For this assignment, analyze the meal provided by your instructor. Include the following analysis within your discussion:
If you were to purchase each item at a local chain grocery store, where would these items be sourced from. For example, where were the fruits, vegetables, and/or meats grown immediately prior to sale (do not discuss the history or origin of the item i.e., "corn or maize originated in Mexico around 2500 BC...). Discuss the events that allowed your local grocery store to carry these items:
What farming methods were likely used to grow these items and how do these methods impact the environment around the farms as well as the employees who work within these establishments?
Were the items grown and shipped in from another country?
What types of processing and packaging must take place in order for you to be able to purchase the product? If you were to follow the suggestions shared within the articles provided above, where could you purchase the items (provide specific sources within your local community)? If a food item is not available locally, is there an alternative that you could use as a substitute?
Discuss the ecological and economic advantages and disadvantages of purchasing food items that are locally sourced versus those shipped from other areas of the country and from around the world. Use your textbook reading for this unit in order to explore the environmental impacts, and use these to further analyze the impacts our food purchases may have on the environment.
The food choices we make have the potential to generate both local and global impacts. This can be summarized in the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally." Based upon your analysis of the meal provided by your instructor for this assignment, discuss how the choices you make when planning and buying meals might change in the future and how your choices, when combined with those of others, can have a global impact.