Day 103

To start the class, I gave a brief lecture on what people can do to build a sustainable agricultural system. Essentially, buy local and know where the food comes from. In the area I’m in, we are removed from the production side of the food system. Our removal allowed us to see the practices and effects on humans and the environment.

After I gave the lecture, the students looked at the rate of rain forest removal in Brazil. I asked them to write what they saw and wondered as they analyzed the chart.

As the class came to a close, I asked the students to come up with three things they could do this week to reduce the rain forest from being cut down at the rate at which it is happening. Many of the suggestions included flying down to Brazil to protest or contribute to a charity.

Those answers were things they could do; however, there is a far simpler solution: they could buy local. In the span of one classroom, the lesson from the lecture didn’t stick. They didn’t internalize it. They didn’t make the understanding theirs.

I’m not faulting them. I’m just reflecting on when being told something, the lesson isn’t always received. If it isn’t internalized, then should I have spent my time differently? Should I have done something with that time that would have been more useful to them understanding their world?

More questions than answers today.