honor food and think about its sacredness in dynamic and creative ways. But I still think it's better to leave religion and the idea of the sacred, no matter how you define it, out of the sustainable food movement. Talking about sacred mystery promotes a lot of fuzzy thinking; what the movement needs is clear, practical thinking."

Using the local meal reports of your classmates, posted on SacCT, your team will try to show Uncle Ted that sustainable food gathering can and does inspire some people to think clearly about the fascinating mysteries of nature's web, and that such thinking motivates ongoing, practical engagement in sustainable food gathering. To prepare, consider at least ONE REPORT from EACH OF THE FOUR CATEGORIES of student reports (see "Learning Modules" in SacCT), and gather evidence that shows your classmates' local food gathering & meals and their thoughts & feelings about nature's web influencing each other in clear, practical ways. Guided by the above bolded terms, make sure to identify

• objects, actions, recited words, use of space involved in the gathering & eating local meals;
• the writer's thoughts & feelings about nature's web of relationships in relation to those local meals; and
• words & non-verbal signals of other meal participants and interviews with local grower that show similar thoughts & feelings.

*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBERS FOR EACH EXAMPLE*