Dr. Kevin Vogel, St. Bonaventure University, Biology
Food in a Technological World: Sustainable Indigenous Futures
The Valley and Ridge Workshop provided the perfect opportunity to initiate the development of a new course for the Environmental Studies curriculum at St. Bonaventure University centering on food production. More specifically, this new course will illustrate the global nature of food production from the origins of our principal crop plants/protein sources to their expatriation and use in ‘foreign’ agricultural systems
Students will explore our 500 acre primarily wooded campus from an indigenous perspective, addressing questions of how it could it support human populations. This will serve as an introduction to ‘indigenous plates’, an examination of local food cultures.
In North America, nearly all of the modern diet had its origins outside of the continent. The next part of the course will focus on the technological developments that have been associated with increased production, storage and transport of food. To what extent have these developments 1) led to the marginalization of communities, 2) altered local food culture 3) induced ecological and environmental change, 4) produced wealth and induced life style change?
Students will examine a typical diet using dining hall menus for inspiration. What are the stories of the items on the plate? Through a thorough examination of those items, students will develop an ‘exploitation index’, a measure of the collateral damage associated with a standard meal.
As a final project, the class will revise these menus to reduce the ‘exploitation index’ while keeping within the spirit of the meal, and produce that meal.