In recent years, a number of majors, minors and concentrations with names like sustainable food systems, organic agriculture, and agroecology have cropped up in colleges of agriculture nationwide. Not simply synonymous with "organic," but incorporating that aspect under its umbrella, sustainable agriculture programs are often interdisciplinary in nature.
Developed to varying degrees in response to rising student interest in all things green, a changing food industry, and diminishing enrollments in more traditional agricultural programs, "these programs are one of the latter indicators of things changing because they require acceptance by faculty and administrators," says Damian Parr, a doctoral candidate in agricultural and environmental education at the University of California at Davis.
What programs exist in this field?
The University of Maine, it's fair to say, was way ahead of the pack; the university launched a bachelor of science degree in sustainable agriculture in 1988. There, too, sustainable agriculture was seen as an antidote for declining enrollments.
Meanwhile, Montana State University's sustainable food and bioenergy systems undergraduate major is brand-new, having been approved by the Board of Regents in November. The B.S. degree is jointly run by the College of Agriculture and the College of Education, Health and Human Development, which houses nutrition, explains Mary Stein, the program coordinator. "I think this program does a nice job addressing not only the agricultural production aspect but also the implications for human health, for local economies, for farm viability, preservation of farmland. I think taking a systems approach to these problems is really a strength of this program."
In 2006, as part of a larger curricular effort to emphasize whole agricultural and food systems, Washington State University created a new major in organic agriculture systems. Undergraduate certificates are also available, and in 2008 the university launched a graduate certificate in sustainable agriculture, says Jessica Goldberger, an assistant professor in the Department of Community and Rural Sociology. In assessing the various programs, they've found that students "are very much enjoying the hands-on learning experiences,"
she says. "And I think you see that across the country, this demand for more out-of-the-classroom, practical learning experiences.
Students are very much enjoying these kinds of classes, especially since a lot of the students that are attracted to sustainable and organic agricultural programs don't necessarily have agricultural backgrounds."
