Horticulture Learning
Community Assignment
Jenny Aune
Goals
• To see differences
– Values
– People
• To see connections
– Assumptions and decisions
– Life basis vs. holding medium
Paper Topics
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People and environment
Values
Gleaning (Service Learning)
Butterflies
Ethics of dams
Creating a sustainable farm
Preparatory Reading 1
• “America in Exile” by Hawthorne
– Religious persecution
• England
• New England
– Nature
• Life giving
• Evil
– Gap between viewpoints
Preparatory Writing
• Compare your personal values with
those of an ancestor.
– Devoted, religious mother has an affair
and leaves family.
– Drunken father beats son for drinking.
– “Liberal” grandfather refuses to speak
to granddaughter for marrying an
American Indian.
Transitional
Assignment
Bioregional Quiz
Preparatory Reading 2
• “Voices From White Earth” by
Winona LaDuke
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Circular vs. linear thinking
Industrial thinkers
Examples
White Earth Recovery Project
Soil
What does it mean to you?
The Assignment
• Your paper should do the following:
– Explain the purpose of soil.
– Explain how you take care of the soil.
– Explain why you think and act in this
manner.
Positive Outcomes
• Some students really think
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Appreciate own land
Ancestors’ connection to the land
Stewardship over ownership
Begin to appreciate other views
Not so negative about circular views
Problem 1
• Severe resistance
– “You can’t feed the world on organic
crap.”
– “Who does she think she is?”
Problem 2
• Misunderstandings
– “Why don’t they want progress?”
– “If they’re using the land to make
money, they’re doing the same thing as
us ‘industrial thinkers.’ She’s just
another hypocrite.”
– “Don’t they make enough money off
their casinos?”
Problem 3
• Students bypass the assignment to
express their anger at “hippie organic
crazies.”
Problem 4
• Turn their anger towards me—the
puppy-hugger—and dismiss what I
say on anything related to agriculture
for the rest of the semester.
Suggestions?
(Help me!)