Creating a quick outline of your essay is an excellent way to stay organized throughout the drafting process.See the SAMPLE Synthesis Outline of the SAMPLE Synthesis Essay, both in Module III.See the
Organizing a Synthesis:
(To add columns and/or rows, click anywhere on the chart, and in Layout see Insert Right and/or Insert Below.)
For a synthesis
use at least 3 sources.
use at least 3 subtopics.
use examples from at least 2 of the sources for each subtopic.
Then each horizontal row here becomes one body paragraph.
| My Research Question | How can purchasing so-called "ugly produce” impact sustainability? |
| Source 1 Boothroyd, Aoife | Source 2 McClellan, Jennifer | Source 3 Medina, Jennifer | Source 4 Royte, Elizabeth | |
| Subtopic People/hunger | | "according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, fruit and vegetables have the highest waste rate of any food group, some of which is based solely on rigid size and cosmetic standards” (McClellan). | Figueirido explains that farmers "have a really tough job as it is, and supermarkets make it harder by rejecting so much [of their harvest]" (qtd. in Medina) | |
| Subtopic People/farmers | "wholesale food business Spade & Barrow [has] developed a holistic approach to their operations . . .which ensures that farmers are able to harvest their entire crop - irrespective of size and shape” (Boothroyd). | "there may be No. 1 and No. 2 [USDA] grades, but hardly anyone is stocking No. 2 in the produce aisle," (Medina). | | |
| Subtopic Planet | The ability to bypass grocery retailers and sell ugly produce directly to consumers is an innovative way to tackle the food waste issue (McClellan). | As Medina describes, Imperfect Produce and Food Recovery Network are two such businesses delivering ugly produce in the San Francisco area that stemmed from two college students witnessing the vast amount of food waste in the cafeteria. | ||
| Subtopic Profit | Wasted food itself, which rose by 50% between 1974 and 2006, contributes greatly to the saturation of landfills, as well as greenhouse gas production, but there are several consequences that are not as visible as a pile of garbage (Medina). | As Royte explains, "producing food that no one eats - whether sausages or snickerdoodles - also squanders the water, fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, fuel, and land needed to grow it. The quantities aren't trivial" (36). |
Synthesis Outline:
Title Vegetable Vanity: Ugly Produce and Sustainability
Research Question How can purchasing so-called “ugly produce” impact sustainability?
Topic Sentence Food waste is inequitable to millions of people suffering from hunger around the world.
McClennan, Jennifer
Medina, Jennifer
Topic Sentence Capturing ugly produce directly from the source can make a huge impact on farmers and the food waste epidemic as well.
Boothroyd, Aoife
Medina, Jennifer
Topic Sentence Many ugly produce delivery services are cropping up as sustainability practices and food waste reduction begin to take the forefront in business models of the future.
McClellan, Jennifer
Medina, Jennifer
Topic Sentence The extreme toll food waste takes on the environment reaches far beyond any landfill.
Medina, Jennifer
Royte, Elizabeth
Thesis Although it may take time and more widespread acceptance, relaxing aesthetic standards and opting to purchase imperfect produce can affect sustainability in a variety of positive ways.
