The fall semester of this Food, Farming, and Social change capstone experience is a lively seminar, “Eating in America: The History, Philosophy, Economy and Reality of Food and Farming in America, ” in which students explore issues of sustainability, hunger and food scarcity, global food systems, and our unique modern human and ecological health crises, and investigate some fascinating local and larger-scale solutions to those problems.
Our readings, discussions, activities, field trips and guest speakers help students understand and experience different elements of the course material. In Addition to the
opportunities the seminar offers, and the many
who visit to talk, eat,cook and reflect with us, we read the work of food writers, historians, activists and poets, watch and reflect on groundbreaking documentaries and videos, and discuss the issues we see as common threads through all the readings and experiences.
As students make these connections, they choose one issue to address with their spring capstone projects, They begin contacting the individuals in the HPA and/or larger island community who they think might be willing to assist them/serve on their evaluating committee, create flyers to advertise the projects they’ve imagined, and sketch out budgets and timelines for their project work.