Explain to students that they are going to create their own utopian visions about food. In order to do so, they should think about food production, distribution, and consumption. Teachers might choose to have students look at some websites dedicated to historic Jewish utopian agrarian communities to get ideas for their projects. A few of these include:

• Cotopaxi: The failed Russian Jewish Agricultural Colony, 1882-1884
• The Alliance Jewish Farming Colony, Past and Present
• The Borough of Woodbine

Ask students to look at the “values” category they created in Part 1 of the lesson and to prioritize those values in order of importance to them individually. Students should only include those values on the list that are important to them and should be encouraged to add any additional values that matter to them and were not on the list.

Have students break into pairs to share the values they’ve listed and to flesh out what it would mean to live those values. Explain to the students that when listening to their partners, they should 1) ask clarifying questions; 2) make suggestions to strengthen their partner’s utopian vision; 3) point out to their partners when they are hearing conflicting ideas; and 4) refrain from pushing their own utopian visions on their partners.

Direct students to sketch out their ideas, either in pictures or in words. Teachers should check students’ sketches to be sure they include all the values they decided were important to them, and teachers should engage students in conversations about their work if some values come in conflict with others. When teachers feel satisfied that students’ sketches are adequately fleshed out, have students transfer their visions into written manifestos, drawings, or models. Invite students to bring in objects they’d like to include in their models, or assign students to complete their models at home and then to bring them into class.