Over the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring the life cycles of various objects on their journey

through
production, consumption, and waste.

As we’ve discovered, our natural systems and our man-made systems operate in very different ways—but as
we’ve also discussed, that doesn’t have to be the case. For the next several months, you are no longer just
students here--you are sustainability experts, consultants, engineers, designers, and artists. Your task: to take our
school’s food system and renovate it so that it functions more like a living system, in accordance with the
principles of sustainability that we’ve been learning in class.

Part I:

In six groups, you will assess one segment of our school’s food system--production, consumption, and waste. As
we’ve discussed in class, there will be overlap between these areas, but your job will be to focus on the aspects of
our system that are involved in your leg of the journey from seed to table and back again. As a team, you will
need to research your segment and produce a final product that incorporates the following elements:
● A detailed summary and explanation of what the current system looks like
● An assessment of the flaws of this system in regards to the principles of sustainability
that we’ve been learning in class (the 3 Es, systems/cycles, diversity, interdependence,
feedbacks, cradle to cradle, carrying capacity, limits to growth, etc)
● An outline for renovating our school’s operations, given limited resources
This information will be presented to the rest of the class at our first “town meeting.” Your group written report
(approximately 10 pages) will be due a week before the meeting so that we can all read through them ahead of
time.

Part II:

Town meetings have been used by communities for hundreds of years as a way to communicate current issues
and events, and as a means for direct democratic involvement from ordinary citizens as well as experts. During
class 11, we will transform our classroom into a town meeting. As consultants on your particular aspect of our
school's food system, you are invited (required) to share your knowledge and findings with our community
(classmates) and offer your expert opinion as to how our school can renovate and update.
In your small group, you will have ten minutes to present a summary of your information from Part I, briefly
outlining the problems with our current system and your practical ideas for renovation. At the conclusion of our
town meeting, the class will decide as a group which aspect(s) of our current food system to focus on for the next
two months.

Part III:

After you’ve determined as a class how you want to focus your efforts, you will again split into task forces to
prepare for our second town meeting, where we will present our plan to the school community and any other
stakeholders. This meeting must involve a streamlined presentation of how we want to institute a change and why
it is important—again, based upon the principles of sustainability. Remember that the people we invite—school
administrators, parents, community members, etc—may have no knowledge of these concepts. It is up to
you—the experts, to provide the needed information and convince them of the necessity of a change. You will
have time to determine how the task forces should be split up, but some ideas to consider are:
● Outreach and invitations to stakeholders
● Education to stakeholders of basic sustainability ideas
● Streamlining of proposal
● Materials/cost analysis

Part IV:

Once again, our classroom will be transformed into a town meeting hall, only this time you will all be working
together to present your information and ideas to a broader community of stakeholders. You will have one hour to
explain the ideas you came up with in Parts I, II, and III. As stated above, remember that YOU are the experts, but
not everyone may have a base of information on sustainability, what it means, and why it's important. It's up to
you to convince them to support your proposal and get approval so that we can move onto Part V...

Part V:

Make it happen! Implement your plan. You will have lots of time in class to work as a team to prepare. You should
also, again, be sure to invite other stakeholders and community members to help us implement this exciting
project. We will have a full day “field trip” to execute your plans for change and celebrate our triumphs.