Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Food, Nutrition and Health

FNH 355: International Nutrition (Fall 2019)

Assignment: What will you do to help stop world hunger?

The issue of world hunger can seem so large and complex that it can be hard to see how our choices and actions
could make a meaningful difference. But what we do does make a difference – and the actions of many people
can make the difference that is needed.

Your assignment (should you choose to accept it!): What will you do to help stop world hunger?

A: Identify the action you will take and justify it.

Decide on an action that you will take this term to help reduce the number of people affected by hunger and
malnutrition in the world. You may select an action from the list included on the next page – or anything else
you think would make a difference. You may choose something that you do one time (e.g., make a donation,
organize a food drive), something you will do differently in your life from this point forward (e.g., making
vegetarian choices more often), or something that you will do for a set period of time (e.g., volunteering with a
particular organization). Your action must take place this term as you are working on the assignment.
Identify and justify your chosen action in a one page (single-spaced) typed summary. Indicate what you have
chosen to do and clearly describe how this action can contribute to ending world hunger. Be specific! Try to
state your proposed action as a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound; see
additional information re. SMART goals in Canvas). Clearly justify your action and identify its potential impact
on world hunger. Your written summary should be one page, single-spaced (with appropriate use of headings,
paragraphs, and white space to enhance readability). You must include a minimum of three references from
reputable sources (at least one peer-reviewed source) to substantiate your justification. Submit this portion of
the assignment (“Part 1”) by uploading it in Canvas before Thursday, October 3 at 11:59 PM.

B: Take action.

C: Document your experience and reflect on it.

Report your experience and reflect on it by answering the following six questions (indicated in bold):
1) What did you do? Why? Your response should be clear and succinct. If your final action was different from
what you originally planned, indicate how and why it was different. When indicating why you did what you
did, consider: Why did this particular action appeal to you?
2) What was the experience like for you? Your response to this question will be personal and subjective.
Consider: Was it difficult for you? Rewarding? Eye-opening? Challenging? Inspiring? Surprising?
3) In what way did your action affect world hunger? Be as specific as possible! Try to quantify your impact, if
possible, and support your assertions with evidence. Acknowledge the limitations of your action. Your
response should be clear, objective, and evidence-based.
4) Do you think you made a difference? Why or why not? Comment on your thoughts/feelings re. whether
you made a difference. Your response will be personal and subjective.
5) What was the most important thing you learned by doing this assignment? Identify and clearly explain the
single most important thing you learned. Your most important learning may have been factual or emotional,
related to the content of this course or related to your life more broadly…
6) What will you do, moving forward? Be specific! Consider: Has this experienced changed the actions you
will take in the future in some way? Will you now do anything differently in your life? What will you do now?
You may choose the format you would like to use to submit this portion of the assignment (“Part 2”). Most often,
Part 2 is submitted as a written report in which you provide your answers to the six questions indicated in bold
above. Your report should be a maximum of two single-spaced typed pages (with appropriate use of headings,
paragraphs, and white space) and include a minimum of four references from reputable sources (at least one of
which is peer-reviewed; you may re-use some or all of the references you used in Part 1). However, you are not
limited to submitting a written report. You may choose to submit a brief video (7-8 minutes), blog, video blog
(vlog), or audio recording (podcast). If you are considering submitting this portion of your assignment in an
alternative format, refer to question 6 (below).
Note: Part 2 of your assignment must contain some sort of evidence of your action in an appendix. Appropriate
forms of evidence include photos, journal entries, a link to your blog, receipts, copies of materials included in your
action (e.g., advertisements you created, posts you made in Facebook, etc.). Anything that documents or
illustrates your action in some way!
This portion of the assignment should be uploaded via Canvas before Thursday, November 21 at 11:59 PM.

Some questions you may have:

1. How much is the assignment worth?
This is up to you! The assignment has a suggested value of 25% of your total mark, but you may decide on its
exact value for you – anything between 0% (you may opt not to do the assignment) and 35% of your final mark.
Part 1 is worth 30% of your total mark for the assignment and Part 2 is worth 70% of your total mark for the
assignment. Your submissions will be evaluated according to the rubrics provided at the end of this document.
2. What are some possible actions that I could take to help end world hunger?
• Make a donation to an agency working to reduce poverty/hunger
• Visit and click at thehungersite.com or play word games at freerice.com
• Contribute items to one of our local food banks
• Organize an event to raise awareness and/or funds
• Volunteer with an agency (local, provincial, national, international) that works to reduce poverty/hunger
• Contribute to Kiva, a microfinance initiative (www.kiva.org), to provide small loans to people with limited
access to traditional banks (join team ‘FNH 355 at The University of British Columbia’!)
• Reduce the amount of food waste generated by you and your family
• Make vegetarian choices more often
• Make some other changes to reduce your personal greenhouse gas emissions or “carbon footprint”
• Speak with (or write to) your elected officials to let them know that you think we should be doing more to
end world hunger and its causes (including increasing effective international aid). Perhaps create a
petition, gather signatures, and present it to our elected officials.
• Almost anything you can think of that will help to reduce hunger (locally or globally) in some way...
3. Can I work with a group of students to do something “bigger” (e.g., organize an event)?
Absolutely! Feel free to organize a group of students (maximum of four) and undertake an action together. Each
student must make very clear and valuable contributions to the group’s work and each student must prepare and
submit their own individual assignment to be graded separately (identify your partner or other group members
in your assignment). If your group decides to produce a video or other alternative submission format for Part 2,
you may create and submit the video as a team – but each student must submit a personal response to Question
#2 (approximately one paragraph). Note: if you work together in a group, we expect your action to be bigger
and/or more complex than you would have been able to complete individually.
4. What is considered a reputable source (to use in justifying my choice of action)?
Reputable sources include articles published in the peer-reviewed literature, news articles from legitimate news
sources, books, and reports from governmental or non-governmental agencies – including United Nations (UN)
 groups such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), or World Food
Programme (WFP). If you have questions about the credibility of a particular source, consider the information
published by the UBC Library to help you evaluate sources – and come to office hours or talk to me after class if
you still have questions!
5. How should I cite my references?
Use either APA format (described here) or the Vancouver style (described here). Note: only the references
(including both the in-text citations and the reference list appended to the end of your assignment) need to be
formatted according to the guidelines presented in one of these documents – you do not need to follow any
other formatting rules you may see associated with these styles (e.g., type of font to use or use of running heads).
6. I am thinking about making a video (or other alternative format) for Part 2. What should I know?
You are absolutely welcome to submit Part 2 of the assignment using a creative format. Please note that all
submissions will be evaluated according to the same criteria listed in the rubric, so make sure that it is easy for
the TA marking your assignment to find your responses to the questions. For example, if you create a video, you
may wish to insert text headings to alert the viewer to commentary intended to answer the questions posed in
the assignment. Or, if you submit a link to a blog, you may wish to give particular blog entries the titles of the
questions you are responding to in that entry. Sometimes blogs have been created as part of a student’s action
and submitted as the “evidence” for their action, rather than using the blog format for the report itself – and this
can be very effective. If you decide to make a video for Part 2 of the assignment, the video should be roughly 7–8
minutes (and definitely no more than 10 minutes) in length. A podcast should also be roughly 7–8 minutes in
length. Submissions should have the equivalent of two pages single-spaced typed material in the sections to be
marked. All alternative formats should be uploaded (or linked) via Canvas (not sent by email).
7. Is there a penalty for late submissions?
Yes. Assignments submitted after the deadlines will be penalized with a 10% reduction in mark per day (including
weekend days) for a maximum of 5 days, after which point they will no longer be accepted.
8. How will my work be evaluated?
Part 1 is work 30 marks (or 30% of your overall assignment grade) and Part 2 is worth 70 marks (or 70% of your
overall assignment grade). Your submissions will be graded using the following rubrics:

Part 1: Identify the action you will take and justify it (Total marks: /30)
Outstanding Meets expectations Requires improvement
(85% – 100%) (60% – 84%) (0 – 59%)
Action /5 •Meets all criteria at •Meets all (or most) criteria •Meets few criteria; requires
high level at acceptable level greater clarity and
• Choice of action clearly identified; proposed action is SMART (specific, measurable,
development
achievable, relevant, time-bound)
• Choice of action reflects thoughtful consideration and/or creativity
• Action will have some effect on hunger (immediately, or as a downstream consequence)
Justification /20 •Meets all criteria at •Meets all (or most) criteria •Meets few criteria; requires
high level at acceptable level greater clarity and
• Justification clearly explains the expected impact of the action on hunger (locally or globally)
development
• The impact of the action on hunger is explained very well: clearly, logically, and correctly
• Justification includes personal reason(s) for choice of this particular action
• There is evidence of critical thought (e.g., acknowledgement of limitations of chosen action)
• A minimum of three very well-chosen references from reputable sources are used to support
the justification; at least one reference is peer-reviewed
Presentation & Communication /5 •Meets all criteria at •Meets all (or most) criteria •Meets few criteria; requires
high level at acceptable level greater clarity and
• Easy to read, no writing or grammatical errors
development
• Very well organized
• Tone is appropriate: written in first person; tone sufficiently formal for academic assignment
• References are formatted according to APA format or the Vancouver style
• Excellent overall presentation (e.g., very well executed written document, adequate white
space, adheres to page limit, 12-point font, 1-inch margins on all sides, submitted in Word)

Total /30
 Part 2: Document your experience and reflect on it (Total marks /70)
Outstanding Meets expectations Requires improvement (0
(85% – 100% ) (60% – 84%) – 59%)
Response to Questions /60 •Meets all criteria •Meets all (or most) criteria •Meets few criteria; requires
at high level at acceptable level greater clarity and
Marks for each question: development
1. What did you do? Why (briefly)? ( /10)
2. What was the experience like for you? ( /10)
3. In what way did your action affect world hunger? ( /20)
4. Do you think you made a difference? Why or why not? ( /5)
5. What was the most important thing you learned by doing this assignment? (/10)
6. What will you do, moving forward? ( /5)

Responses show:
• Clear evidence of critical thought and personal reflection. Evidence of critical thought may
include: examining the issue from multiple perspectives, prioritizing, questioning, integrating,
identifying limitations, evaluating sources of information, etc.
• Clear and concise explanations with excellent use of evidence and examples to substantiate
claims. Explanations are very specific.
• Limitations of action are clearly acknowledged (e.g., by comparing chosen action to impact of
actions carried out at national or higher level)
• A minimum of four very well-chosen references from reputable sources are used to support
assertions; at least one is peer-reviewed (overlap with references used in Part 1 is okay)

Presentation & Communication /10 •Meets all criteria •Meets all (or most) criteria •Meets few criteria; requires
at high level at acceptable level greater clarity and
• Easy to read, no writing or grammatical errors
development
• Very well organized (e.g., contains subheadings or numbers to indicate responses to questions)
• Contains clear and appropriate evidence of action in an appendix (e.g., photos, receipts, link to
blog or other description, etc.)
• Tone is appropriate: Written in first person; tone sufficiently formal for academic assignment
• Personal perspectives and experiences are well conveyed
• References are formatted according to APA format or the Vancouver style
• Excellent overall presentation (e.g., written documents submitted in Word, very well executed
written document, 12-point font, 1-inch margins on all sides – or effective choice of alternate
format such as blog, video, or audio)
• Written documents are no longer than 2 pages (single spaced), not including the reference list
and appendix; if an alternate format is used, the length of written material (or voice over) would
not exceed 2 pages of written text (note: marks will be deducted for submissions that exceed 2
pages, not including references/appendix)
Possible Bonus Marks /5 Up to 5 bonus marks could be awarded to recognize notably outstanding effort and
achievement in terms of the action undertaken and/or the presentation of this part of
the assignment.
Total: /70

Assignment Submission Checklist:

Before you submit Part 1 or Part 2 of the assignment, make sure you have done each of the following:
 I carefully read the instructions for the assignment, reviewed the relevant rubric, and prepared my assignment accordingly.
 My name and student number are indicated on the assignment.
 Part 1: My assignment is a maximum of one page (not including references; single-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins on all
sides) and includes a minimum of three reputable sources (at least one of which is from a peer-reviewed journal)
 Part 2: My assignment is a maximum of two pages (not including reference list and appendix; single-spaced, 12-point font, 1-
inch margins on all sides), includes a minimum of four reputable sources (at least one of which is from a peer-reviewed
journal), and includes appropriate evidence of my action (e.g., photos) in an appendix. If I used an alternative format for Part
2, I followed the guidelines included in question 6, above.
 I have formatted my report to enhance readability by using adequate white space and headings, as appropriate (e.g., for the
questions in Part 2).
 Prior to submitting my assignment, I reviewed the criteria in the relevant rubric and tried to assess my work through the eyes
of someone marking it. (Consider: Have you addressed each criterion to the best of your ability at this point?)

Photo credits: Left: 20-year-old Shilime Erbo and her 18-month-old baby in Ethiopia on May 24, 2012. Her baby is enrolled in the local Community Management of Malnutrition (CMAM)
program in Korre Rogicha village. Photo: UNICEF Ethiopia. Right: Woman feeds her daughter ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) in Niger on August 14, 2012. Photo: UK Department for
International Development.