GGR 2150 – Advanced Seminars in Special Topics: The (Re)Localization of Food Production: Debates and Controversies

In-person or video contact hours:

• Office hours are Monday 5:30-7:00PM in DV 3273.
• If this time is not convenient, please e-mail me to schedule an alternative time.
• E-mail is the primary mode of contact outside of office hours. I do not recommend phoning me at my office.

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• Please read the course syllabus carefully. Answers about course-specific rules, content and procedures (e.g., how to submit documentation regarding a missed assignment, policies about missed quizzes and tests) are already there.
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• You can contact me anytime at pierre.desrochers@utoronto.ca. I will do my best to answer you promptly during office hours (Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM).
• Always include the course code (e.g., GGR2150) as part of your subject line, along with your full name and student number in the body of the e-mail.
• I do not open attachments and will not answer during weekends.
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• Students are advised to consult http://www.enough.utoronto.ca/ for information on university policy concerning the appropriate use of information and communication technology.

Questions about departmental and program-related policies and procedures:

• Questions and queries about departmental or program-related rules and procedures should be directed at the Academic Counsellor for Geography/Environment, Darcy McKenzie (darcy.mckenzie@utoronto.ca).

The course will take an in-depth and critical look at current proposals to “re-localize” our food system through the (re)development of urban agriculture and shorter supply chains. It will survey recent policy reports and proposals and take a broader historical perspective on the rationale behind the development of the long distance trade in food products and inputs.

The course format will alternate between formal classes and open discussions. Students are expected to have read the assigned texts in advance.

The course has five (5) main objectives:

1. To introduce you to the current controversies surrounding proposal to re-localize our food supply chain;
2. To introduce you to a range of economic and technical factors that have shaped our globalized food supply chain;
3. To improve your ability to critically analyse and write clearly on a number of issues;
4. To familiarize yourself with the basic terminology with which professionals in relevant disciplines communicate their work and their research findings;
5. To apply a wide range of academic skills in writing a critical piece of policy analysis.

As per the University Grading Practices Policy, please note that “after the methods of evaluation have been made known, the instructor may not change them or their relative weight without the consent of at least a simple majority of the students enrolled in the course. Any changes shall be reported to the division or the department.”

How to Query or Challenge a Mark

Please note that you have two weeks from the date an item is discussed in class to ask for the item to be remarked. Contact the Course Instructor for all queries about course marks, or if you wish to challenge a mark. Absolutely no item will be remarked after the two-week period has passed. Material submitted for remarking must be accompanied by a brief written explanation detailing your reasons for dissatisfaction with the original mark (such as an addition error or something you think the marker may have missed). A request for a remark without a written explanation will not be acted upon.

Please note that you are allowed two questions where you and the instructor can agree to disagree (meaning you believe that you are entitled to a higher mark, but your instructor disagrees) without penalty. Beginning with the third question where you and your instructor disagree, one point will be taken off your final mark by question for which a revised mark was requested by you and denied by the instructor.

Discussions of the test/exam and written assignments can be found below.

All readings for this course are freely available to U of T’s students through the course Website.

Most of the suggested readings are freely accessible from anywhere. Some of them, however, may require you to use a UofT terminal or user code.

A set of questions will be given in advance. Students will be asked to answer a number of these during the test along with one or two open-ended questions. PowerPoint slides presented during the lectures WILL NOT be posted online. Note that everything discussed in class can the subject of the open-ended questions. No documentation is allowed during the tests.

You will be asked 6-8 questions from the following list (more questions will be added each week). Your answers should rely on both the mandatory readings and your class notes. You are strongly encouraged to use bullet point form. The questions will be weighted differently (in other words, some questions require very brief answers, while others will require more detailed treatments). Please write legibly and leave enough space between each answer in your exam booklet (in other words, try to make the life of your TA easier…)

QUESTIONS TO COME…

SECTION AWAITING FINAL FORMAT APPROVAL

What is the point of these assignments?

• To acquire more in-depth learning about a topic discussed in this course and its relevance to broader policy discussions
• To develop your writing skills
• To learn to think critically
• To learn the basics of scholarly and policy work

Useful links to help you write your assignments
The University of Toronto Library staff has compiled several links on researching and writing term papers and other types of work. Please look them up, along with the various university resources available to you:

• Writing (University of Toronto Mississauga Library)
• Writing at the University of Toronto
• Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre
• University of Toronto Library Research Guides: Geography
• University of Toronto Mississauga Library liaison librarian Andrew Nicholson

Citation styles
Please look up the University of Toronto Library webpage devoted to citing sources and creating your bibliography.

For written assignments 1 and 2 your are free to follow any of the Standard Documentation Formats, but I insist you use endnotes in assignment #2 (try to mimick the Ottawa documents as closely as possible).

For assignment 3 you will use embedded hyperlinks instead of traditional citations. Here is how to create or edit a hyperlink. Please note that a hyperlink is only a link to the original document. You are not expected to provide a page or any further information.

Turnitin
Students unfamiliar with Turnitin are directed to the Turnitin guide from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation.

Normally, students will be required to submit written assignments to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their assignments to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site (www.Turnitin.com). If you have an objection to the use of Turnitin for the submission of your work, please make an appointment to speak personally with the Course Instructor to discuss alternative arrangements.

Please note that submitting your paper through Turnitin.com or making alternative arrangements with your professor before the relevant deadlines is not optional. Failure to do so will result in a grade of 0 for your assignment. The late penalties describe in this syllabus will apply.

Turnitin.com course ID: XXXXX.
The Turnitin key (password) will be given in class and through Quercus.

DETAILS OF THE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Written assignment #1 (10% of your final mark)
Please choose your topic for this assignment carefully as it will apply to all your written assignments this semester. [Hint: I strongly encourage you to look at the relevant required readings for each potential subject so that you select the one that is of greatest interest to you.]

Write a 2-3 page reflection on ONE of the following questions. The choice is yours. Please use the relevant required readings of the lectures listed in parenthesis as a basis for your reflection. Cite these relevant readings in your paper. You may cite additional sources if you want to, but this is not required for this assignment.

Questions:

• Can the lack of economic development in most parts of the tropical world today be attributed to some unique environmental characteristics (e.g., soils, diseases) of tropical regions? (Lectures 1 and 12)
• Was agriculture humanity’s worst mistake and would we and the planet have been better off if our ancestors had remained hunter-gatherers? (Lectures 4-5)
• Can the fact that some tropical forested regions such as the Amazon basin are not as pristine as was once thought justify their large-scale economic development? (Lectures 7-8)
• What is environmental colonialism and can we use this concept to justify greater human activities / encroachments in wildlife preserves in Africa and other parts of the world where employment opportunities are limited? (Lectures 7-8)

In short, what your professor wants to know is 1) what is the topic about (i.e., define the concept and summarize the relevant controversy if applicable)? 2) What do you think of the debate/controversy on this topic based on your preliminary readings?

Specifications:

• Text should be written in full sentences and paragraphs organized in a clear and coherent fashion.
• The reflection should be written from a first-person perspective (i.e., you can use “I”, “me”, and “my” in this assignment).
• Text should be 11-12 point font and 1.5-2.0 line spacing on all pages. If applicable, block quotes and bibliography should use 1.0 line spacing.
• Pages should have regular 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins.

Due: Monday, September 30th @ 23:59 (week 4) via Turnitin

Written assignment #2 (20% of your final mark)
The goal of this assignment is to write a document similar to the “In Brief” notes produced by the Library of Parliament’s Information and Research Service (Ottawa).

Here are links to a few “In Brief” notes:

• Barnes, Andre. 2010. In Brief: Youth Voter Turnout in Canada: 1. Trends and Issues. Publication No. 2010-19-E. Parliamentary Information and Research Service. Ottawa: Library of Parliament.
• Heminthavong, Khamla. 2015. In Brief: Canada’s Supply Management System (PDF). Publication No. 2015-138-E. Parliamentary Information and Research Service. Ottawa: Library of Parliament.
• McGlashan, Lindsay. 2015. In Brief: Public-Private Partnerships: Are Canadians Getting the Full Picture? (PDF) Publication No. 2015-50-E. Parliamentary Information and Research Service. Ottawa: Library of Parliament.

As specified on the Library of Parliament’s website, their publications aim to “provide analysis to parliamentarians, parliamentary committees and parliamentary associations on current and emerging key issues, legislation and major public policy topics. The publications provide non-partisan, reliable and timely information on subjects that are relevant to parliamentary and constituency work (my emphasis).”

Your goal is to follow the spirit of these “In Brief” notes and produce a short document for busy people that presents all aspects of a particular problem in a non-partisan way. You must present and define the issue or problem, provide some background or context, explain why it is important and list all arguments for and against the problem or issue discussed. You can use bullet points, graphs or maps, but each claim or piece of evidence must be supported through an endnote.

Specifications

• Cover page. Must include subject title, first and last name, student number, course number, year and the exact wording of the question you are answering in your assignment;
• Table of contents, including page number for each section;
• Between 6 and 9 pages of text, excluding cover page, table of contents and endnotes;
• Text should be 11-12 point font; 1.0 line spacing on all pages, including cover page, block quotes, and endnotes;
• Pages should have regular 1.0 inch margins and be numbered;
• Reference/Citation style: ENDNOTES. Format of your choice, but you must be consistent.

Due: Monday, December 2nd @ 23:59 via Turnitin

Written assignment #3 (15% of your final mark)
An op-ed (originally short for “opposite the editorial page”) is a written prose piece which presents a specific opinion as opposed to a balanced perspective.

Your task in assignment #3 is to your write your own commentary on the question you have researched in assignments 1 and 2. Present and support your one-sided position with ideas and facts learned while researching your previous assignments and in other lectures and readings during the semester. In the old days of printed newspapers citations and references were not expected in an op-ed. Nowadays, editors typically ask for hyperlinks. Please use them to provide links to the original documents your are quoting or using numbers from. Limit your use of hyperlink to one word or number. For instance, use the link for an author’s name rather than a full quote.

Your op-ed should be between 650-750 words, excluding your name, course number and student number. This assignment does not require a cover page, but it requires you to write the word count of your piece at the end of your assignments (e.g., word count: 673 words.)

Keep in mind that your audience is the general reading public, meaning people who are likely not familiar with your topic and who may not have had a post-secondary education. You must therefore draw their interest by using a catchy title and, ideally, a “hook” at the beginning of your story (e.g., “poachers have killed government officials in a nature preserve”; “ruins of a gigantic city have been discovered in the Amazon”). Explain your position using simple language, do your best to persuade and do not simply make assertions (e.g., “every expert agrees with me”).

Keep in mind that your word count is low and that you might have to use only your BEST arguments, not all the arguments that support your position.

The University of Toronto offers the following guidelines to write an effective op-ed piece:

• Focus on one main idea or a single theme in your op-ed.
• Have a clear editorial viewpoint. State that point in your first paragraph, and then proceed to back up your opinion or prove your thesis.
• Look for opportunities to wed your specific area of expertise or interest with news developments.
• If you can, be controversial in your opinion.
• Always write for the lay reader. Be clear and straightforward. Use simple words, short declarative sentences. Even the brainiest of readers will lose interest if your submission is replete with long, complex sentences and paragraphs.
• Make your submission as argumentative as possible. It should not appear driven by anger and it should follow methodological reasoning.
• Express a strong call to action. Write with passion and “fire in your gut.”
• Take pains to educate the reader with your insight, but don’t condescend or preach.

See also the op-ed guidelines of Carleton College.

Op-ed links: New York Times op-ed page

Due: Monday, December 2nd @ 23:59 via Turnitin

Use of ChatGPT / Generative AI

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Snow days

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