Breaking new ground in FGCU’s sustainability course offerings
- Laurie D. Babcock
- October 22, 2024
- Sustainability
- Contributors: Rendy Ramos, Video | Laurie Babcock, Photos
6 – minute read
Florida Gulf Coast University students in a “Farm-to-Table Sustainability” course recently took a field trip to the Southwest Florida Research & Education Center. Situated on 320 acres off State Highway 29, one mile north of Immokalee, the center’s 15 fields provided a bucolic backdrop for FGCU students to learn about precision agricultural engineering and farming best practices.
The “Farm-to-Table Sustainability” course is just one of eight classes now offered — in addition to “University Colloquium” — to fulfill FGCU’s sustainability course graduation requirement (SCGR). They span diverse disciplines, from construction management to digital media design, philosophy to real estate. The framework and guidelines for this initiative were developed over two years with extensive multidisciplinary contributions from several colleges, according to Dawn Kirby, associate provost for academic programs and curriculum development. She led the team that developed the course parameters and implemented the initiative.
“We surveyed students, faculty and staff,” she said. “About 67% said they wanted a menu of choices. Some wanted the sustainability course in their major field of study, and some wanted something outside their major.”
Colloquium itself has undergone changes in recent years, Kirby pointed out, adding social and economic sustainability to the curriculum to complement environmental sustainability. To meet the sustainability graduation requirement, each designated alternative course must teach at least two of the three types of sustainability. Faculty are being encouraged to continue developing new SCGR courses to meet the requirement, she said, and demonstrate that the university’s commitment to sustainability education extends beyond one class.
The “Farm-to-Table Sustainability” course aligns with this commitment, focusing on economic and environmental sustainability. Fritz Roka, a Lutgert College of Business associate professor and Center for Agribusiness director, teaches a section of the course, which counts as one of six required for agribusiness minors.
“We look at sustainability issues across the entire food-supply chain,” says Roka.
James Fraser, an instructor in the School of Resort & Hospitality Management, also teaches a section of the “Farm-to-Table Sustainability” course, which counts toward a concentration in food and beverage management under the resort and hospitality administration degree. The chef’s passion to cook for friends and family has taken him across three continents to seek out the best ingredients and techniques.
Fraser said the two sections of the course he and Roka teach are “the same ethos” from slightly different perspectives. Fraser focuses on asking, “Where does our food come from?” Roka poses the more agribusiness-focused question, “How do our plants get to the table?”
Their combined 40 students joined the field trip to the Southwest Florida Research & Education Center, where University of Florida faculty and staff conduct research. Their projects include researching citrus and vegetable horticulture, irrigation and water resource management, and precision agricultural engineering, among others.
As part of the tour, the group attended two presentations given by center staff on the benefits of integrating best management practices, new technologies and policies for Florida’s estimated 300 crops. They learned about the rewards and challenges farmers face in adopting conservation practices.
Students also discovered that microbes are vital to all soil health indicators, with one gram of soil — approximately the size of a quarter — containing around 1 billion microbes and 500,000 different species of bacteria. Since only 1% of soil microbes can be cultured in a lab, field studies are essential for comprehensive research.
“I didn’t realize how many microbes are in the soil,” said Cody Burky, an accounting major from Ave Maria.
After the classroom presentation, everyone piled aboard two tractors to tour the farm with center staff, including center director Michael Burton.
“We look at sustainability issues across the entire food-supply chain,” Roka said. One of those issues is citrus greening, a bacterial infection that can be deadly to citrus trees. The tour of the Immokalee farm highlighted research aimed at alleviating the adverse effects of citrus greening.
During the tour, Fraser underscored the economic significance of agriculture to Southwest Florida and the need for policies that recognize the importance of an integrated and sustainable agricultural business model. As the group passed by some of the precision agricultural technology used on the farm, Fraser inquired about the price tag on the equipment.
“That makes a very expensive tomato,” he quipped to his students.
“This class is way more fun [than my other classes],” said Alejandra Saucedo, a business major from Bolivia. She chose the course for the many field trips it offered — at least four excursions this semester.
By requiring every undergraduate student to take a class related to sustainability, regardless of their major, FGCU distinguishes itself from other universities. Blending hands-on learning with academic study, the new menu of courses enriches students’ understanding of ecological principles and reinforces FGCU’s commitment to a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to sustainability issues.
