Part I: Exploration
1. Identify the issue or problem that you plan to focus on in your research project.
As consumers are becoming more health conscious, theres been some speculation over whether or not buying organically and locally, small-farm grown crops are worth the entra price for their benefits
2. What is your personal connection to and interest in this topic?
As a (hopefully) future baker, I really like the idea of using organic and locally sustainable ingredients, but they're expensive. I try to eat organic when I can, but, as a college student, its really busting my wallet's chops.
3. What opinions do you already hold about this topic?
I think that it is worth the price, and that there are legitimate reasons as to why its so expensive. Furthermore, local farmers need to be supported to stay afloat. Nobody is going to fund small Illinois farmers than Illinois residents. We don't want big business to take over EVERYTHING. Plus. Local food uses less fssil fuel for transportation, and is fresher.
4. What knowledge do you already have about this topic. What are your main questions about this topic? What are you most curious about?
I don't know a whole lot. I know some basic information just form talking to people in the food industry. I want to know what classifies things as organic, and some hypothesis about where the organic/ local market is going to be in a few years.
6. Within what scholarly discipline (such as history, biology, psychology) do you expect to do most of your research? How does this discipline approach or study this topic?
Wow. I don't know. Economics?
7. How could you research this topic outside the library (for example, through interviews and/or observations)?
Interviews with the owner of the Bleeding Heart Bakery, mission statements from small farms, environmental science magazines, farmers at farmers markets, consumers that buy all organic... etc
Part II: Focusing
Write an initial claim, or an open-ended question, to guide your research on this topic. Make it specific but exploratory. Remember that a good claim opens up an area of inquiry about a topic; a claim should invite evidence, support, and debate.
Are the numerous positive effects of buying organic and locally worth the price for an environmentally conscious yet fiscally challenged consumer?
5 comments:
yes, organicly grown food is worth the price, however its not practical for large scale food production for the majority of the population. Not EVERYONE can eat organic food, their is simply not enough of it.
Turning organic food into a big industry is the only way it would be mass produced and distributed, but as I think you imply then it would lose what makes it so allepling.
In the end geneticly engeneered food wins.
Not that farmers should stop growing organic food.
Interusting topic, you made me show an opinion I didnt even know I had. (lol)
Yes, but differnt types of "quality" appeal to different consumers. I agree with clark that not everyone can eat organic food. Supply and demand!
I like your topic a lot. We're doing a unit on it in my first year seminar class. We actually had a guest speaker (an Elmhurst Grad School grad) come and speak to us about that business he started. He delivers locally grown crops to Chicago-area families and businesses. I have a brochure from him if you'd like it. They have a website too, but I don't remember it off the top of my head. For our unit we are also researching what we offer on campus in terms of locally grown and organic foods. I'm currently e-mailing with Nadeem Zafar who is in charge of the food services here at Elmhurst.
I heard a report on NPR about this, and you should look that up. They had a couple of really well-versed people discussing this exact issue. Local food vs. imports is a topic that needs to be brought up more. As far as who will win the battle for business, I think Clark is right, but just researching this is a step in the right direction. Go Kate!
What an interesting discussion!
An economist might look at whether organic farming can be profitable on a large scale, but that doesn't seem to be exactly Kate's question.
Kate, it seems like you are more interested in the ecological and social effects of large-scale food distribution (such as use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, fossil fuels for distribution, etc.)
You also seem interested in what Gary Nabhan, author of _Coming Home to Eat_ calls the "pleasures and politics of local foods." You might do some background research on the topic to further refine your questions and develop your claim.
Anyway, it sounds yummy!
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