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.

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).

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.

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

The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the complex legal web comprising our food system and to cultivate a ?systems 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.

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).