Kevin Whitley and Troi Thomas paired with Davis & Elkins students to win a debate on food security.
Towson University’s Debate Team continued its impressive record of accomplishment by winning a competition last month in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A pair of TU students joined a duo from Davis & Elkins College (W.Va.) in a public debate on food security and globalization at James Madison University and emerged victorious.
Towson – represented by two-time CEDA champions Kevin Whitley and Troi Thomas – and the Davis & Elkins team argued the affirmative side to defend the resolution, “Globalization, on balance, has benefited local food culture.” A team from JMU argued against the resolution on the negative side of the debate.
Whitley and Thomas argued that the success of quinoa, a grain that has recently become popular in the United States, exemplified the value of globalization for local food cultures.
They further argued the increased global demand for quinoa resulted in increased incomes for Bolivian and Peruvian farmers and increased government revenues that allowed the Bolivian and Peruvian states to expand social welfare programs designed to assist the most marginalized of their societies.
After a question and answer period following the debate, audience members voted by secret ballot, and the affirmative side was declared the winner.
