Active Optimism: Practices in Transforming Food Systems

The global demand for food and fiber will continue to increase well into the next century. How will this food and fiber be produced? Will production be at the cost of soil loss, water contamination, pesticide poisoning, and increasing rural poverty? In this course, we examine the fundamental principles and practices of conventional and sustainable agriculture with a primary focus on crops. By examining farm case studies and current research on conventional and alternative agriculture we develop a set of economic, social, and ecological criteria for a critique of current agricultural practices in the United States and that will serve as the foundation for the development and analysis of new farming systems. Evaluations are based on two exams, class presentations, participation in a conference on potato production, and a final paper.

This three-credit integrated class will include fieldtrips, travel, on-campus classes, and independent project work. The class will explore the history of humans' relationship with apples (and fruit more generally) to explore the thousands of years of observing, eating, planting, and selecting that lay behind our love of apples. Students will learn about everything from the evolutionary history and geographic distribution of the Malus species to the history of apple cultivars in America. By 1900 there were perhaps 20,000 named varieties of apples in North America, and we will look at that explosion of diversity and then its loss in the 20th century. Students will work with trees, harvest fruit, and gain hands-on experience in orchards. The class will travel to the preeminent apple germplasm collection in the world in Geneva, NY, and will have the opportunity to explore the over 6,000 exemplars in the collection. Fieldtrips will also take us to commercial orchards, cider producers, local relict orchards, and conservation collections. Part of the class will be contributing to the work of tracking down, researching, and identifying old historic trees from around downeast Maine. This will require developing research skills, phenotypic identification skills, fruit exploration, and a wide range of other skills. We will also do deep dives on apple genetics, the deep history of agriculture, the introduction of European fruit in North America, changes to farming in Maine, and the conservation of heirloom crops.

The work of the class will include reading, writing, mapping, intensive fieldwork/fieldtrip experiences, hands-on elements, and a major independent research project. The class is appropriate for students with a very wide range of interests, but specific interests could include: history, food studies, horticulture, agriculture, genetics,and cultural heritage. This class will seek to integrate many fields of study to undertake a study of humans’ relationship with their food, the land, and the past through the focus on apples. Students will be evaluated on active participation in class discussion, completion of projects, field journals, written assignments, demonstration of phenotypic identification skills, capacity to learn in field settings, and a major independent project.

This course will take an in depth look at the art and science of fermented and cultured foods. The first half of the class will focus on the microbiology of fermentation with a specific focus on products derived from milk and soybeans. Each week there will be a laboratory portion in which students will explore how the basic fermentation processes and products change with different milk and soy qualities. These small-scale experiences and experiments will be complemented with field trips to commercial enterprises in Maine and Massachusetts. In the second half of the term students will explore the differences in flat, yeast, and sourdough breads. Final projects will focus on a foodway of choice and will culminate in presentations that explore the historical and cultural context in which these different cultured foods were developed and how these microbial-mediated processes enhance preservation, nutritional and economic value, and taste. Evaluations will be based on class participation, short quizzes, a lab report, journal, and a final project.

In the last decade the plight of wild and domesticated bees has pervaded the media and public discourse, yet bees remain largely misunderstood in our society. This course examines the interconnected relationship between humans and bees and asks what bees can teach us about ourselves and our food systems. Through readings, fieldtrips, and guest lectures, students will examine the social, economic, and political dimensions of human-bee interactions, investigating topics such as: historical and contemporary beekeeping practices; the political economy of honey; the role of pollination in agriculture and agroecosystems; domestication and human-animal relationships; biodiversity loss in agricultural systems; pollinator conservation and policy; and cooperation and decision-making in human and bee societies. A truly human-ecological course, Bees & Society integrates the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences to examine the applied problem of protecting pollinators in a time of abrupt environmental change. Students will be evaluated based on: (1) participation in class discussions, fieldwork, and field trips; (2) a series of short reflection papers; and (3) a final class project. For their final project, students will develop two native bee conservation workshops—one for elementary school students and one for farmers and gardeners—and host the workshops at COA’s farms.

Just three aquatic species account for most seafood consumed in the US: shrimp, tuna, and salmon. But worldwide consumption is more diverse, including an array of finfish, invertebrates, aquatic plants, algae, and other animals. These ‘blue foods’ are fished, collected, gathered, or grown in the sea or freshwater and play essential roles in supporting human health, nutrition, livelihoods, and culture. Recent studies have shown that the top 7 categories of nutrient-rich animal-source foods are all aquatic in origin. So why do food policy and science still heavily focus on terrestrially produced foods, overlooking blue foods? This course will unpack this conundrum and examine blue food systems from ‘bait to plate’ by analyzing food production, provisioning, and consumption as interlinked activities. Blue food production includes small-scale and industrial harvesting and wild capture and aquaculture systems. Provisioning activities link production and consumption: the offloading of catch, storage and transportation of highly perishable foods, transformations from raw fish to the final product, and the marketing and distribution affected to reach consumers. Finally, consumption includes how we acquire our food, cook and eat it, and dispose of waste, as well as our nutritional and health outcomes. While conventional food policy and science have focused on food production in isolation, a food systems framework sheds light on dynamics that impact the flows and distribution of foods with equity implications: which foods are made by whom, where does food go, and who benefits? This course will introduce students to key changes in the goals and means of food policy, focusing on how the emergent dialogue on food systems in fisheries is reframing how we know and govern aquatic resources. A significant portion of the course will be dedicated to examining blue food case studies, which may include: seaweed farming in Tanzania, fishing cooperatives in Mexico, tuna longliners in the Mid-Atlantic, and Lobster fishing in Maine. Students will work in teams to analyze one of these case studies in-depth, applying a food systems lens to examine each case’s sustainability and equity challenges. Students will be evaluated through their participation in class discussions and in-class activities, weekly writing reflections, and co-leading a class with your case study team. The final project will be a group policy proposal outlining how stakeholders could better govern from a ‘food systems’ perspective in your blue food case study.

Introductory chemistry and biology are explored in the context of food and drink: the biology of crops, culinary chemistry, and the biochemistry of brewing. Major chemistry topics include atomic structure, periodicity, bonding, acid base chemistry, kinetics, equilibrium, colloids, and solubility of gases in liquids. Major biology topics include photosynthesis, respiration, plant and yeast life histories, cellular reproduction, and metabolism. We will also explore agricultural chemistry from a systems perspective: examining strategies to for keeping pace with the demand for nitrogen and phosphorous in soils. This course is meant to offer important, fundamental chemistry and biology through the framework of food, a universal human experience. These fundamental topics in Chemistry and Biology will be explored from the ground up, so no prior experience is required. Meanwhile, the culinary and agricultural framework should offer enough new content for students with a background in natural sciences. Students will be evaluated based on participation in classroom and laboratory sessions, projects, and quizzes.