Program Learning Goals:
- Explain the basic human, socioeconomic and environmental dimensions of the American food system, and apply a systems approach to analyzing and interpreting contemporary food and agricultural issues, opportunities, problems, and trends.
- Evaluate the diversity of agricultural production paradigms, including sustainable agriculture, across multiple scales and geographies (from home to the community to industrial scales), and be able to defend and critique each using a variety of frameworks that address economic, environmental, and social justice impacts.
- Define the scope and significance of agricultural business in the global and local food system, and apply marketing channels, logistics, and strategies for getting agricultural products from producers to consumers.
- Acquire skills in research design, quantitative methods, and data analysis, applicable to a wide range of agricultural business and food systems careers.
- Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills and the ability to work in teams.
- Apply their knowledge, research skills, critical thinking skills, as well as qualitative and quantitative skills to solve problems, engage in an applied experiential internship or practicum opportunities, or plan a new business or social enterprise within the agricultural and food systems sector.