A culmination of factors has created a reality among us where two thirds of the population is overweight or obese, 42 million American as are food insecure and 80 billion pounds of edible food is tossed annually. And on top of that, in the last 150 years, half of the world's topsoil has been lost as a result of human activities. With those statistics in mind, this project lead me to investigate the food idiosyncrasies of the average American diet...

This capstone project presents an interdisciplinary sustainable food system course for college level students based around Seed2Seed's farm for internships. The course focus is on incorporating multiple disciplines and teaching more than task-related skills. The S2S Internship is a nine week base course with a two week optional on-farm project skills. It was designed to be taught on the S2S Sustainable Education Farm. The intention of the internship...

Public agencies are increasingly focused on the construction of biological resources. This focus has generated renewed interest in novel ecological and environmental management approaches. As these approaches are more widely integrated, additional research is needed to support environmental mandates, successfully implement novel resource management strategies, and realize broader ecosystem management goals. In response to a research-gap in ecological...

Farmers are in short supply in the United States, with the average age of the American farmer ever increasing. There are significant barriers to entry for beginning farmers which include limited availability and affordability of agricultural lands, lack of experience in farming, high capital expenses, difficulty in getting financed, and various other social pressures. Farms are consolidating at a rapid rate, growing larger and decreasing in numbers....

The following capstone is a written blueprint for teachers, entrepreneurs, motivated student groups, and/or larger organizations to reference when brainstorming the best ways to enact sustainable change of the food system within a specific community. Green Village Initiative (GVI) and its unique four-pronged approach was developed in Fairfield County Connecticut by co-founders Monique Bosch and Dan Levinson in 2008. With a primary focus on urban agriculture...

"My initial interest in sustainable food systems was launched by the First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study (FNFNES), which was being conducted by the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne's Environment program and the University of Ottawa and Montreal. I was not a big part of this project, but I found myself carefully following the progression of this project. The combination of FNFNES and the collection of walleye made me realize the importance...

Agricultural landscapes play an important role in the preservation and enhancement of both on-farm and natural biodiversity. Stewarding agricultural land to conserve and promote biodiversity and species at risk (SAR) is an important component of a sustainable farm, a sustainable food system and a sustainable future. There are many ways to manage for biodiversity and support SAR within farming systems, and it is necessary to have well developed plans...

Coffee is Honduras' most valuable export and is supported by the Honduran Institute of Coffee (IHCAFE) and other private and non-government organizations (NGO's) representing all aspects of the coffee value chain. It is important to illustrate the sustainable aspects of Specialty Coffee given that coffee is a worldwide commodity whose market is a community that values the environment, the social aspects of those that produce it and their ability to...

Registered Dietitians (RDs) can play a critical role in advocating for sustainable food systems (SFS) both on personal and professional levels. Thus, it is essential for RDs, our "food experts," to understand the complexities involved in our food system. Evidence shows that RDs are interested in promoting SFS issues, but the lack of knowledge is cited as a barrier, which results in the majority of RDs not incorporating SFS concepts into their professional...