Course Descriptions (Per Subject)

SFS 110.  Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture.  4. 
This course develops skills and knowledge in sustainable agriculture through practical experience on the Guilford College Farm or partner sites abroad. The heart of the course is a weekly three-hour work day on the College Farm. During the work time, we’ll also discuss the week’s readings, and students will reflect and write on their experiences in a weekly journal. This course can be taken multiple times for up to 4 credits total, and it is a prerequisite for the upper level SFS 310 Advanced Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture.

SFS 120.  Introduction to Food Systems.  4. 
Interdisciplinary overview of food systems, and the challenges facing them; introduces food insecurity issues facing the region. Fulfills social justice/environmental responsibility requirement (1998). Evaluating systems and environments requirement (2019).

SFS 150.  Special Topics.  1-8.  

SFS 210.  Liberal Artisans Skills.  1-4. 
These hands-on courses provide students with practical skills in areas of food production, preparation and use. Topics may include urban farming, season extension, preservation and canning, farm management, fermentation and pickling, cheese making, beer making, wine making, food and culture courses, grant writing, beekeeping, farm machinery operation and repair, market management, basic carpentry, business planning, pruning, seed saving, grafting, etc. Can be repeated multiple times with different content.

213 Food and Faith: Interfaith Intersections, Community, and Ecological Awareness. 4
This course will explore the interconnections between spiritual and/or value systems and the modes of agriculture we support. We will look at multiple perspectives of our natural environment and the ways these viewpoints affect how we treat animals, land, people, and how this affects our communities. This course includes discussion, independent and group reflection, experiential learning through hands-on activities, and visiting off-campus sites related to land conservation, communion, and connection. All students, faith-oriented or not are welcome to take part in this course. Our primary faith-related studies will slant toward Quakerism, but we will include multi-faith perspectives and other value-systems as well.

SFS 220.  Sustainable Regional Food.  4. 
Place-based, interdisciplinary look at solutions to the challenges facing food systems and regional innovations. Prerequisite or corequisite: SFS 120, or permission of instructor.

SFS 230.  Food and Agriculture Law and Policy.  4. 
The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the complex legal web comprising our food system and to cultivate a system’s thinking? approach for our analysis, and, from there, to effectively apply that knowledge and analysis in food and agriculture advocacy endeavors. Prerequisite or corequisite: SFS 120, or permission of instructor.

SFS 250.  Special Topics.  8.  

SFS 260.  Independent Study.  1-8.  

SFS 290.  Internship.  1-8.  

SFS 350.  Special Topics.  1-8.  

SFS 360.  Independent Study.  8.  

SFS 390.  Internship.  1-8.  

SFS 410.  Advanced Practicum Sustainable Food Systems.  1-5. 
This course has been designed as a student-driven, project-based capstone for Sustainable Food Systems majors, and can serve as a student’s signature work. ENVS students or others with a background in sustainable food may also be eligible to take the course. Students will decide on, research, and develop a hands-on project involving the Guilford College farm and/or other sustainable food-related issues in the greater community. Students will present their projects at the annual ENSS Forum, and/or at GUS.

Prerequisite: SFS 110, senior standing, and instructor permission. 1 credit is taken in the 12- week Spring semester of the senior year (project planning and research), and 4 credits are taken in the 3 week Spring semester of the senior year (project execution).

SFS 460.  Independent Study.  8.  

SFS 470.  Senior Thesis.  4.  

SFS 490.  Departmental Honors.  4.