Food, Farming, and Justice: A role play on La Vña Campesina
Bill Bigelow, Chris Buehler, Julie Treick O'Neill, Tim Swinehart, Zinn Education Project
This resource has students role-play as farmers from around the world and consider how agricultural practices are part of climate solutions. This resource includes role-play activities for students to learn more about La Via Campesina, one of the largest social movements around the world. Students get to discuss why they may not have heard of this in their history books and embody La Via Campesina activists.
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Before starting the discussion, it can be helpful to discuss class norms so that folks have productive and respectful dialogue, even if disagreements come up.
Teachers can extend the activity by including more discussion around climate change and how it is impacting the farmers.
There is not a heavy emphasis on climate science, but facts about food production are included throughout from credible sources.
The resource has students consider climate change impacts through their discussions, as agricultural practices are an integral part of climate solutions.
Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
This is a jigsaw-style activity where students role-play people from different farming backgrounds. They take on roles and participate in a mixer to hear about the different people involved in the G7 summit. Then they participate in developing a response to the G7 proposal on feeding the world.
There is a suggested procedure for teachers to follow that outlines how this may be used in a classroom. The article lays out the process for implementing the activity and includes the handouts for students and discussion guides (despite it not being a true teaching guide, the instructions are detailed).
One prerequisite students need is a basic understanding of activism and global food insecurity.
Teachers need to set up an account with the Zinn Education Project and once they sign up the outline, readings, and worksheets are easily accessible through the link.
The activity is straightforward to implement and most materials are included in the PDF.
It is important for there to be enough printouts for all the students.
Name tags are recommended for the mixer.
The provided links to the La Via Campesina videos do not work but educators may be able to find alternatives online.
