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Community-Campus Collaborations for Food Justice: Strategy, Successes and Challenges at a Teaching-Focused College

Author

Listed:
  • Swords, Alicia
  • Frith, Amy
  • Lapp, Julia

Abstract

Community-campus engagement in higher edu­cation provides educational experiences for students to grapple with complex, real-world problems, including the lack of equitable access to healthy food for all. In this reflective essay, three faculty members of a teaching-focused college report and reflect on the benefits and challenges of community-campus engagement through a food justice education action research project called Food Dignity, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Achievements included developing a curricular approach, preparing students for com­munity partnerships and community-based research, strengthening institutional commitment to community-campus engagement, and establish­ing community and institutional networks. Out­comes include that student participants revised their values and attitudes about the food system and their ability to change it. We discuss challenges, including academic supremacy and unequal power relations, and offer recommendations for future community-campus food justice initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Swords, Alicia & Frith, Amy & Lapp, Julia, 2019. "Community-Campus Collaborations for Food Justice: Strategy, Successes and Challenges at a Teaching-Focused College," Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Center for Transformative Action, Cornell University, vol. 8(A).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:joafsc:359992
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gray, Leslie & Johnson, Joanna & Latham, Nicole & Tang, Michelle & Thomas, Ann, 2012. "Critical Reflections on Experiential Learning for Food Justice," Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Center for Transformative Action, Cornell University, vol. 2(3).
    2. Ryan Galt & Damian Parr & Julia Van Soelen Kim & Jessica Beckett & Maggie Lickter & Heidi Ballard, 2013. "Transformative food systems education in a land-grant college of agriculture: the importance of learner-centered inquiries," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(1), pages 129-142, March.
    3. Charles Levkoe, 2006. "Learning Democracy Through Food Justice Movements," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(1), pages 89-98, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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