Taught By:
Lesli Hoey
Associate Professor
Urban and Regional Planning Program
University of Michigan
Read profile here.
Student Campaigns:
- Save the TFS Campaign (the Transformative Food Systems Fellowship/program)
Course Description:
Food systems around the globe are in a state of crisis. Bold leaders are needed who are committed to reversing the environmental degradation, health epidemics, and economic inequities that characterize so many of today’s food systems. Many courses at the University of Michigan examine the root causes of these problems and the “what” – the content of changes needed to achieve more sustainable, health-promoting and just food systems. This course focuses more on the “how” – the actions that can transform food systems – by learning unique skillsets and from hopeful solutions taking root across Michigan, the U.S. and other countries.
The goal of this course is to prepare reflective, visionary and strategic food systems scientists, community leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals who use systems thinking and an ethics of sustainability and justice as they strive to transform food systems. We also explore how we can each build an “equity competency” – the knowledge, skills and values needed to recognize and address historical and persistent structural inequities that pervade today’s food systems and that underlie food systems crises. We will draw on multiple knowledges; experiential, interdisciplinary, and peer learning; co-learning with the instructors; field trips; speakers; hands-on workshops; and critical reflection and discussion. By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Propose diverse strategies for overcoming inequities, health challenges and environmental crises facing food systems across various dimensions, scales, and geographies,
- Identify diverse career pathways for catalyzing food systems change,
- Articulate how personal identities, values, implicit biases, and leadership styles shape efforts to transform food systems, and
- Demonstrate interpersonal, communication and leadership skills needed for collective action.