Trace the taste

Categories:Rural

I was sitting here tonight wondering how I could teach rural geography of LEDC's to my once-a-week s4 class. It's a topic that I have to confess I struggle to liven up. If you think we've spent the last couple of weeks looking at commercial arable farming in France, I'm sure some of you must be wondering the relevance. So I started considering whether we even eat much of what is grown in France, and then thought about what I'd had for dinner in the last two evenings. I realised that studying what goes on in LEDC's is probably much more important to you and your lifestyles. Virtually everything I've eaten in the last two days has travelled a fair distance to be on my plate, and most of it comes from places like India. I could feel guilty about the food miles travelled, but then I have to ask myself, if I buy local all the time, what happens to the people in India and other places who are relying on guys like you and me buying their rice or whatever it is to earn a living? This is something I'd like to explore with my class:-

1) Where's my Dinner?- What did you have to eat last night, and where's it from?

2) Plain food or Plane food?- A discussion of what's wrong with food miles?

3) From my hands to yours- Who is responsible for growing the food I'm eating?

4) Celebrate the differences?- Finish with a photo montage of rice farmers in India- Compare and contrast with farming in MEDC's

I'm hoping that this helps us approach the topic in a way that shows you the impact on your own lives of something that we don't give much thought to.