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Goshen College

Sustainable Food Systems

March 7, 2017

A major around the production, marketing and distribution of sustainable food is offered, which includes two unique Goshen College offerings: the Sustainability Core sequence and the Agroecology Summer Intensive program at Merry Lea Sustainable Farm.  See also the minor in agroecology.

Major in Sustainable Food Systems

58 credit hours

Sustainability Core (19 credit hours)

  • Biol 207, Roots of Environmental Crisis 3
  • Bus 121, Entrepreneurship 3
  • Bus 307, Career Planning 1
  • Econ 309, Environmental Economics 3
  • Sust 201, Introduction to Sustainability 3
  • Sust 205, Sustainability Policy 3
  • Sust 410, Sustainability Capstone 3

Agroecology Summer Intensive (15 credit hours)

  • Sust 210, Animal Husbandry 3
  • Sust 215, Food Systems 3
  • Sust 220, Soil Management 3
  • Sust 316, Cropping Systems 3
  • Sust 318, Agroecology 3
  • Sust 408, Internship (on-farm) 1

Remaining major requirements (24 credit hours)

  • Biol 115, Ecology and Evolution 4
  • Bus XXX, Business Fundamentals 3
  • Chem 101, 103 or 111 3-4
  • Sust 155, Sustainability Seminar 1
  • Sust 409, Internship (off-farm) 1-3
  • Two of the following courses 6-8
    • Biol 205, Pollinators in Peril (3)
    • Biol 222, Soil Science (4)
    • Biol 235, Geographic Information Systems (4)
    • Chem 220, Human Nutrition (3)
    • Psych 380, Statistics in Research (3)
  • One of the following courses 3
    • Econ 203, Principles of Microeconomics
    • Econ 314, Ecological Economics
    • Kin 360, Teaching Health Concepts
    • Kin 415, School and Community Health
    • Soc 320, Environmental Sociology
  • One of the following courses 3
    • Acc 201, Principles of Financial Accounting
    • Bus 315, Principles of Management
    • Bus 316, Principles of Marketing
    • Bus 319, Leading Non-profit Organizations

Planning and advising notes

The major can be tailored to individual career goals, in consultation with the academic advisor and sustainability coordinator.

Student learning outcomes

Graduates in Sustainable Food Systems will:

  1. Master a variety of skills, tools, and techniques for food production and processing with an emphasis on troubleshooting real world agricultural problems.
  2. Recognize and articulate the interactions of economics, social movement, spiritual beliefs, public policy, and the environment in shaping the food system, both locally and globally.
  3. Effectively interact with stakeholders across the food system to gain real working knowledge and communicate with diverse audiences.
  4. Gain insight into systemic injustices within the food system, allowing them to foster peace and equity through institutional change.
  5. Explore the ethics of eating in order to find workable solutions to exploitation within the food system.
  6. Develop critical analysis skills for assessing the health of a food system and alternatives such as CSAs and herd shares.