IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p5906-d1688422.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Food Systems in the Curriculum of American Undergraduate Sustainability and Environmental Science/Studies Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Kantenbacher

    (Department of Sustainability & Environment, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA)

  • Ethan Strom

    (Department of Sustainability & Environment, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA)

  • Vivian Omondi

    (Department of Sustainability & Environment, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA)

  • Sharad Chowdhury

    (Department of Sustainability & Environment, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA)

  • Sonja Braucht

    (Department of Sustainability & Environment, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA)

Abstract

Food systems are crucial components of sustainable development challenges, from hunger to climate change to responsible patterns of production and consumption. Students in environmental degree programs would be better equipped to contribute to sustainability solutions, with insight into the production, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal of food. In this paper, we aim to understand how sustainability and environmentally oriented programs (SEOPs) in American higher education institutions are preparing students to understand food systems, examining how frequently food systems classes are present in their curricula. Our study cataloged the curricular offerings and requirements of 449 undergraduate SEOPs in the United States for the 2024–2025 academic year. We find that 44% of SEOPs include food systems courses as electives in their programs of study, but only 9% make a food systems course a requirement. These findings suggest that food systems awareness may be deficient in college-trained sustainable development workers, potentially impeding efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. This study offers a method for assessing the curricular integration of food systems content and provides a benchmark for those aiming to align academic programs with global sustainability targets. Integrating food systems courses into SEOP curricula can improve preparation for addressing interconnected sustainability challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Kantenbacher & Ethan Strom & Vivian Omondi & Sharad Chowdhury & Sonja Braucht, 2025. "Food Systems in the Curriculum of American Undergraduate Sustainability and Environmental Science/Studies Programs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-12, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5906-:d:1688422
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5906/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5906/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fanzo, Jessica & Haddad, Lawrence & Schneider, Kate R. & Béné, Christophe & Covic, Namukolo M. & Guarin, Alejandro & Herforth, Anna W. & Herrero, Mario & Sumaila, U. Rashid & Aburto, Nancy J. & Amuyun, 2021. "Viewpoint: Rigorous monitoring is necessary to guide food system transformation in the countdown to the 2030 global goals," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    2. repec:sae:envval:v:22:y:2013:i:4:p:483-502 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Hilmers, A. & Hilmers, D.C. & Dave, J., 2012. "Neighborhood disparities in access to healthy foods and their effects on environmental justice," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(9), pages 1644-1654.
    4. Molly Anderson, 2008. "Rights-based food systems and the goals of food systems reform," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(4), pages 593-608, December.
    5. Mantoura Nakad & Linda Gardelle & Rami J. Abboud, 2024. "A Systematic Review of the Different Methods Assessing Sustainability Integration in Engineering Curricula," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-24, May.
    6. Alam, Md Fahim Bin & Tushar, Saifur Rahman & Ahmed, Tazim & Karmaker, Chitra Lekha & Bari, A.B.M. Mainul & de Jesus Pacheco, Diego Augusto & Nayyar, Anand & Islam, Abu Reza Md Towfiqul, 2024. "Analysis of the enablers to deal with the ripple effect in food grain supply chains under disruption: Implications for food security and sustainability," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    2. Sini Forssell & Leena Lankoski, 2015. "The sustainability promise of alternative food networks: an examination through “alternative” characteristics," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(1), pages 63-75, March.
    3. Henrik Haller & Anna-Sara Fagerholm & Peter Carlsson & Wilhelm Skoglund & Paul van den Brink & Itai Danielski & Kristina Brink & Murat Mirata & Oskar Englund, 2022. "Towards a Resilient and Resource-Efficient Local Food System Based on Industrial Symbiosis in Härnösand: A Swedish Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Mantoura Nakad & Linda Gardelle & Rami J. Abboud, 2025. "Stimulating Engineering Students’ Potential for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Shan Zhou & Douglas S. Noonan, 2019. "Justice Implications of Clean Energy Policies and Programs in the United States: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Kristie S. Gutierrez & Catherine E. LePrevost, 2016. "Climate Justice in Rural Southeastern United States: A Review of Climate Change Impacts and Effects on Human Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, February.
    7. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7po41o0s2r8a280jp65ahvu46k is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Giuseppe Craparo & Elisa Isabel Cano Montero & Jesús Fernando Santos Peñalver, 2024. "Trends in the circular economy applied to the agricultural sector in the framework of the SDGs," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 26699-26729, October.
    9. Shervin Assari & Maryam Moghani Lankarani, 2018. "Educational Attainment Promotes Fruit and Vegetable Intake for Whites but Not Blacks," J, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, June.
    10. Wu, Qiyan & Zhang, Xiaoling & Liu, Chunhui & Chen, Zhou, 2018. "The de-industrialization, re-suburbanization and health risks of brownfield land reuse: Case study of a toxic soil event in Changzhou, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 187-194.
    11. Hales, Jan & Kemper, Joya & White, Samantha K. & Veer, Ekant, 2024. "Reflections on food policy in the context of healthy and sustainable diets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Mengfei Chen & Mohamed Kharbeche & Mohamed Haouari & Weihong Grace Guo, 2024. "A simulation-optimization framework for food supply chain network design to ensure food accessibility under uncertainty," Papers 2406.04439, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    13. Saisai Wu & Lang Qin & Chen Shen & Xiangyang Zhou & Jianzhai Wu, 2022. "Food Retail Network Spatial Matching and Urban Planning Policy Implications: The Case of Beijing, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-19, May.
    14. Jeremy Mennis & Gerald J. Stahler & Michael J. Mason, 2016. "Risky Substance Use Environments and Addiction: A New Frontier for Environmental Justice Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Young, Jeffrey S. & Binkley, James K., 2020. "Low Income and Access to Healthy Food: The Case of Milk," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304539, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Olaf Erenstein & Moti Jaleta & Kai Sonder & Khondoker Mottaleb & B.M. Prasanna, 2022. "Global maize production, consumption and trade: trends and R&D implications," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1295-1319, October.
    17. Merin Oleschuk, 2024. "Expanding the joys of cooking: How class shapes the emotional experience of family foodwork," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 885-902, May.
    18. Julia Behringer & Peter H. Feindt, 2019. "How Shall We Judge Agri-Food Governance? Legitimacy Constructions in Food Democracy and Co-Regulation Discourses," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 119-130.
    19. Leng, Ganxiao & Filipski, Mateusz J. & Qiu, Huanguang, 2022. "Impacts of City Life on Nutrition: Evidence from Resettlement Lotteries in China," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 322130, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Tyler Andrew Scott & Nicola Ulibarri & Omar Perez Figueroa, 2020. "NEPA and National Trends in Federal Infrastructure Siting in the United States," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(5), pages 605-633, September.
    21. S. Duygu Sever & Evren Tok & Abdel Latif Sellami, 2025. "Sustainable Development Goals in a Transforming World: Understanding the Dynamics of Localization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-26, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5906-:d:1688422. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.