PLAINFIELD, Vt. – Goddard College is excited to announce its new partnership with the Institute for Food and Development Policy, better known as Food First.
Founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, the California-based nonprofit describes itself as a “people’s think tank” dedicated to ending the injustices that cause hunger and to helping communities take back control of their food systems through research, education and action.
The organization sponsors 10-day educational tours, called Food Sovereignty Tours, that take travelers to international destinations to experience local food systems and the food sovereignty movement first-hand. On each tour, local hosts provide an overview of their country’s history, culture, politics, ecology and agriculture. Tours also meet with specialists to provide background on specific topics relating to the tour’s theme; they currently travel to places such as Cuba, Italy and the Basque country of Spain to study organic agriculture, the solidarity economy, worker co-operatives, sustainability and more.
Food Sovereignty Tour participants can now earn three undergraduate credits upon enrollment at Goddard College. Current Goddard undergraduate students can also take part in Food Sovereignty Tours and earn credits toward graduation.
“Food Sovereignty Tours represent the Goddard educational philosophy of bringing intellectual knowledge into social action to change ourselves and the world,” said Eva Swidler, a faculty member in Goddard’s Undergraduate Program who advises students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability.
For details on the Goddard/Food First partnership, click here.
About Food First
The mission of the Institute for Food and Development Policy, better known as Food First, is to end the injustices that cause hunger. Food First envisions a world in which all people have access to healthy, ecologically produced, and culturally appropriate food. After 40 years of analysis of the global food system, we know that making this vision a reality involves more than technical solutions—it requires political transformation. That’s why Food First supports activists, social movements, alliances, and coalitions working for systemic change. Our work—including action-oriented research, publications, projects and Food Sovereignty Tours—gives you the tools to understand the global challenges, build your local movement, and engage with the global movement for food sovereignty.
About Goddard College
Goddard College is a liberal arts institution offering low-residency bachelor’s and master’s degrees from its campus in Plainfield, Vermont, and its educational sites in Port Townsend and Seattle, Washington. Constituted according to the ideals of democracy and principles of progressive education developed by John Dewey, Goddard’s curriculum is centered in the problems of choosing and deciding—students decide their areas of study, they determine which resources they will use, and they devise how they will measure what they learn. The College was founded in 1863 and moved to its Plainfield campus in 1938. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., through the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. Visit goddard.edu.
