Standardized testing has not improved student achievement. After No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the US slipped from 18th in the world in math on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009, with a similar drop in science and no change in reading. [95] [145] [144] A May 26, 2011, National Research Council report found no evidence test-based incentive programs are working: "Despite using them for several decades, policymakers and educators do not yet know how to use test-based incentives to consistently generate positive effects on achievement and to improve education." [154]

Finally, modern society requires certain traits from individuals that standardized testing cannot measure. To be successful in a global economy, students need to come out of school having learned creative problem solving, innovation, and collaboration with others. Standardized testing measures none of this. The time students should be spending practicing these skills is instead spent learning how to take the test.

Additionally, in many cases standardized testing puts an incredible amount of stress on both teachers and students. Teachers are often judged professionally by their students' scores on standardized tests. This means that their jobs are sometimes on the line when it comes to standardized testing.

This stress often leads to teachers placing emphasis the importance of high scores within the classroom, transferring the stress to the students. Imagine being told that your entire professional future hinges on your students' performances on one test. Now imagine that you happen to be a student who generally doesn't perform very well on tests, even though you know you are learning well and succeeding in other areas. Either case is an unfortunate side effect of standardized tests.

Standardized tests don't always measure student learning as intended. Not every student learns or demonstrates academic achievement in the same way, so it is impossible to have a test that will accurately reflect every student's effort and knowledge. This fact makes standardized test scores a flawed metric in many instances.

1. Standardized testing makes various teachers to “teach to the tests” only. Such practice hinders the overall learning potential of the student.

It generally affects the way teachers teach the students. It typically affects the value of learning in the classroom.

4. It makes great stress on both the students and the educators. The best teachers are quitting their profession daily due to the stress of preparing their students to work on standardized testing.

. Standardized tests can evaluate the student’s individual performance than his overall growth throughout the year. Many argue that the student and teacher performance must get evaluated on growth throughout the year than a single test performance alone.

Common Core Standards will be a tremendously difficult adjustment for students and teachers initially. Make no mistake that this will be a difficult transition. It is not the way many teachers are used to teaching and not the way that many students are used to learning. There will not be instant results, but instead will be a slow process.

The Common Core Standards will likely cause many outstanding teachers and administrators to pursue other career options. Many veteran teachers will retire rather than adjust the way they teach. The stress of getting their students to perform will likely cause more teacher and administrator burnout.

Standardized testing can be wrongfully used as fuel for those with political agendas. This is a sad reality far too often across all levels of the political realm. Education is a hot political topic and rightfully so, but the center of this debate is often standardized test scores. The truth is that standardized test scores are often looked at as the end all for student and school success and it shouldn’t be that way. Many would argue that those politicians who try and use standardized test scores as a means to further political agenda are ignorant in their knowledge of what education and learning is truly about.

Standardized testing can create a lot of stress on both educators and students. Excellent teachers quit the profession everyday because of how much stress is on them to prepare students to perform on standardized tests. Students especially feel the stress when there is something meaningful tied to them. In Oklahoma, high school students must pass four standardized tests in various areas or they do not earn a diploma, even if their GPA was a 4.00.

Standardized testing only evaluates the individual performance of the student instead of the overall growth of that student over the course of the year. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) only focuses on whether a student is proficient at the time of testing.

Standardized testing causes many teachers to only “teach to the tests”. This practice can hinder a student’s overall learning potential. With the stakes getting higher and higher for teachers, this practice will only continue to increase. The sad reality is that it fosters an atmosphere that is boring and lacks creativeness. Teachers have such pressure to get their students ready for these exams that they neglect to teach students skills that go beyond the tests.

Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance on one particular day and does not take into account external factors. There are many people who simply do not perform well on tests. Many of these students are smart and understand the content, but it doesn’t show on the test. Many students also develop test anxiety which hinders performance

1) Many teachers are (unjustly) accused of teaching to the test. Most do not do this, but some feel so much pressure for their students to achieve a specific score that they do end up teaching to the test, whether they want to or not. This can make school drudgery for students and steal teachers’ enjoyment of teaching.

In many districts, standardized exam results have become the single most important indicator of school performance. As a result, teachers and administrators feel enormous pressure to ensure that test scores consistently rise. Schools narrow and manipulate the curriculum to match the test, while teachers tend to cover only what is likely to be on the next exam. Methods of teaching conform to the multiple-choice format. Education increasingly resembles test prep. It is easy to see why this could happen in low-scoring districts. But some high-scoring schools and districts, striving to keep their top rank, also succumb. The pressure is so great that a growing number of administrators and teachers have engaged in various kinds of cheating to boost scores.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a newly revised guide on use of profiling by law enforcement, distinguishing between legitimate uses (such as using race and other characteristics in a suspect description) and illegitimate uses (such as criminal stereotypes). Among other things, the guide explains that uses of race and other characteristics should be based on particularized and trustworthy information relevant to the specific investigation, rather than generalized stereotypes. The policy also provides general provisions on training, data collection and accountability, and it was expanded to include national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. Civil rights groups have been calling for this updated guide for years.

Listening to the voices from the movement — and learning from the death of Eric Garner and the series of other deaths of unarmed black men — it’s clear that two issues need to be addressed: racial profiling and police use of excessive force. Both run afoul of the U.S. Constitution, but remain common practices in law enforcement, too often with tragic results. In Garner’s case, for example, police targeted him for the petty crime of selling loose cigarettes — the types of crimes black people are targeted for at higher rates — and then attempted to arrest him with a chokehold, banned by the department. Whatever else we have learned from the recent tragedies of police violence, it is clear that we need comprehensive federal, state  and local policies that outlaw racial profiling and rein in police excessive force.

Twenty states have no laws prohibiting racial profiling by law enforcement, according to an NAACP report released in September.

black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports:

In 2015, New Yorkers were stopped by the police 22,939 times. 18,353 were totally innocent (80 percent). 12,23 were black (54 percent). 2,567 were Latino (11 percent). 6,598 were white (29 percent).

Harmful stress: Children are pressured to not only demonstrate their knowledge but to represent the effectiveness of their teachers and their schools. Teachers are reporting children throwing up, losing control of their bowels, and increased commitments for psychiatric and anxiety issues.

Lost learning time: There’s less time for learning with testing and test prep (for example, Pittsburgh students now take 20-25, or more, high-stakes tests a year, with new tests this year in art and music).

The study—which gathered data voluntarily reported to the FBI from 2011–2012, tracked by race (excluding Latinos)— found that 70 departments from Connecticut to California arrest Blacks at a rate 10 times more than people of other races.

According to reports submitted to the FBI, more than half of the arrests in Dearborn in 2011 and 2012 were Black—yet Blacks only make up 4 percent of the town’s population. Within those two years, 4,500 Black arrests were reported—500 more than the amount of Black people who actually reside in Dearborn. The arrest rate for Blacks compared to Dearborn’s population was 26 times higher than for non-Blacks.

Only 173 of the 3,538 police departments USA Today examined arrested Black people at a rate equal to or lower than other racial groups.

These departments range from those in major cities, like Chicago and San Francisco, to suburban towns on the outskirts of cities like Detroit and New York. In St. Louis County alone, more than two dozen police departments had arrest rates more lopsided than Ferguson’s.

The Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Mo., has brought racial-profiling and racial disparities in arrests to the forefront again. Racial profiling is rampant in Ferguson—Blacks account for 93 percent of traffic-stop arrests—but the racial disparity in arrests is

Unwelcome touching is only one kind of harassment.

rade retention has repeatedly been proven to be counterproductive: students who are retained do not improve academically, are emotionally damaged by retention, suffer a loss of interest in school and self-esteem, and are more likely to drop out of school. The most comprehensive national study finds that graduation tests lead to a higher dropout rate for students who are relatively low-achievers in school, while they do not produce improved learning for those who stay in school.

Many students do not have a fair opportunity to learn the material on the test because they attend poorly-funded schools with large class sizes, too many teachers without subject area certification, and inadequate books, libraries, laboratories, computers and other facilities. These students are usually from low-income families, and many also suffer problems with housing, nutrition or health care. High-stakes tests punish them for things they cannot control.

Tests are called "high-stakes" when they used to make major decisions about a student, such as high school graduation or grade promotion. To be high stakes, a test has to be very important in the decision process or be able to override other information (for example, a student does not graduate if s/he does not pass the test regardless of how well s/he did in school). Currently, 17 states require students to pass a test to graduate, and 7 more are planning such tests.

Inner city crime prompted by social and economic isolation

1 in 100 African American women are in prison

About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using an illicit drug 5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites

African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population

African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population

But others say E. coli is hard to remove once it has contaminated produce, such as spinach, lettuce, or onions. The solution, they say, is to take more steps so that E. coli doesn't come in contact with crops.

Heat can kill E. coli, so experts recommend that people cook beef (especially ground beef) until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Choosing pasteurized juice is another way to avoid possible infection.

undercooked ground beef (used for hamburgers) vegetables grown in cow manure or washed in contaminated water fruit juice that isn't pasteurized (pasteurization is a process that uses heat to kill germs)

E. coli can be passed from person to person, but serious E. coli infection is more often linked to food containing the bacteria. The person eats the contaminated food and gets sick.

E. coli normally lives inside your intestines, where it helps your body break down and digest the food you eat. Unfortunately, certain types (called strains) of E. coli can get from the intestines into the blood. This is a rare illness, but it can cause a very serious infection

The CDC has estimated that 83% of E. coli O157:H7 infections are food borne in origin

Fruit that comes in contact with animal, especially cattle, feces, (as might happen if fruit has fallen and is harvested/picked from/off the ground), can also transmit the illness.

The announcement came after health officials in several states, who were investigating reports of E. coli O157 illnesses, found that many ill persons had consumed the same brand of frozen ground beef patties.

Meat typically becomes contaminated with E. coli during the slaughtering process, when the contents of an animal’s intestines and feces are allowed to come into contact with the carcass. Unless the carcass is properly sanitized, the E. coli bacteria are mixed into the meat as it is ground

E. coli O157:H7 bacteria and other pathogenic E. coli is believed to mostly live in the intestines of cattle (Elder, et al., 2000) but has also been found in the intestines of chickens, deer, sheep, and pigs.

Human or animal feces infected with E. coli sometimes get into lakes, pools, and water supplies. People can become infected when a contaminated city or town water supply has not been properly treated with chlorine or when people accidentally swallow contaminated water while swimming in a lake, pool, or irrigation canal.

The bacteria can also spread from one person to another, usually when an infected person does not wash his or her hands well after a bowel movement. E. coli can spread from an infected person's hands to other people or to objects.

If the infected meat is not cooked to 160°F (71°C), the bacteria can survive and infect you when you eat the meat. This is the most common way people in the United States become infected with E. coli. Any food that has been in contact with raw meat can also become infected.

E. coli can get into meat during processing.

Some strains of E. coli bacteria (such as a strain called O157:H7) may also cause severe anemia or kidney failure, which can lead to death.

Many Americans aren't very physically active. One reason for this is that many people spend hours in front of TVs and computers doing work, schoolwork, and leisure activities. In fact, more than 2 hours a day of regular TV viewing time has been linked to overweight and obesity.

Since the early 1970s, the share of children age 6 to 19 classified as overweight has more than tripled, from 5 percent to 17 percent, while the share of adults classified as overweight or obese rose from half to two-thirds of the population

Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (47.8%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (32.6%), and non-Hispanic Asians (10.8%)

We find that among 9th grade children, a fast food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of a school is associated with at least a 5.2 percent increase in obesity rates. There is no discernable effect at .25 miles and at .5 miles.

A small number of people with Salmonella develop pain in their joints. This is called reactive arthritis. Reactive arthritis can last for months or years and can lead to chronic arthritis, which can be difficult to treat1. Antibiotic treatment of the initial Salmonella infection does not make a difference in whether or not the person develops arthritis1. People with reactive arthritis can also develop irritation of the eyes and painful urination5.

. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium[PDF - 15 pages](http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/pdf/typhimurium-508c.pdf) and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis[PDF - 15 pages](http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/pdf/enteritidis-508c.pdf) are the most common in the United States

Children are at the highest risk for Salmonella infection

1.2 million illnesses and approximately 450 deaths occur due to non-typhoidal Salmonella annually in the United States

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps between 12 and 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days

Taco Bell has been linked to two other outbreaks in the last six years

Salmonella bacteria are the most frequently reported cause of foodborne illness. Infection results in fever, cramps, and diarrhea that lasts for several days and can require hospitalization.

Taco Bell was tied to a salmonella outbreak that sickened 155 people in 21 states.

Oklahoma was one of the 10 states which reported infections, along with Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, and Tennessee. Oklahoma's 16 infections were second to Texas, which reported 43 people sickened by salmonella.

Taco Bell food may have sickened 68 people in 10 states during a salmonella outbreak in October 2011

While localvorism sounds superb in theory, it is proving quite difficult in practice. To begin with, there are dozens of different definitions as to what local is,

Their action followed a massive media uproar, which included a prime time show featuring British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and a series of critical reports by ABC World News.

Their action followed a massive media uproar, which included a prime time show featuring British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and a series of critical reports by ABC World News.

Lean finely textured beef is safe, asserts Al Almanza, administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Schools are under more financial pressure than ever before, thanks in part to the new school lunch nutrition standards that hit the ground last year, observes Margo Wootan, head of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Although schools can now get six cents more per lunch to help cover the cost of more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to meet new requirements, the increase doesn’t cover all the changes, she notes.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a director at the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, said her group is glad the USDA offers states a choice when it comes to purchasing it and confident the product is safe.

Lean finely textured beef brings down the cost of ground beef by about 3 percent, which can add up quickly in a program that feeds more than 31 million school children each day.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

In the aftermath, most of the major fast food chains have dropped their use of lean finely textured beef. And, at last count, the number of pounds of lean finely textured beef in the USDA’s National School Lunch Program was down 95 percent. Before the pink slime issue exploded last spring, schools were serving up about 7 million pounds of the product per year.

Although schools can now get six cents more per lunch to help cover the cost of more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to meet new requirements, the increase doesn’t cover all the changes, she notes.

Kids are going back to school and so is the ground beef filler dubbed “pink slime.”

Though more states are opting back in, the overall amount of lean finely textured beef purchased by the school lunch program is still way down from its production heyday when most people did not realize the extent of its presence in the U.S. food supply and it was in use in nearly all of the states.

But as schools across the country grapple with tight budgets, some are changing their minds and accepting the lower-price alternative product that brings down the price of the food they serve.

Schools in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas have now done an about face and also put in orders with the USDA for ground beef that may contain the product, government data obtained by POLITICO reveal.

Considered by the beef industry to be an impressive innovation, lean finely textured beef is made from the remnant scraps of cattle carcasses that were once deemed too fatty to go into human food.

Considered by the beef industry to be an impressive innovation, lean finely textured beef is made from the remnant scraps of cattle carcasses that were once deemed too fatty to go into human food.

“USDA has repeatedly affirmed that lean finely textured beef is safe, wholesome, and nutritious 100% lean beef,” adds Craig Letch, director of food safety and quality assurance for Beef Products Inc., the largest manufacturer of the product.

ut new government data show schools in four more states have since put aside concerns and resumed buying the controversial product.

Lean finely textured beef brings down the cost of ground beef by about 3 percent, which can add up quickly in a program that feeds more than 31 million school children each day.

Considered by the beef industry to be an impressive innovation, lean finely textured beef is made from the remnant scraps of cattle carcasses that were once deemed too fatty to go into human food. The scraps are heated and centrifuged to reclaim bits of muscle and then the product is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli before being mixed into ground beef.

But as schools across the country grapple with tight budgets, some are changing their minds and accepting the lower-price alternative product that brings down the price of the food they serve

Schools in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas have now done an about face and also put in orders with the USDA for ground beef

Schools in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas have now done an about face and also put in orders with the USDA for ground beef

schools in four more states have since put aside concerns and resumed buying the controversial product.

Schools are under more financial pressure than ever before, thanks in part to the new school lunch nutrition standards that hit the ground last year, observes Margo Wootan, head of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

As of Sept. 3, seven states put in orders to the USDA for about 2 million pounds of beef that may contain the controversial product for the meals they serve in the 2013-14 school year. At this time last year there were only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — that had put in orders for beef that may contain lean finely textured beef.

Their action followed a massive media uproar,

Their action followed a massive media uproar,

As of Sept. 3, seven states put in orders to the USDA for about 2 million pounds of beef that may contain the controversial product for the meals they serve in the 2013-14 school year. At this time last year there were only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — that had put in orders for beef that may contain lean finely textured beef.

As of Sept. 3, seven states put in orders to the USDA for about 2 million pounds of beef that may contain the controversial product for the meals they serve in the 2013-14 school year. At this time last year there were only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — that had put in orders for beef that may contain lean finely textured beef.

Thousands of schools across the U.S. rushed last year to stop feeding their students meat that contained the ammonia-treated beef, known by industry as lean finely textured beef.

So would Marion Nestle, as a dietician, as one of America’s most important critics of dietary policy, advocate for local eating? “Absolutely.”

By eating with the seasons, we are eating foods when they are at their peak taste

obviously fresher foods that are grown on better soils are going to have more nutrients. But people are not nutrient-deprived.

knowing part of the story about your food is such a powerful part of enjoying a meal.

100-mile diet — even in winter — was almost certainly more nutritious than what the average American was eating. That doesn’t mean it is necessary to eat locally in order to be healthy.

Supermarkets are interested in selling “Name brand” fruit: Romaine Lettuce, Red Delicious Apples, Russet Potatoes. Local producers often play with their crops from year to year, trying out Little Gem Lettuce, Senshu Apples, and Chieftain Potatoes.

While produce that is purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has been in transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you purchase at your local farmer’s market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase.

Food begins to lose nutrition as soon as it is harvested. Fruit and vegetables that travel shorter distances are therefore likely to be closer to a maximum of nutrition. “

in the United States, 80 percent of us live in large, densely populated urban areas, usually on the coast, and typically hundreds of miles, often thousands of miles, from the major centers of food productio

When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves the community at every transaction

But a lot of them are making a big mistake. By focusing on transportation, they overlook other energy-hogging factors in food production.

And what counts as local? Does food need to be purchased directly from the producer? Does it still count when it’s distributed through a mass marketer, as with Wal-Mart’s Salute to America’s Farmer program, which is now periodically showcasing local growers?

a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy.

Hallatt, Alex. “Arctic Circle.” Comic strip. King Features Syndicate, Inc. 1 Sept. 2008. Web. 12 July 2009.

the increasing reliance on foods shipped halfway round the world.

But this decision ignores economies of scale. To take an extreme example, a shipper sending a truck with 2,000 apples over 2,000 miles would consume the same amount of fuel per apple as a local farmer who takes a pickup 50 miles to sell 50 apples at his stall at the green market. The critical measure here is not food miles but apples per gallon.

they’re a poor fit in modern urbanized societies

Loder, Natasha, Elizabeth Finkel, Craig Meisner, and Pamela Ronald. “The Problem of What to Eat.” Conservation Magazine. The Society for Conservation Biology, July-Sept. 2008. Web. 16 Dec. 2009.

Carefully read the following seven sources, including the introductory information for each source.

You may cite the sources as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the descriptions in parentheses.

Make sure that your argument is central

synthesize information from at least three of the sources and incorporate it into a coherent, well-developed essay that identifies the key issues associated with the locavore movement and examines their implications for the community.

Locavores are people who have decided to eat locally grown or produced products as much as possible. With an eye to nutrition as well as sustainability

following chart

Local food just plain tastes better. Ever tried a tomato that was picked within 24 hours? ’Nuff said.