Contact Dr. Susan Clark (CAFS Director)

Department of Horticulture

sfclark@vt.edu • (540) 231-8768

civicag@vt.edu

More Informationtiny.cc/civicag

Civic Agriculture & Food Systems

Minor at Virginia Tech

CAFS Minor Cornerstones• Food security and sovereignty

• Civic engagement and democratic participation

• Strong local economies

• Ecological stewardship

• Healthy people and communities

• Collaborative teaching and experiential learning

“Personal growth and professional development is an integral part of the CAFS minor and being involved with this minor gave me the gift of direction and confidence to secure a job as a Community Food Systems Extension Agent”

-Caitlin Miller, CAFS Class of 2012

Brochure designed by Sarah Gugercin

Circle graphic created by Najla Miranda Mouchrek

The Civic Agriculture and Food Systems minor within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ (CALS) Office of Academic Programs provides the opportunity for interdisciplinary and community-based learning, and active engagement in and outside the classroom. The CAFS minor embodies a commitment to developing and strengthening an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable agriculture and food system. This interdisciplinary minor provides students with knowledge and skills to promote academic enhancement, personal growth, and civic engagement through reflection and experiential practice to address and solve ‘real-world’ problems.

This minor is open to any major at the university and is approved as a Pathways for General Education Minor starting in the Fall of 2018.

The Civic Agriculture & Food Systems Minorat Virginia Tech

“The minor created space and opportunities to listen and engage in conversations in the classroom, hear and appreciate different viewpoints besides my own, and reflect on why and what I was learning in new ways. It was through the minor that I discovered my passion for fighting food insecurity. ”

-Micah Smalley, CAFS Class of 2017

ALS 2204 Introductionto Civic Agriculture

ALS 3404 E

colo

gical

Ag

riculture: Theory and

PracticeALS 4204 Concepts in

Community Food Systems

Cultivating Capstone P

roje ct O

pp

ortunities/Possibilities

Nurturing the Capstone Project Plan

Impl

emen

ting

(Bri

ngin

g t

o F

ruit

ion)

the

Cap

ston

e Pr

ojec

t

Seeding Capstone Project Ideas

Cap

sto

ne:

ALS

421

4 C

ivic

Ag

ricu

ltur

ean

d F

oo

d S

yste

ms Ongoing community engagement . m

eet . observe . re

ect . question . discuss . connect . plan

. d

esig

n .

imp

lem

ent

. s

hare

.

Relationship between students,

faculty and community

partners

Introduction to the economic, social, & ecological foundations of civic agriculture. Topics include industrialization, localized food systems, and citizen participation in civic agriculture. Emphasis given to civic agriculture models, strategies, and hands-on approaches to establish, retain, strengthen community-based food and agriculture systems, locally-nationally-globally. (3H, 3C)

Pathways outcomes: Advanced Discourse & Intercultural and Global Awareness

Ove

rview

of h

istoric an

d m

od

ern

agricu

ltural p

ractices. S

urve

ys the

prin

ciple

s of e

colo

gy in

the

con

text o

f m

anag

ed

eco

system

s, civic agricu

lture

, and

fo

od

system

s. Eco

log

ically base

d p

ractices

and

the

ir use

in h

olistic an

d in

teg

rated

ag

ricultu

ral system

s. Pre

: 22

04

(2H

, 3L, 3

C)

Path

way

s ou

tcom

es: R

easo

nin

g in

the

Natu

ral Scie

nce

s & E

thical R

easo

nin

g

Examination of the economic, political, socio-cultural, health and environmental issues related to community

food systems and agricultural practices. Topics include local, regional and global food systems development, food production and biotechnology, food sovereignty

and security, and population and environmental health. Analyze models, strategies, and policies within local-

national-global food systems. Pre: 3404 (3H, 3C)

Pathways outcomes: Reasoning in the Social Sciences & Intercultural and

Global Awareness

Mu

ltid

isci

plin

ary,

exp

eri

en

tial

co

mm

un

ity-

bas

ed

co

urs

e f

ocu

sin

g o

n c

ivic

ag

ricu

ltu

re-f

oo

d s

yste

ms.

W

ork

in

par

tne

rsh

ip w

ith

co

mm

un

ity

stak

eh

old

ers

to

pro

po

se v

iab

le s

olu

tio

ns

to r

eal

wo

rld

iss

ue

s re

volv

ing

aro

un

d c

ivic

ag

ricu

ltu

re a

nd

fo

od

sys

tem

s.

Co

nn

ect

wit

h c

om

mu

nit

ies

loca

lly-r

eg

ion

ally

-g

lob

ally

. P

re:

22

04

, 3

40

4,

42

04

(3

H,

3C

)

Pat

hw

ays

ou

tco

me

s: C

riti

qu

e a

nd

Pra

ctic

e i

n D

esi

gn

an

d t

he

Art

s &

Eth

ical

Re

aso

nin

g