Science and Our Place on the Planet I - Agroecologoy

How much do you know about where your food comes from? Growing and raising food is the single most important human activity affecting our planet's ecosystems, with enormous environmental, economic, and social consequences. How we manage the ecological relationships inherent in modern food production plays a crucial role in determining the health of ourselves, the natural world, and society. This course focuses on agro-ecology: the science of how to produce food in ecologically sustainable ways. We will learn about how soil, water, plants, animals, fungi and microbes interact within ecosystems as a foundation for supporting healthy, productive agriculture. Along the way we will examine and evaluate specific topics of relevance for an ecologically healthy and socially just food supply, including organic certification, permaculture, genetically modified organisms, agriculture's role in climate change, the 'eat local' movement, and sustainable food systems. Outdoor investigations at the Outback campus farm and additional field studies will provide opportunities to get our hands dirty and learn firsthand the challenges and rewards of growing our own food.