2008 Essay Contest:
The Value of Locally Grown Food
1st Place ($750.00) Mallory
Irwinsky, Piedmont High School, 11th grade
2nd Place ($500.00) Jake
McClure, Lawton High School, 11th grade
2 Honorable Mentions
($250.00 each)
Jake Boren, Waurika High School, 11th
grade
Felisha Yoder, Thomas High
School, 12th grade
The Kerr Center invites all Junior and Senior High School students in
the State of Oklahoma to participate in an essay contest. The subject
of the contest is “The Value of Locally Grown Foods.”
The local foods movement is sweeping through our nation. Local
food systems are seen as a way to address food insecurity, failing economies,
nutrition, obesity and community revitalization. European countries
have showed preference for local food purchasing throughout history and
particularly since World War II. Oklahoma is making great strides in
local food system development with such programs as Farm to School, farmers
markets, “Buy Fresh, Buy Local,” and
the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, but there is much room for growth. Many
questions arise, such as what is “local”? Essayists
may choose to define what a “local” purchase means to them.
Agriculture is Oklahoma’s second largest industry. Essayists
are invited to make a persuasive argument for growing local food systems
in Oklahoma based upon their research. Essayist should discuss the benefits
of local purchasing and compare and contrast those benefits with potential
opposition to local food system development. Arguments may include such
emerging issues as the economic sustainability of local food purchasing,
the ecological benefits of preserving family farms and conserving fuels
through reduction in transportation of product, or others. Social
impacts, such as increasing food security and improving nutritional intake
and the health benefits thereof, may also be explored.
In their essays, contestants should compare and contrast the benefits
and opposition to developing local food systems and develop a persuasive
argument based upon their research.
This essay contest is designed to include young people in a thoughtful
discussion of solutions and current challenges facing our food
system in Oklahoma. The winning essays will focus on both sides
of the issues with a strong conclusion. The arguments and ideas
in each essay should be well-developed. Essayists will be asked
to include their own ideas and convictions, as well as relevant research
which could include personal interviews, print, media and website resources.
The contest will begin on January 30, 2008. All essays must be
addressed to the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture and received
in the Kerr Center’s office by 5:00 p.m., March 28, 2008. Winners
will be announced on May 7, 2008. GRAND PRIZE is a cash award of $750.00;
1st Runner up is a cash award of $500.00; and one award
of $250.00 will be given for Honorable Mention. Winning
essays may be published in the Kerr Center’s newsletter, Field
Notes, which is mailed to approximately 8,000 people quarterly .
For further information regarding the 2008 Essay Contest, you may contact
Anita Poole at apoole@kerrcenter.com or
by calling 918-647-9123.
RULES
All essays must address the stated target topic.
- All contestants must attend or be affiliated with an Oklahoma high
school to be eligible.
- Maximum length of an essay is 1,000 words while minimum length of
an accepted essay is 800 words. Any essays that are submitted
that do not conform to these requirements will result in disqualification
without exception. The Kerr Center reserves the right to edit
the winning essays prior to publication in the Kerr Center’s
newsletter.
- All children and families of Kerr Center employees are excluded from
the competition.
- The essays will be evaluated by an independent committee and will
be judged on specific criteria. The criteria for judging will
be: the development of ideas, overall use of good writing skills, attention
to details and facts, the preciseness of presentation and the emotional
responses evoked by the essays.
- All essays should be typed and double spaced with a standard readable
font.
- All essays should include a title page which contains the participant’s
name, address, school, grade, paper title and word count.
- Each work must be original, and all quotes from other sources must
be documented either in the body of the paper or in footnotes or endnotes.
- You are not limited only to the resources provided, but remember,
plagiarism will result in disqualification from the contest.
- All essays become the property of the Kerr Center for Sustainable
Agriculture.
- Recommended resources include books, magazines, news media, school
personnel, and personal contact with individuals either involved
with agriculture or an interest therein.
- Entries should be sent to Anita Poole, Kerr Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, P. O. Box 588, Poteau, OK 74953. Inquiries may be
made to 918-647-9123.
- Have fun, and remember that ideas you develop today may make a significant
impact on the world of tomorrow.
Hints for Writing a Winning Essay
Persuasive writing is a style in which the writer is trying to convince
the reader to agree about an issue that has more than one side. To write
in the persuasive style, a writer must:
- acknowledge there are two sides to every controversial issue;
- list and arrange arguments in a logical manner; and
- refute the arguments of the opposing side.
Persuasive writing uses different techniques such as analogies, examples,
definitions, compare/contrast, cause/effect and classification. If you
have any questions about any of these techniques, please feel free to
speak to your English teacher or other writing professionals.
Remember to write a balanced paper, organization is key. One way to
organize your thoughts is to first develop an outline. Papers that are
persuasive and well organized have a better chance at winning this contest.
Resources
"The Value of Locally Grown
Foods"
2008 Essay Contest
The following list of potential resources is not intended to be exclusive. Essay
contest participants are encouraged to do further research to support
the arguments presented in their papers. The resources list provided
was developed in part by executing searches on the internet for “food
miles” and "renewable energy".
RESOURCE LIST
Closer
to Home: Healthier Food, Farms, and Families in Oklahoma
Food Routes:
Buy Fresh, Buy Local
Buy Fresh Buy Local Oklahoma
Sustainable
Agriculture Research & Education (SARE)
(Access the SANET listserve and review archives.)
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser.
AUC Researchers Find Farm-to-School Programs Shift Students’ Diets.
www.NOWFoods.com
More Colleges Buying Food From Local Farmers.
www.billingsgazette.com
A healthy partnership: innovative farm to school programs address
childhood nutrition.
www.goliath.ecnext.com
What is Farm to School?
Why Farm to School?
How Can You Get Involved in Farm to School?
How Can Farm to School Work in Different Climates?
www.farmtoschool.org
Food Miles
www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters/foodmiles.shtml
Food
Security: It Takes a Community
www.ecoliteracy.org/publications/rsl/mark-winne.html
Buy Local
www.sustainabletable.org/issues/buylocal/
Transforming Communities Through Locally Grown Food
www.energybulletin.net/39243.html
Oklahoma Food Cooperative
www.oklahomafood.coop/
(Click on link for “About” for more information.)
Eating Locally Grown Foods can Bring Benefits (Oklahoman article)
newsok.com/article/3143474/1191893742
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