Conventional agriculture is responsible for almost a quarter of the global greenhouse emissions. These emissions are primarily caused by deforestation, emissions from livestock, and improper soil nutrient management. The term “sustainable agriculture” was defined in 1977 by the USDA as an integrated system of environmentally-friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock in a manner that prevents adverse effects to soil, water, biodiversity, surrounding or downstream resources—as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. The goal of sustainable agriculture is to meet society’s food and textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Regenerative agriculture aims to improve and/or regenerate a healthier environment and ensure economic sustainability. Regenerative agriculture improves soil health, reduces erosion, and preserves soil biodiversity while increasing disease resistance.
The sustainable food sector refers to food that is locally grown, sustainably produced, fresher, more nutritious, better tasting, travels fewer miles and causes fewer carbon emissions. It encompasses all aspects of local, urban, and organic food production. Changes in consumer demand for food, food experience, food security, eating habits and lifestyles have opened the door to a host of economic and agricultural career opportunities for those who grow, package, market and distribute high-profit specialty and artisanal items.
Community colleges can be part of the framework needed to grow, harvest, transport, market, sell, prepare, and serve healthy, locally grown, sustainable food. Community colleges should offer programs on sustainable agriculture principles for rural and urban farmers as well as career pathway education for food entrepreneurs and food processors.
The National Green Jobs Advisory Council DEI Rubric seeks to support the intentional development of equitable, diverse, and inclusive (DEI) workforce training materials. The tool is not exhaustive but rather is designed to help guide and focus content development around best practices in DEI. Many of the suggested guidelines adopt a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and are effective teaching and learning practices.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Strategic Plan Fiscal Year 2022-2026 outlines goals and planned actions that the USDA is undertaking to improve its diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). While the plan guides actions within the USDA, other organizations can model their own DEIA strategies from these overarching goals and breakdowns of actions to achieve each goal.
Resilient Farmers, Ranchers and Communities: Social Sustainability in Agriculture publications SARE explains the need to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in farming operations. It also describes how the farm operation is interconnected with its surrounding communities, and how the health and sustainability of one will influence the other. It emphasizes strategies to help create long-term plans that will build a farm’s health and sustainability throughout generations. The publication also includes outside resources and organizations on the last page to help support improving DEI and social sustainability in agriculture.
Insights on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: The Nature Conservancy’s Regenerative Row Crop Strategy Report prepared for The Nature Conservancy provides recommendations and case studies of organizations, industry leaders, and TNC project teams that have successfully implemented DEI strategies.
Diversity and Inclusion in Agriculture: The Case for Missouri Latino Farmers and Ranchers discusses the increased diversity of agriculture, where diversity is lacking, and how diversity can be improved, specifically by attracting Latino farmers.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Agriculture: Ideas for Improvement is a webinar by Agri-Pulse (an agricultural industry news source) on advancing DEI in agriculture.
Farmers for Climate Solutions’ (FCS) mission is to advance policies and programming that support farmers to reduce emissions and build resilience in the face of climate change, and we are committed to ensuring that all our policy and program proposals acknowledge and serve the diversity within our sector.
Diversity in Agriculture is a series of reports, guides, resources, and funding opportunities (for New York State) to increase diversity in agriculture.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) provides many free videos, books, guides, curricular materials, and more on its website that cover sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
This open-source curricular resource is one of many free materials on Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) website. The Special Projects Initiative Curriculum educates students on value-added agriculture. Other resources found on the site to supplement curricula include information on agricultural commodities, business development, the food industry, biodiesel, and links to other organizations with open source resources.
The Interdisciplinary Teaching About Earth for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) has numerous college-level courses, modules, and other open-source curricular materials covering natural resource sustainability. These vary from materials for a few class hours, to full 14-16 week courses.
The USDA provides free curricula and learning resources aimed towards a youth audience. These resources may be supplemented by the sustainable agriculture scholarly articles provided in its National Agriculture Library and its conservation information provided at farmers.gov to be more suitable for a community college audience.
Open Source Curricula and Curriculum Partnerships from the University of Wisconsin contains Toward a Sustainable Agriculture curriculum developed by the University of Wisconsin and links to its partner organizations that provide a variety of curricula for high school through university level students.
As the Sustainability, Education and Economic Development (SEED) Center is a FREE initiative offered by the National Council for Workforce Education, we strive to provide our users with up-to-date information and materials. We encourage you to submit resources or open-source curriculum for possible posting on the SEED Center website.
Note: SEED is managed by a team of higher education experts who vet and curate resources and curriculum. Thus, not all submitted materials will appear on the website.
2023 SEED Center website updates funded by Lumina Foundation
©The SEED Center 2024
