Article Writing

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:

1. Investigation

   1. Research and identify potential topics within the broader topic of food choices and environment. 

   2. Survey your peer group or whoever your target audience is to understand better what they lack information on or they wish they knew more about.

2. Preparation and Planning

   1. Determine focus of research and writing based on criteria such as urgency of the issue, level of public awareness, and personal interest. 

   2. Determine scope of research and writing to appropriately and thoroughly 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. 

   3. Research the connection between food and environment independently and with the support of Switch4Good materials and team.

   4. Organize research, draft a thesis statement, write an outline.

3. Action/Demonstration

   1. Write!

   2. 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.  

   3. Repeat steps up to this point for each article written. 

4. Reflection

   1. Write a short article (400-500 words) explaining your findings and overall experience that will be eligible to be posted on the Switch4Good blog. Think about questions such as: how did the research processes go? How did the writing processes go? How did the editing processes go? What were some successes? What would you do differently next time?

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

• Reflection essay 

Commitment: 

• 40+ hours over the course of the semester

Relevant Current/Recent Job Postings:

• Climate Writer at the New York Times

• Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area Writing Fellow at American Conservation Experience

• Research, Event, Advocacy, and Writing Internship at Food Tank