Sustainability has become a priority for many University of Maryland students. Collectively, undergraduate students contribute more than $360,000 annually to the campus sustainability fund, and of the 87 minors offered on campus, Sustainability Studies is the most popular. Just about every school and college at the university offers courses in sustainability. The topics range from agriculture to urban development, from solar energy to German poets and environmentalists. With nearly 100 courses approved for the Sustainability Studies minor, students can become overwhelmed when trying to select which courses to take.
This Earth Month, the Office of Sustainability reached out through social media to the university’s 30,000 undergraduate students with this post: “Terps have a ton of fantastic sustainability classes to choose from! Which classes inspired YOU to help protect the Earth?” The Institute of Applied Agriculture’s sustainable agriculture course was voted a Top 10 course.
Created and taught by Meredith Epstein, INAG 123: People, Planet, and Profit: Digging Into Sustainable Agriculture, investigates the principles and practices of sustainable agriculture and their relationship to the greater food system. “We explore the social (people), environmental (planet), and economic (profit) impacts of agriculture – from challenges to opportunities. The course builds a foundational understanding in plant and animal science, soil science, economic trends, social issues, and more,” says Epstein, Senior Lecturer and Sustainable Agriculture Advisor at the IAA.
Epstein believes students like the class because it tackles real-world issues and, true to the IAA mission, gives students hands-on experience through activities in the Community Learning Garden and at Terp Farm. “Students often tell me that they feel personally connected to the course content,” says Epstein.
Based on anonymous course evaluations, students agree that the course provides hands-on learning:
- My favorite part about this course was the field trips, garden trips, and other active learning opportunities. I really enjoyed hearing the different perspectives from the farmers.
- I loved this class and I recommend it to everyone. I am not in this major but I loved taking this class. The trip that we take to the farms gave me hands-on experience and it also took me outside of the campus and showed me how real farms operate instead of learning everything from a book and lecture in the classroom.
From the student perspective, taking INAG 123 is equivalent to hitting a home run; with one class students hit four bases. This course satisfies a requirement for the Sustainability Studies minor, an I-series course, a Scholarship in Practice course, and the Sustainable Agriculture certificate. Epstein believes the course is beneficial to students interested in food and agriculture who are just beginning to study and explore this realm. But, she adds, it also benefits “experienced agriculturalists looking for new information and perspectives.”
Overall, she says, “Students should take this course if they want to change the food system starting from a nuts-and-bolts perspective of how it really works . . . or doesn't.”
Does Epstein have a favorite lesson in the class? Well, that’s like asking parents if they have a favorite child. Epstein likes all of the lessons; after all, she created them. “I've designed each lesson with students in mind! If any parts of my lesson plans don't seem to capture attention or leave students curious for more, I work on improving them until they do.”
If pressed to pick one lesson, Epstein says, “it would be the last one of the semester, when we bring everything we've discussed together and explore what a sustainable food future looks like.”
And what might the future look like for INAG 123 this fall? Epstein says she’ll be adding a new discussion, “We will be exploring the emerging controversy over meat substitutes as part of a more sustainable diet.”
Real life, real food, real concerns, real learning—that’s what makes INAG 123 a top-ranked sustainability course on UMD’s campus.
