“A new understanding and appreciation for the marvel of growing things”: exploring the college farm’s contribution to transformative learning

ABSTRACT

Campus farms and gardens can play a vital role in offering experiential and transformative learning opportunities for students in higher education. Many faculty believe that experiential education in food systems can establish students’ commitment to sustainability and social justice. In this paper, I evaluate the impact that experiential learning on a college farm has on achieving a course’s learning outcomes as well as the goal of encouraging students to transform the food system. Students in the course Food & Sustainability labored in the food system, and they recorded their activities and reflections in a farm journal. Using qualitative coding, I developed themes from their farm journals to determine if and how students achieved specific learning outcomes as well as transformative thinking. Analysis of their journals demonstrates that experiential learning augments theoretical learning, and it also includes unexpected benefits such as interpersonal connections with natural worlds and community. On the other hand, transformative thinking and action were more limited in students’ reflections, thus corroborating previous research on critical food literacy, food citizenship, and food justice studies. This study suggests that if faculty aim for transformative education, they must make transformation a specific learning outcome and integrate it into course requirements.

KEYWORDS:

• Pedagogy
• experiential education
• food systems
• food studies
• campus farms
• higher education
• sustainable agriculture

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Farm Manager Theresa Allen, Community Garden Managers Eddie Beach and Connie Beach, Ada Jenkins Food Pantry Manager Emilie Boyes, Director of Facilities David Holthouser, Facilities Business Director Leslie Urban, Assistant Director of Grounds Charles Jolly, Dining Services Director Dee Phillips, Davidson Town Planner Trey Akers, and Environmental Studies Professor David Martin for their collaboration. Their support and encouragement made this project possible.

Disclosure statement

Funding for the author’s postdoctoral position, including salary and support for research and teaching, were provided by the Duke Endowment, which also provided start-up funding and continued support for the Farm at Davidson College.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Duke Endowment.

Notes on contributors

Amanda S. Green

Amanda S. Green is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Eastern Kentucky University. She served as a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Studies at Davidson College from 2016-2018 where she taught courses in food and sustainability and supervised student research in food systems. At Davidson College and most recently at Eastern Kentucky University she examines student food insecurity and student food activism. In addition, she has researched and published on food sovereignty activism amongst Indigenous Sámi food organizers in Sweden.