The Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Program at the University of
Missouri-Columbia may not be well-known outside the university but it does exist! Mary
Hendrickson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology serves as the
undergraduate advisor, 200B Gentry Hall, 573-882-7463. Students majoring in this program will
receive a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a transcript emphasis in Sustainable
Agriculture. The program generally has
about 25 majors and minors and features an introductory course and advanced
courses in food production and community food systems. The advanced production course is now team
taught by a group of interdisciplinary scientists, and utilizes a unique
teaching approach that poses farmer based dilemmas in managing soil, water,
energy and biodiversity on the farm.
Agriculture is the production
and processing of food for human consumption. Defining ‘sustainable agriculture’
to everyone’s satisfaction is very difficult. Sustainability adds the concept that the period of time for food
production is very long, possibly even endless—where resources such as soil,
water, and minerals are used judiciously, but not exhausted. There are areas in China where the
agriculture systems are 4,000 years old and still going. These food production
systems are far different than systems used here in the US. Truth is, US
systems are not sustainable at this time.
Teaching Sustainable Agriculture at the University focuses on balancing
tradeoffs between Farm Profitability, Environmental Soundness, and Societal
Wellbeing – or balancing tradeoffs between community, ecology and
economics. Important concepts
include: Utilization of sun-energy to
reduce dependence on other sources; conservation and protection of natural
resources (water, fossil fuels, etc.; soil health; concerns and contribution to
community; concerns for and elimination of environmental pollution, how society
has developed our current situations and how we can make adjustments; plus a
host of other situations which lead to unsustainability.
The Missouri Sustainable
Agriculture Program is still in its infancy. Classes were first held in 2006,
sparked by interest in MU Extension’s Community Food Systems and Sustainable
Agriculture Program and funded through a USDA grant. Many changes have occurred during the past 20
years and more are likely to come in the future. Next
month, look for profiles of Sustainable Ag Scholarship Winners!
Our thanks to Dr. Fred Martz, one of the originators of this program,
and to Dr. Jim Spain, who helped develop the original advanced production class
…Sustainable Living Steering Committee
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