Breadcrumb
Food Futures
Nurturing the land, nourishing our bodies
Foster Community in Place
Imagine you are on your way to a Native community garden with the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab, a lab focused on practice and preservation of food sovereignty and Traditional Ecological Knowledges. The air is crisp and you can smell the blackberries, redwoods, and pastures. In the garden, you start to grasp your connection to food and the land that provides for us. You consider your contribution to that sustenance, and as you look down at your dirt-covered hands you realize that this relationship will take labor and time to fully develop. As your knees sink into the earth, you think to yourself, ‘this is healing.’
Welcome to Food Futures, one of Cal Poly Humboldt’s Place-Based Learning Communities. As a first-year first-time student with an interest in food sovereignty, you can choose to be a part of this program to learn about food systems, the cultural significance of food, and the impact that our food choices have on the environment. And you’ll build connections with students who are as passionate about food and agriculture as you.
Food Futures is open for students who are interested in food sovereignty and are not already in a major-based Place-Based Learning Community.
At Humboldt,
we learn in and from the environment around us
Interact with the Exceptional North Coast
In the North Coast you will learn about food sovereignty from a distinct perspective, grounded in local Indigenous ecological knowledges and our diverse ecosystems.
Connect Western Science to Indigenous Cultural and Value Systems
All students will take a Native American Studies course, where they’ll learn how the Wiyot and Yurok tribes have interacted and coexisted on this land for generations. You’ll connect Western scientific perspectives and approaches with Indigenous environmental knowledge and cultural perspectives.
Get Support from Day One
From the day you arrive at Humboldt, you'll have a support network that includes professors, peer mentors, staff, and seasoned professionals. Grow academically and personally with the backing of a caring and invested community.
The Specialized Experiences that Make up Food Futures
Food Futures will introduce students to the concept of food sovereignty, the right of people to have control over their own food systems. We will examine, and reimagine, our food systems through cultural, scientific, political-economic, decolonial, and socioecological lenses.
Students will learn about the ways local tribes and food producers in Humboldt are healing the land and people through ecologically-sound food production.
Students will have opportunities to visit and participate in various campus and community initiatives such as the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute, community gardens, and local farms.
Guided Enrollment
As part of guided enrollment, PBLC students have the opportunity to enroll into a deliberate selection of courses based on their PBLC. Guided Enrollment alleviates the pressure of finding spaces in courses and will set students on the best path to graduation.
Fall Courses for Food Futures
All students in Food Futures will have the opportunity to enroll in:
AHSS 180 (Food Futures Field Trips)
NAS 101 (Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Place-Based Learning)
ANTH 104 (Cultural Anthropology)
COMM 100, ENGL 102, or ENGL 104 (Fundamentals of Speech or Composition and Rhetoric)
These courses are selected in collaboration with the Food Futures faculty team and are relevant to Food Futures specific programming.
Spring Courses for Food Futures
All students in Food Futures will have the opportunity to enroll in:
- AHSS 180 (Food Futures Field Trips)
- ENST 295 (Power, Privilege and the Environment)
- MATH (dependent on preparedness)
Students will work with their advisor to fill out the rest of their spring schedule.
Meet Our Food Futures Faculty Coordinator
Cinthya Ammerman
Faculty Coordinator for Food Futures
pblc@humboldt.edu
(707) 826-5946
