domestic

This course will review food systems frameworks and considerations, focusing on food supply chains (production systems, distribution, processing, and retail/markets). Concepts related to systems thinking will be applied to food systems, and discussion topics will include influences such as natural resources (water), innovation and technology, demographics (labor), and economics (price of food). The pre-departure course will include tours of Iowa food production to assist in comparing and contrasting regional food systems in Iowa and California.

Field to Fork on the Prairie takes students on a journey from production through the supply chain to the dinner table. On this trip, students will be exposed to the production and processing of sugar beets, sunflowers, potatoes, and dry beans/peas in eastern North Dakota, lentils and canola in western North Dakota, and irrigated wheat in South Dakota and Nebraska. They will also experience rangeland management in North and South Dakota.