Course Components

The application: All students enrolled in this course have applied for admission by submitting a letter of interest which details their previous experiences and involvement with food systems and agriculture, states their personal learning objectives for the course, and proposes a project that will enable them to achieve these learning goals. The learning objectives described in the previous post were compiled from these application letters.

On-farm participation:  Students will spend a minimum of three hours each week on the farm, participating in farm activities under the supervision of the farm’s owners and learning how these activities fit into the larger scope of the farm’s operations. These class trips to the farm will occur on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, with approximately half the class coming to the farm each day.

Student-designed collaborative projects: Students will tailor this part of the course to their own interests, working individually or in small groups to carry out projects of their own design. Though they will relate to the course theme in some way, these projects may be widely varied and may take place on the farm or in other locations such as on-campus or in local community gardens.

Communal Research & Reading/Conversation/Reflection: Students will study the history and development of the Community Supported Agriculture movement in Asia, Europe, and the United States and will explore how farms in Southwestern Michigan are implementing the ideas and ideals of local, sustainable, and community-supported food production. This will be done through reading "Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture" by Elizabeth Henderson with Robyn Van En; taking field trips to visit a variety of local farms; sharing resources, ideas, and information with each other on the CSA blog; and meeting for brunch six times during the quarter for conversations about all of these experiences. Students will take turns hosting the brunches, with two people taking responsibility for preparing food and two others taking responsibility for facilitating the discussion. We may also decide to host a movie night or two at some point during the quarter.

Paying it forward: Farming is the occupation of a lifetime, not of a single day, week, month, or season. The learning possible in this course will also build year after year as students pass their insights, discoveries, and questions on to each other. As a final project, students must craft a vehicle of some kind that will communicate both what they’ve learned and what new questions have arisen from that learning on to the next year’s class of students. These projects can be produced in any fashion the students deem feasible and they will become a part of the next year’s course curriculum.