Campus Foodscapes as Sites of Transformation: Mapping Policy and Projects in US Universities Envisioning Just, Sustainable, and Healthy Food Systems
Author: Sophie Lamond, sophie.lamond@unimelb.edu.au
Department: Melbourne Law School
University: University of Melbourne, Australia
Supervisor: Christine Parker
Year of completion: 2022
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
Food Systems
, Higher Education
, Foodscapes
, Social Movements
Areas of Research:
Agriculture and Food
, Education
, Institutional Ethnography
Abstract
Many North American universities are actively working to transform their campuses, expanding beyond their traditional missions of teaching and research. Through programming, curriculum, research and community organising as well as procurement and infrastructure, university staff and students are working together to create policies and projects for just and sustainable food system transitions.
Drawing on fieldwork and interviews across eleven US institutions and their campus foodscapes this research presents insights into the emergence of policies, projects, and protest to envision and enact more just, sustainable and healthy food futures. It looks at drivers and barriers to change as well as power dynamics in this complex ecosystem. Results are presented as analysis and as maps of campus and higher education foodscapes which include activities, policies and stakeholders as well as vignettes of exemplar projects and considerations of the impact of corporate influence in educational settings.
