Centering Equity in Sustainable Food Systems Education

Sterling, Eleanor J.; Betley, Erin; Ahmed, Selena; Akabas, S. R.; Clegg, Daniel J.; Downs, Shauna; Izumi, Betty T.; Koch, Pamela; Kross, Sara M.; Spiller, Karen; Teron, Lemir; Valley, Will

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.737434

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…Given our collective expertise, we focus our discussion on HEIs in the United States, but we hope that it can help with reform in undergraduate biology education in other countries as well. While our presentation in some ways parallels calls for the development of "sustainable food systems education" aimed at future professionals (e.g., Sterling et al, 2021), we suggest instead that incorporating urban agriculture into undergraduate biology will benefit all biology students, regardless of career interests, by engaging them in basic science and exposing them to pressing community challenges.…”

Section: Recent Summaries Of Education Research Have Suggested Waysmentioning

confidence: 71%

Potential for urban agriculture to support accessible and impactful undergraduate biology education

Kay

Chapman

Cheruiyot

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Active learning in STEM education is essential for engaging the diverse pool of scholars needed to address pressing environmental and social challenges. However, active learning formats are difficult to scale and their incorporation into STEM teaching at U.S. universities varies widely. Here, we argue that urban agriculture as a theme can significantly increase active learning in undergraduate biology education by facilitating outdoor fieldwork and community‐engaged education. We begin by reviewing benefits of field courses and community engagement activities for undergraduate biology and discuss constraints to their broader implementation. We then describe how urban agriculture can connect biology concepts to pressing global changes, provide field research opportunities, and connect students to communities. Next, we assess the extent to which urban agriculture and related themes have already been incorporated into biology‐related programs in the United States using a review of major programs, reports on how campus gardens are used, and case studies from five higher education institutions (HEIs) engaging with this issue. We found that while field experiences are fairly common in major biology programs, community engagement opportunities are rare, and urban agriculture is almost nonexistent in course descriptions. We also found that many U.S. HEIs have campus gardens, but evidence suggests that they are rarely used in biology courses. Finally, case studies of five HEIs highlight innovative programming but also significant opportunities for further implementation. Together, our results suggest that urban agriculture is rarely incorporated into undergraduate biology in the United States, but there are significant prospects for doing so. We end with recommendations for integrating urban agriculture into undergraduate biology, including the development of campus gardens, research programs, community engagement partnerships, and collaborative networks. If done with care, this integration could help students make community contributions within required coursework, and help instructors feel a greater sense of accomplishment in an era of uncertainty.

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Section: Recent Summaries Of Education Research Have Suggested Waysmentioning

confidence: 71%

Potential for urban agriculture to support accessible and impactful undergraduate biology education

Kay

Chapman

Cheruiyot

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The inception and development of the "Checklist for Culturally Competent Education in Nutrition" accentuate the pressing need to cultivate DEIB principles within healthcare, specifically in the area of education around nutrition and culinary medicine. While higher education programs are gradually incorporating related concepts, and similar methodologies have been employed in university courses focusing on sustainable food systems, a broader application in the training of those professionals who will be caring for patients remains to be seen [22,23].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooking up Change: DEIB Principles as Key Ingredients in Nutrition and Culinary Medicine Education

Ring,

Ai,

Maker-Clark

et al. 2023

Nutrients

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The integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) principles into healthcare education is essential to ensure culturally sensitive and equitable healthcare delivery. In the domain of nutrition, food, and health, these principles are particularly vital, as diet and food choices are strongly linked to cultural identities and socioeconomic conditions. Despite a growth of DEIB initiatives in undergraduate and graduate medical education, there is a significant gap regarding guidelines for implementing DEIB principles in education around nutrition and food, including that for dietitians, allied health and medical professionals. A literature review was conducted, analyzing peer-reviewed articles and current practices in academic medical education to understand DEIB in nutrition, food, and health. The outcome was the creation of a three-tiered checklist titled “Checklist for Culturally Competent Education in Nutrition”. It serves as a roadmap to cultivate culturally competent, equitable, and inclusive healthcare professionals that emphasizes avoiding bias, enhancing awareness, and building practical skills for DEIB implementation around nutrition.

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An Undergraduate Agroecology Research Fellows Program Engages Co-learning Through Participatory Action Research

Nordstrom

Horner

Méndez

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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This paper addresses the role of an Undergraduate Agroecology Research Fellows Program (UARFP) toward a more critical and equity-oriented agroecology pedagogy. As a model rooted in action, Undergraduate Agroecology Research Fellows (UARF) become members of the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative (ALC) Community of Practice (CoP), at the University of Vermont; a transdisciplinary research and education group that engages in community-based participatory action research (PAR). Through this model, UARFs support undergraduate student engagement in an advanced agroecology course, through which a PAR process centered on soil health takes place with regional farms. This triangulated learning format involves in-class and on-farm lab work, alongside the embedded UARF enrichment program, through which agroecological principles are examined via inter- and transdisciplinary educational lenses. Within this context, the objectives of the pedagogical research presented in this paper were: 1) To analyze the ALC-UARFP perceptions of transdisciplinary co-learning through PAR, and 2) extract key lessons learned for critical pedagogy, through this model in action. Our methodological results illustrate the strength of participatory inquiry to capture stakeholder perspectives, iteratively informing the program's direction, and providing key lessons learned. Parallel to this evaluative strength, the qualitative results suggest that authentic undergraduate engagement in PAR offers great potential for the development of increasingly transformative educational programs. Further, our UARFP model, grounded in reciprocal and transdisciplinary co-learning within an agroecological community of practice, pushes the praxis needle toward a more comprehensive and critical agroecology pedagogy.

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Centering Equity in Sustainable Food Systems Education

Cited by 4 publications

References 33 publications

Potential for urban agriculture to support accessible and impactful undergraduate biology education

Potential for urban agriculture to support accessible and impactful undergraduate biology education

Cooking up Change: DEIB Principles as Key Ingredients in Nutrition and Culinary Medicine Education

An Undergraduate Agroecology Research Fellows Program Engages Co-learning Through Participatory Action Research

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