Opportunities From: Connect2Community

Overview: Learn about the benefits of a plant-based diet for environmental and social justice. Then, share this information with the public by writing a series of articles elaborating on the connection between food choices and the environment. These articles will be eligible to be posted on the Switch4Good blog. 

Learning objectives: 

Improve understanding of animal agriculture’s effects on climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.Gain experience with the research writing process, including drafting research questions, identifying and evaluating sources, and synthesizing findings. Improve reading comprehension skills for scientific papers and learn to clearly communicate findings with a non-scientific audience through writing.Gain effective communication skills that enable you to critically engage with this topic with varying audiences, including your peers and the public.Learn about skills and competencies required in research and writing professions.

Stages:

Investigation

Research and identify potential topics within the broader topic of food choices and the environment. Survey your peer group or whoever your target audience is to understand better what they lack information on or what they wish they knew more about.

Preparation and Planning

Determine the focus of research and writing based on criteria such as urgency of the issue, level of public awareness, and personal interest. Determine the scope of research and writing to cover the subject matter. Each article should be at least 1,000 words long, and the project requires at least 3 articles, but it is up to you if you’d like to write about three topics or write a series about one topic. Research the connection between food and environment independently and with the support of Switch4Good materials and team.Organize research, draft a thesis statement, and write an outline.

Action/Demonstration

Write!Reach out to personal, professional, and academic connections for edits and revisions. Lucy from Switch4Good is also available for review at any point during these steps. Repeat steps up to this point for each article written.

Deliverables:

Documentation of research and planning (notes, outline, thesis statement, etc.).Documentation of editing and revision (track changes, comments, edited and final drafts, etc.).Final drafts of at least three articles of at least 1,000 words each.

Overview:

Learn about the benefits of a plant-based diet for environmental and social justice. Then, share this information with your peers by creating a presentation tailored to your audience and sharing it with them. You can present a series of presentations to one audience or the same presentation to multiple groups, depending on whether you would rather dig into the research on one topic or improve your confidence with public speaking. 

Learning objectives: 

Improve understanding of animal agriculture’s effects on climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.Improve reading comprehension skills for scientific papers and learn to clearly communicate findings with a non-scientific audience.Develop presentation design skills, including slide design, storytelling, audience tailoring, etc. Gain effective communication skills that enable you to critically engage with this topic with varying audiences including your peers and the public, such as active listening and asking critical questions.Learn about skills and competencies required in research and communications professions.

Stages:

Investigation

Research and identify preferred audiences for presentations. Survey audience to understand their current knowledge around the connection between food and the environment.

Preparation and Planning

Research the connection between food and environment independently and with the support of Switch4Good materials and team.Reflect on survey results to determine the focus and depth of the presentation.Create visual aid(s) for the presentation(s) and craft talking points.Practice the presentation(s). Don’t memorize word for word, but instead, understand your points well enough to clearly communicate them and keep the conversation dynamic.Organize the presentation event(s).

Action/Demonstration

Present!

Deliverables:

Survey distributed to audience asking about knowledge of food systems, climate change, and their connectionVisual aids and talking points/script for the presentation.Documentation of the presentation (photos, videos, invitations, etc.).

Overview:

Learn about the current state of food, environmental, and relevant policies such as the FISCAL Act, the Farm Bill, and other local bills. Then, write a letter to the editor responding to a published article about one of these bills or an op-ed sharing your viewpoint more generally about these policy proposals. Attempt to get your piece published in a school newspaper, a local outlet, or even a regional or national one!

Learning objectives: 

Improve understanding of animal agriculture’s effects on the environment and public health.Improve reading comprehension skills for scientific papers and learn to clearly communicate findings with a non-scientific audience through writing.Learn about the role of the media in public civic discourse and how to project your voice in a democratic political system.Gain effective communication skills that enable you to critically engage with this topic with varying audiences, including your peers and the publicPractice writing an evidence-based argument.Learn about skills and competencies required in political, legislative, and writing advocacy careers.

Stages:

Investigation

Research and identify potential topics within the broader topic of food choices and environment that are relevant to current legislation or recent articles published in the local press. The timeline for submitting op-eds is looser than LTEs, which typically need to be submitted quite quickly after the piece to which the LTE is responding is printed. Survey your community to understand better what they care about in relation to this issue.

Preparation and Planning

Research the specific issue, its consequences, and where it stands in the legislative process (if legislation) independently and with the support of Switch4Good materials and team.Organize research and develop a succinct argument that can be written in a few paragraphs.Research press outlets local to the district in which the legislation is being proposed, including student newspapers. Note their submission requirements and methods, including word count and whether they have an online form or accept email submissions. 

Action

Write! The most effective letters to the editor are typically short, only a couple of paragraphs long. Op-eds are usually a bit longer, but not by much. The length will be determined by the guidelines of each publication. Reach out to personal, professional, and academic connections for edits and revisions. Lucy from Switch4Good is also available for review at any point during these steps.

Demonstration

Pitch the LTE or op-ed to the press outlets you found in your research! Repeat steps up to this point for each LTE or op-ed written.

Deliverables:

Documentation of research and planning (notes, outline, etc.).Documentation of editing and revision (track changes, comments, edited and final drafts, etc.). Final drafts of at least five letters to the editor or op-edsDocumentation of pitching LTEs or op-eds to press outlets, including any publications.