Trent Research: Get Your Hands Dirty
At Trent you can grow your own understanding of sustainable agriculture and food. Our Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Program examines each of the links between farm and table, and their implications for people, the economy, and the planet. You will learn about the challenges and benefits of producing and distributing healthy, affordable food in sustainable ways, while preparing for a career in which you can really effect change.
Contribute to a growing field
Agriculture is an essential feature of the southern Ontario landscape, and continues to attract the attention of those interested in a viable rural economy or in the practice of food production. Food and agriculture have also gained widespread attention, and often controversy. The promise of sustainable agriculture; the environmental, social and ethical consequences of conventional agriculture; investment in industrial crops to supply fuel and materials; ongoing risks to food security and human health; demand for local food production in the context of global food trade; cultural and social critiques of our food system such as the Slow Food movement and advocacy of animal rights; growing interest in urban agriculture and in First Nations agriculture – these and other developments testify to how agriculture and food have become topics of discussion across Ontario and Canada. Internationally, agriculture and food encompass a similarly wide and diverse array of pressing issues.
Degree Options
The Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Program offers two degree options: an Honours B.Sc. in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Science, and an Honours B.A. in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Studies.
Courses for the Honours B.Sc. degree are organized in terms of the following three themes:
Please see our Degree Descriptions page for more detailed information about the SAFS B.Sc. degree.
Courses for the Honours B.A. degree are organized in terms of the following three themes:
Please see our Degree Descriptions page for more detailed information about the SAFS B.A. degree.
About Sustainable Agriculture at Trent
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems is a new program at Trent, but it builds on our university's strengths. These include:
The Sustainable Food Systems Sourcebook is a free database of degree programs, consultants, scholarships, funding, conferences, and other education and training resources for professionals and students focused on food systems work. It is published by the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems in collaboration with the North American Food Systems Network (NAFSN). The Lyson Center is a project of the Center for Transformative Action (a 501c3 nonprofit organization affiliated with Cornell University).
Contact Duncan Hilchey with any questions or comments.
Trent University: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (BS)
Trent Research: Get Your Hands Dirty