During Furman’s 2010 May Experience program, they offered a course called Sustainable Eating Practices. It covered a variety of topics in food production and consumption, including organics, locally produced food, and meat-free diets. Libby Young, a librarian, proposed the class that students might realize these importance of these issues, which she herself is passionate about.
The course was Furman’s Engaged Learning at it’s finest; students shopped, cooked, and traveled to organic farm and pastures all as part of class time. Destinations included Bio-Way Farm in Ware Shoals, SC and the Whole Foods supermarket and farmer’s market.
These travel opportunities were intended to provide the students with real world experience in dealing with these issues. For example, during grocery store visits, students had to shop for organic groceries on a budget in order to explore the possiblity for a low-income family to acquire healthy organic on a regular basis.
Other portions of the class had the students researching the studies on organic food out there, to discern what sorts of health and/or environmental benefits come about from organic food products. Student projects were varied in topic. Some covering the risks associated with pesticides in ground water or growth hormones in cows, while others explored the pros and cons of vegetarianism or the Italian Slow Food movement, which seeks to do away with process, manufactured foods.
The course’s instructor, Libby Young, a Furman University Librarian, initially proposed the course because she wanted to share her values on food and nutrition with interested students. You can listen to my complete interview with her below.