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In recent years, foreign and domestic cuisine has highlighted specialty foods, exotic and miniaturized, in an ever expanding quest to lure the restaurant patron with tempting and attractive dishes. The demand has pushed prices for these items to all time highs making production of these gourmet treats highly profitable. As a cushion to market vagaries, independent farmer/ranchers may respond by diversifying income strategies and maximize total production capabilities by growing a lucrative specialty crop. One rancher/grower's adaptation to new demands of the Japanese market is documented here from an interview on his ranch in St. Lucie County, Florida.

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Resources:

1. minicl.pdf -- Wheat farmers

2. kristof.pdf -- Japanese Fishermen

3. Mcdon.pdf -- Farmers in France protest against McDonalds construction. AP. FMNP 8-22-99:A15.

4. Friend.pdf -- American Ginseng becoming scarce from Asian demand. FMNP 8-23-99:D1.

5. Macleod.pdf -- Shellfish in danger in North Island of New Zealand. NZ Herald 6-24-99:A9

Assignments:

1. Read the introduction.

2. Write and post your Short Paper (See: Session objectives and student performance indicators below for for topics and instructions).

3. Discuss topic(s) selected by group moderator.

4. A-student exercise--Compare the prices of the same food items by 1 pound weight for fresh, frozen, canned, dried, or organic processing. What did you find? To what do you attribute the differences in cost? Which one takes more energy to produce? Why?

Webboard http://onyx.fgcu.edu/~154

Topic: Getting Food
Moderator of
Group One: Marilyn Alexander
Group Two: Theresa Knower

Session Objectives and Student Performance Indicators:

  1. Practice critical, analytical and systems thinking skills in researching, analyzing, and exploring the historical development of the way humans have acquired food through time.

    In the short paper, demonstrate an understanding of

    1. how hunters and gatherers use the environment to procure food.
    2. optimal foraging model and discuss how it pertains to human food acquisition.
    3. how pastoralists/herders use the environment to procure food.
    4. how horticulturalists (the anthropological definition) use the environment to procure food.
    5. how early agriculturalists used the environment to procure food.
    6. how intensive agriculturalists use the environment to procure food.
    7. the environmental issues involved in feeding our nation?
    8. the environmental issues involved in feeding third world countries?
    9. the environmental justice issues involved in using migrant labor in Southwest Florida.

  2. Demonstrate community awareness

    Discuss topic selected by group facilitator regarding issues concerning food procurement and environmental issues on the webboard

Sessions: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16