Farm to Table

Students will learn about the coevolution of humans and their foodstuffs and and spread of plants and animals throughout Eurasia, and the major transformations of food through cooking/fermenting.  We will examine the botany of vegetables, fruits, seed grains and legumes that constitute most of the global food supply and their domestication by humans.  We will introduce the concept of food systems and examine conventional and alternative agricultural practices.  Hands-on experiences in food and agriculture, such as gleaning with the Thurston County Food Bank, will complement lectures and workshops.  Food labs will take place in the Sustainable Agriculture Lab on the Evergreen Organic Farm. Seminar books may include Nabhan's Where Your Food Comes From, Silvertown's Dinner with Darwin: Food, Drink and Evolution, Holt-Gimenez's A Foodie's Guide to Capitalism and Montgomery's Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations .