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=Culminating Group Project for Modules 2, 3, 4=

You will be put into groups of 3 or 4 and will choose a food product to analyze from various perspectives. The point of this exercise is for you to learn as much as you can about the system that brings you your food, the side effects of the system (social justice or injustice, environmental affects, resource use, nutritional implications), and the system’s effect on local/global consumers and producers.

This activity is called a round robin and this is how it works:

a) Each person in the group suggests a food product to analyze and posts it on your group discussion section. (HINTS: You are going to be tracing this food product from field to fork. The aim is to illuminate how the food item has traveled, been transformed, by whom, in whose interest, its nutritional value and any losses that may have occurred, the influence of economics and food corporations, and so on. You need to be able to find out something about its history, nutritional profile, production, distribution, consumption, ecological impact both local and global, the corporate structure. So you want to choose a product that is grown and/or processed elsewhere, is consumed fairly regularly by Canadians, and is sold for profit. Above all, it should be researchable. Pick a specific product that has a list of ingredients, a nutrition label, and a brand.) For each product suggested, a rationale is given for its selection (e.g., this food is highly processed so many nutrients are lost, it comes from far away and is over packaged so environmental/ecological issues could be explored, the corporation is huge so we could use it to highlight who is controlling the food supply, etc.) Then as a group you decide on one product to explore in depth and how to organize the analysis (e.g., will it be a diagram like a web or a flow chart; headings in point form; a paper; a power-point slide presentation). The person whose product is selected begins by setting up a template that includes the name, picture of the product, the ingredient list, the nutrient label, name of manufacturer, where the product is processed/packaged, and any other information on the label.

b) As a group you decide who is going to be responsible for different parts of the analysis: You will keep a reference list and cite sources of information (may be text materials or web sites).
 * nutrient analysis and nutritional issues associated with this food
 * an analysis of the manufacturer
 * a description of how the product (or ingredients in the product) gets from farm to table, field to fork (e.g., what type of farm, how many “food miles”
 * identification of the methods and issues associated with each part of the chain, such as those related to agriculture, processing, distribution, marketing (including advertising), and labor and a discussion of the consequences of those issues
 * any food safety issues related to the food product or the ingredients in the food product (the food safety module will be helpful here)
 * a discussion of the prevalence of this product in the marketplace (has it changed over time?), what role does the product play in the diet, how and why people consume your product and possible alternatives if you indicate that it is low in nutrients or that production is not sustainable or that by buying it you are supporting a company or practices that are problematic.

c) Set a date when each person will enter their data on the template. Determine some method to record each persons’ contribution (e.g., use colour coding, put the person’s name or initials beside the sub-headings)

d) Once the data has been entered, then begins the round robin – each member, in turn reads over the information gathered and contributes any new information or references that the may have discovered in their research. The last person in the round robin chain is the one whose product was selected and they will then upload the project to the assignment section of WebCT. Due Date: March 16th.

**NOTE**: Every page/group has its own discussion forum. You may use it to communicate with your team members about the project.