Microgreens for All!
featuring Carly Dureiko
Carly Dureiko was born, raised, and continues to work in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Kent State University for her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and through a dietetic internship program post-graduation, became a registered dietitian. She currently works in nephrology as a clinical dietitian.
Carly shares that her two passions in life have always been for community nutrition and sustainability, which is why she was attracted to the Master of Science degree program in Sustainable Food Systems at Prescott College.
In this episode, Carly discusses an innovative approach to improving nutrition at community food access sights—growing microgreens. Carly’s Capstone advisor, Sharon Palmer, MSFS faculty—otherwise known to the world as the Plant-Powered Dietitian—joins us for the conversation.
Perserving Florida's Agricultural Land
featuring Julia Soondar
Julia Soondar took on the challenge of examining the tension between the critical contributions Florida’s agricultural land offers to the state’s food system, the environment, the economy, and various stakeholders, and concerns over the social, environmental, and economic consequences of the trend to convert agricultural land for private development. Her Capstone explores the feasibility of a new state-level policy that would preserve Florida’s agricultural lands through a combination of tax relief, agricultural districting, leasing programs and the creation of a farmer network. The objective with this food policy project is to strengthen resilience in the Florida agricultural sector through institutional architecture at the state level.
Julia graduated from Prescott College’s MBA and Sustainable Food Systems dual degree program in the summer of 2021. Currently, Julia is a public administration Ph.D. student and the Assistant Team Manager at The Snack Sack, a mutual aid organization supporting families facing food insecurity. Julia drew on her prior experiences at a local extension office, a local county government office, her Environmental Science Bachelor’s degree, and most importantly, Prescott’s MSFS program to conduct her research. At the extension office, Julia focused on local agriculture, the food system, and the impacts of different policies. At the county government office, Julia helped conduct research about the local food system to contribute to their ongoing work on a resilience plan. These various experiences helped Julia find her interest in Florida’s agricultural land, and Prescott’s MBA program provided Julia with the ability to conduct a feasibility analysis.
Sweet as Honey: Reviving Appalachian Communities Through Food-based Enterprise
featuring August Stubler
For the coal miners of Appalachia, climate change has brought about economic hardship as jobs are being lost to the necessary growth in the renewable energy sector. August Stubler examines through a literature review and case study analysis, the movement toward food-based economic revitalization. Specifically focused on the introduction of apiary work in hard-hit communities as an economic development strategy, August analyzes one promising model and analyzes the impact of agricultural-based vocational training to transition former coal miners and their families toward more sustainable and resilient livelihoods.
August Stubler (he/they) is from Texas, a born and raised Houstonian dedicated to reimagining the world in a more equitable and sustainable way. His passion for agriculture was stirred during a work-study position on the campus farm of Hampshire College, where, in his first year, he changed majors from Sociocultural Anthropology to Sustainable Agriculture. Since then, they have continued their education at Prescott College and completed their Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Community Development. August’s academic interests revolve around deconstructing the connections between racism and capitalism through agriculture and community.
In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, singing, dancing, and road-tripping with his partner and friends. After graduation, they aspire to work closely with community organizers and farmers in order to reimagine value chains to prioritize people and environmental wellbeing in food systems.
Farmer-friendly Food Safety Policies
featuring Rachel Wilson
Requirements for food safety are necessary to prevent the spread of food-borne illness. The costs related to compliance, however, unfairly disadvantage smaller farms. USDA’s Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) voluntary audit program, which is an expansion of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is becoming a requirement for produce growers wanting to sell to many wholesale buyers. Because of the steep financial and temporal burdens of the USDA and FDA program requirements, many farmers are already marginalized from markets due to the additional costs and time commitments of audit criteria. State-led food safety programming offers a more accessible alternative to the complex federal regulations alternative to these national certifications by encouraging local collaboration on food safety standards and customized support for farmers in the community. Rachel Wilson examines the Massachusetts Commonwealth Quality Program (CQP) as a case study for a successful state-led certification program that is accepted by all produce buyers in the state with reduced compliance obstacles for farmers. She created an original survey and provides an analysis of interview results from produce growers, buyers, and key stakeholders in Missouri and Illinois with the recommendation that the CQP model be adopted in the St. Louis region and other U.S. states to support the market inclusion for more local produce growers.
Rachel Wilson lives in Saint Louis, Missouri, where she grew up. After studying English in her undergraduate program at the University of Missouri, Rachel felt a pull toward living a more sustainable life and pursued an apprenticeship at an organic vegetable farm near Greenville, South Carolina. During this experience, she was able to see firsthand the work that goes into sustainable agriculture and connect with other producers in the local community to hear their stories. After returning to Saint Louis, Rachel was eager to continue learning more about this work and began her Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems at Prescott College. At the same time, she began her current role at a start-up based in St. Louis that works to reduce inefficiencies in the local produce supply chain. Her experience at Prescott and in her professional role of working with local produce growers in the Midwest has fostered a passion to reduce barriers for local farms and strengthen local food systems.
Insubordinate Bodies and Food System Alienation
featuring Zephyr Schott
Trigger Warning: Content may trigger those with sensitivities to issues related to disordered eating and body image.
Zephyr Schott brings forward a book proposal as their Capstone project. The book is an examination of the ways the State acts on bodies and eating modalities through control of food systems and concomitant systems of oppression. Through auto-ethnography and examination of history, Zephyr explores issues related to body and food autonomy, taking a critical view of food systems as they contribute to white supremacy, colonization, fatphobia, ableism, speciesism, and (cis)sexism. The book addresses systems of confinement and oppression associated with “treatment” of disordered eating, challenging the pathologization of the perceptions and dynamics of food and embodiment.
Zephyr has had a broad array of life experiences spanning highly varied realms of being. They have been many things including: painter, national/international hitchhiker, burlesque performer, squatter, dissident, truck stop connoisseur, student, caseworker, citizenship test interpreter, vagrant, psych ward inmate, teacher, and more. This Capstone Project, however, is their first attempt at becoming an author. Zephyr has had an enduring fascination with, and love of, food and learning. Much of their research and work has centered on the weaponization of food systems by systems of power, and the utilization and reclamation of food in liberatory struggles. Zephyr believes in taking action to facilitate autonomy for everyone regardless of class, race, gender, species, and other assigned categories.
