Food for Thought:

A summer program in ecology and sustainable agriculture

Ecology, evolution, and agriculture (Environmental Studies 301)

Course catalog description:

Environmental Studies 301. Ecology, evolution, and agriculture. An investigation of the reciprocal interaction between humans and the organisms that nourish us. The class examines the origins and subsequent evolution of domesticated plants, animals, and agricultural pests, and the ways in which these organisms have shaped our bodies and communities. The class will also focus on the relationship between food production and hunger. Class will involve reading, writing, and discussions, invited speakers, field trips, and the study of ecological processes and natural history in and around an organic garden. One class credit. Haskell.

Further details:

Discussions will be centered on the careful analysis of key books and papers. Students will then work on collaborative research projects examining issues arising from the readings.

Assignments:

• library and field research project/papers on evolution in agricultural systems, with written reports and oral presentations given to the group.
• essays on readings. Particular emphasis will be placed on critical analysis of arguments.
• research project/paper on the interaction between hunger and agriculture
• journal essays on service experience at CAC

Readings (partial list):

• Guns, germs, and steel, by Jared Diamond
• Becoming native to this place, by Wes Jackson
• The grapes of wrath, by John Steinbeck
• Fast food nation, by Eric Schlosser
• Readings from:
  • The Paradox of Plenty : Hunger in a Bountiful World, by Boucher, D. H. (ed.) 1999. Food First Books
  • The Doubly Green Revolution : Food for All in the Twenty-First Century, by Conway, G. and V. W. Ruttan. 1999. Comstock Pub Assoc.
  • Feeding the Ten Billion : Plants and Population Growth, by Evans, L. T. 1998. Cambridge Univ Press
  • World Hunger : Twelve Myths, by Lappe, F. M. et al. 1998. Grove Press.
  • American Agriculture: a Brief History, by D. R. Hurt
  • Tennessee Farming, Tennessee Farmers: Antebellum Agriculture in the Upper South, by D. L. Winters
• Papers from the primary literature, the review literature, and newspapers.

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