Food is the great connector. Through food we connect to soil, rain, sunlight, farmers, animals, ranchers, and truckers. Through our food we are in relationship with immigrant farmworkers, family and faith traditions, grocery store clerks,
fossil fuels, agricultural policy, and the list goes on.
Consider the following: it takes 6.7 pounds of grains and
forage and 52.8 gallons of water to produce a single quarter pound hamburger (*). Nearly 15% of U.S. households struggle to put enough
food on the table (**). About half of all American children will receive
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at some point before
age 20. Among African-American children, 90 percent will enroll in SNAP before
age 20 (+).
how we grow and transport our food and who has access to healthy food have a
great deal to do with sustainability and environmental justice.
The Environmental Studies program and SU students have
developed an exciting urban farm project in Renton. Check out the video on this innovative urban agriculture project. Faculty member Rob Efird
engages his students in the Danny Woo garden in the International District.
The CEJS has supported Green Plate Special’s (GPS) work to educate middle-school
students on how to grow and cook their own food. CEJS interns put together a great video highlighting GPS's mission and work. See the video here!
Capper, Journal of Animal Science, December, 2011.
** "Household Food Security in United States, 2010." US Department Of
Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2011.
+ "Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment during
Childhood," Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Volume 163
(Number 11). November 2009.