Understand the dynamics of the global food system local contexts, exploring agriculture, food justice, global markets and exchange, sustainability, and social change.
16
None
English
early February – late May
Ecuador, Malawi, Spain, United States
USA, Ecuador, Malawi, Spain
Climate & Environment
Development & Inequality
Rising global temperatures and growing populations are straining food availability and access. Journey from Georgia in the United States to Ecuador, Spain, and Malawi, as you study how food production, distribution, and consumption are affected by climate change, global trade, and historic inequalities. Learn from farmers, fishers, herders, scientists, activists, and policy experts about livelihoods and food production, government programs, and innovative food safety and trade regulations. See the work of the University of Georgia’s top-ranked school of agriculture and compare it to small, organic, cooperative farms in other countries. Live with a farming family in Malawi, tour major production hubs while exploring the biodiversity of Ecuador, and examine the complexity and disparity of feeding cities when tradition meets vanguard cuisine in Spain. Across continents, explore the importance of celebrating food and examine gastronomy as a key driver of economic growth. Uncover solutions that offer the most promise for sustainable food futures at local, national, and global levels.
Explore a Day in the Life of an IHP student!
Photos on this page may depict program sites from previous semesters. Please view the Program Sites section of this page to see where this program will travel.
None
(10 days)
Study the history of plantation agriculture in the U.S. South as a global phenomenon and understand its transformation into today’s industrial agricultural complex. Starting in Atlanta, the historic center of U.S. civil rights activism, explore resistance and alternative food movements in an urban context. Travel on to Athens, Georgia, to tour a top-ranked school of agriculture to understand innovative breeding and growing techniques as well as using food crops for cultural preservation. Then head north into the Appalachian region, visiting a fourth-generation apple orchard long committed to building strong rural communities.
(4+ weeks)
One of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Ecuador is home to four distinct ecological zones: the Pacific coast, the Andes Highlands, the Amazon rainforest, and the Galapagos. This diverse territory represents both diverse populations and foods. Explore Quito’s urban agriculture program, born in response to increasing food insecurity in the poorest areas of the city. Trek south through the stunning Andes, passing through Machachi, Lasso, and Cotopaxi to learn from farmers and local communities about varied models of agricultural production and how food affects their livelihoods. Then travel to the northern part of the country to learn about different development landscapes through Indigenous perspectives and how food is intertwined with their livelihoods, culture, water and health.
(4+ weeks)
Explore perspectives on food insecurity from farmers and local leaders in Lilongwe, comparing the efforts to increase yields through conventional agricultural subsidies to improvements in food sovereignty and nutritional security via alternatives such as permaculture. Visit the shores of Lake Malawi, examining the possibilities of large-scale irrigation and fisheries projects. Journey south to rural communities near Ntcheu and live with smallholder farming families while studying the effects of cultural traditions, climate change, drought, ecology, migration, and international aid regimes on agricultural histories and futures for Malawi and the region.
(4+ weeks)
Join the Barcelona Urban Research Institute (IDRA) and its impressive network on a journey to explore Catalonia’s agri-food model. As you navigate this iconic Mediterranean region, discover the intricacies of local fisheries and public markets, uncover the environmental and social impacts of the pig industry, and scrutinize the global agri-food regime while exploring potential alternatives.
Encounter grassroots initiatives and local farmers involved in regenerative and adaptive agriculture, contributing to the development of food sovereignty. Engage in discussions about land and labor, the proliferation of cheap food, knowledge displacement, and rediscover forgotten recipes.
Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.
The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.
Politics, Identity, and Food – syllabus
(ANTH3010 / 4 credits)
This course will help you to understand how access to food, eating habits, choices, and the pleasures and processes of food consumption often reveal distinctions of age, gender, status, class, occupation, ethnicity, and religion—within and among cultures. Explore the role food plays in people’s lives, including and in addition to nutrition, and how urbanization and globalization are changing relationships between people, their environments, production and distribution chains, and therefore relationships with food itself. Identity how development, food demand, and distribution systems shape each other, and learn about how access to food, along with strategies for health and nutrition, are culturally determined.
Getting from Field to Fork – syllabus
(ECON3010 / 4 credits)
This course examines the most effective economic development strategies for increasing food security among the most vulnerable food producers and consumers, how to increase efficiencies and reduce waste in existing processing and distribution chains to ensure more equitable access, and how to develop sustainable food systems for rapidly growing urban populations. Explore how international trade and regulatory frameworks affect food production and distribution chains, analyzing how these frameworks can contribute to global food security, as well as how income inequality—at local, national and global scales—affect nutrition and health, and what strategies can be most effective in reducing disparities. This course allows you to investigate the role migration plays in food production and consumption in diverse communities, and how access to information (including digital technology) can improve efficiency of both food production and distribution systems.
Agriculture, Ecology, and Sustainable Futures – syllabus
(ENVI3010 / 4 credits)
This course analyzes how to reach food security objectives while taking into account local and global environmental imperatives and realities. Explore the prospects of currently prevailing agricultural models and what solutions they offer, as well as alternative models—including ecologically integrated methods and scales. There is emphasis on what roles science, technology, and innovation will play in creating a more food secure world, and how global climate change affects and will continue to affect local environments—creating new threats, weaknesses, and opportunities for shifting priorities. Look into possible systems and tools to empower local food producers to promote productivity and ecological health, and examine how urban agriculture and other innovations can contribute to local food security in our rapidly urbanizing world.
People, Ethics, and Food Security – syllabus
(POLI3010 / 4 credits)
This course explores questions related to land rights, income distribution and inequality, food distribution systems, government regulation, the role of international organizations, and policy crafting as they relate to food and food security. More specifically, learn how to define food security at local, national and global scales, and how different conceptions determine varied approaches. You will also discuss how land rights and livelihoods can be balanced with rising global pressures around food security, and how income distribution and inequality affect hunger, food production, and development. The course deeply examines how governments, NGOs, research institutes, and UN bodies, among others, can help develop global solutions to ensure food accessibility for urban and rural communities. These complex topics will help you build a rich understanding of food security issues in an increasingly globalized and urbanized world.
Student accommodations will include a mix of homestays, hostels, guesthouses, and small hotels/dorms. Students will experience homestays and will be oriented as they move from place to place. Students should expect a mix of double and small-group housing arrangements.
More About Homestay Experiences:
Family structures will vary. For example, a host family may include a single mother of two small children, or a large extended family with many people coming and going. Please bear in mind that the idea of what constitutes a “home” (i.e., the physical nature of the house) may be different from what you would expect. You will need to be prepared to adapt to a new life with a new diet, a new schedule, new people, and possibly new priorities and expectations.
In most cases, students will be placed in homestays in pairs, with placements made to best accommodate health concerns, including allergies or dietary needs. Information about homestay families will only be available upon arriving in each country.
Relevant career paths include:
Agriculture and food production
Nonprofit management
Government
International development
Sustainability and climate change
The faculty/staff team shown on this page is a sample of the individuals who may lead your specific program. Faculty and coordinators are subject to change to accommodate each program’s unique schedule and locations.
SIT Study Abroad is committed to making international education accessible to all students. Scholarship awards generally range from $500 to $5,000 for semester programs and $500 to $3,000 for summer programs. This year, SIT will award nearly 1 million in scholarships and grants to SIT Study Abroad students.
See Full Breakdown
Check out SIT students visiting with one of our Malawi partner organizations — with thanks to Permaculture Paradise Institute!
Take a sneak speak into our IHP Food Systems program with Academic Director Joe Lanning as he discusses examining the dynamics of local food systems in a global context in four unique countries.
