Food Security at Monmouth College

Food Security An Interdisciplinary Approach to the World Hunger Challenge

Monmouth COLLEGE 速

Will the Midwest Hold the Key to Solving Hunger?

Food for Thought E stablished in 2013, Monmouth College’s Food Security program is the first multidisciplinary academic venture to emerge from the college’s innovative Triads for Excellence initiative, under which a team of three faculty members from different disciplines is hired to teach, conduct research and raise awareness about an important topical issue of regional, national or international interest.

Consistent with Monmouth’s liberal arts focus, the program takes a “bigpicture” view of issues concerning the production and distribution of food, which is quickly emerging as one of the most critical and often controversial topics of our generation.

Food security, which was defined by the 1996 World Food Summit as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life,” will require expertise and resources from a broad range of academic disciplines if it is to be achieved.

Interdisciplinary Faculty Support The Food Security program is being led by a trio of new faculty members from the disciplines of Economics, Biology and Anthropology/Sociology and augmented by existing faculty from a variety of departments. Examples of multidisciplinary study associated with food security include: • Economics—Logistical issues with food distribution; impact of government subsidies on farming and biofuels; role of commodity markets on food production.

• Biology—Optimizing the conversion of sunlight into food energy; the nature and implications of genetic modifications of plants; advantages and hazards associated with agrichemicals.

• Anthropology/Sociology—Food as an expression of culture; examination of demographic shifts, changing social mores and practices, and social movements.

Food security has emerged as one of the most critical and often controversial topics of our generation.

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ood Security issues, because of their complexity, do not conform to traditional academic categories. Real progress requires a new level of collaboration among faculty and students in the full range of disciplines on campus.

Students cultivate a row of squash in the Monmouth College research farm, under development just east of campus.

While the proportion of undernourished people globally decreased from 23.2 percent in 1990-92 to 14.9 percent in 2010-12, this still leaves 870 million people—one in eight worldwide—going hungry.

Select Food Security Courses

Food Security Careers

Anthropology 288 – Anthropology of Food Biochemistry 201 – Nutrition Biology 155 – Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity Biology 201 – Field Botany Biology 307 – Ecology Biology 315 – Conservation Biology Chemistry 101 – Nutrition and Food Chemistry Economics 360 – International Trade and Finance Economics 380 – Environmental Economics Environmental Science 103 – Intro to Environmental Science History 120 – Culture and Cuisine: A Social History of Taste History 220 – From Apple Pie to Zabaglione: A World History of Food Integrated Studies 203 – Food Integrated Studies 414 – Land, Food, and Sustainable Agriculture

Agribusiness Anthropologist Biotechnologist Chemist Conservationist Economist Educator Genetic Researcher Health and Medicine NGOs Nutritionist Renewable Energy Engineer Translator Transportation Specialist

The Mississippi River, located 15 miles west of Monmouth, is a primary conduit for U.S. grain exports, conveyed by barges to export terminals in the Gulf of Mexico.

Monmouth is uniquely suited geographically for discussions of food production and distribution.

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onmouth College’s geographic location is uniquely suited for discussions of food production and distribution. Surrounded by prime farmland—its rich soil deposited millennia ago by glaciers—Monmouth lies in the heart of a productive agricultural region.

Local food-related industries include a pork processing plant that ships 780 million pounds annually and a 480acre Monsanto research farm. Nearby transportation hubs include the massive Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad

classification yard at Galesburg and the Mississippi River, upon which 60 percent of U.S. grain exports travel by barge.

The Monsanto Learning Center near Monmouth showcases new developments in the sometimes controversial field of genetic plant engineering.

Program Goals •

Conduct and publish original research and scholarship that responds to the global challenge of hunger.

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Utilize the most current knowledge and most powerful research approaches in each of the participating disciplines while crossing disciplinary boundaries and mixing disciplinary knowledge and approaches.

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Develop passion and skill within Monmouth students who take courses within the Food Security program and work with faculty members on original research, analysis, and scholarship.

Facilities

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erving as the intellectual hub for the Food Security program is Monmouth College’s newly completed $40 million Center for Science and Business. Designed to encourage collaboration among students and faculty from traditionally separate disciplines in the configuration of the offices, classrooms, and laboratories, the 138,000-square foot building features state-of-the-art educational technology in all classrooms, a nutrition laboratory, an herbarium and greenhouse, an

active learning-enhanced room in the Accounting Department, and a Moot Board Room.

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he Monmouth College Educational Garden and Theme House, located on the eastern perimeter of campus, uses sustainable gardening techniques to produce a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, as well as honey. Originally developed through an EPA grant, the garden seeks to address the environmental issue of the impact of agricultural practices upon the

Monmouth College’s new Center for Science and Business houses the sciences, business and accounting in a uniquely collaborative environment.

Potential Areas of Research • • • • •

Economic Analysis Agricultural Sustainability Genetic Modification Historical/Cultural Significance of Food Ethics of Herbicide/Pesticide Application

Participation Eligibility All students are eligible to participate in the Food Security Initiative, regardless of their major or year at Monmouth. Students will complete a major in any of our 35 majors adding Food Security Courses and Research Experiences as a focal point of their studies. Students participating will take a series of courses in the sciences, social sciences, or humanities worked out in consultation with their academic adviser to fit their academic program.

environment, with focus upon sustainable, small and medium-scale farming methods and garden cultivation, the environmental benefits of local production and consumption of food stuffs, and the connection between sustainable, environmentally-friendly, locally-consumed produce and good nutrition.

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nder ongoing development is a 6-acre Research Farm near campus that will allow students to study such concepts as crop rotation, income, work force, conservation and infrastructure.

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he LeSuer Nature Preserve, a short 15-minute walk from campus, is used for field studies, course projects, and senior research. Several acres have been restored to native prairie and a large stream bisects the area. Riparian and flood plain forest also offer abundant opportunities for research in the expanding field of ecological restoration.

The college also maintains a small, freshwater pond and a one-acre native prairie plot for field projects.

Funding for this brochure provided by

Midwest Bank of Western Illinois Founding Sponsor of Monmouth College’s Midwest Matters Initiative

Member FDIC

“Monmouth College, already a leader in Midwestern studies, is now providing the same kind of leadership on one of the most important issues of our time, food security. This is an area of much debate, controversy and even misinformation, and Monmouth’s multi-pronged approach promises to provide the kind of research, thought and analysis that the subject needs.”

RICHARD C. LONGWORTH Senior Fellow, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Monmouth College Graduates Active in Food Security Fields R. David Jones, Ph.D., ’82 Agronomist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

James Mock, Ph.D., ’65 Co-founder, CropVerifeye.com (first field-to-food data and process tracking system)

Danielle Nierenberg ’95 Food Activist / Co-founder, Food Tank

Dennis Plummer ’73 Co-founder and Exec. Vice President, Arvegenix LLC

Robert G. Riley Jr. ’70 President & CEO, Food Energy Co.

Wendell Shauman, Ph.D., ’67 Danielle Nierenberg ’95, an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues, speaks at a Monmouth College symposium on world hunger.

Past Chairman, U.S. Grains Council

R. Eugene Turner, Ph.D. ’67 Aquatic Biologist, Louisiana State University

Wendell Shauman ’67, a nationally known agribusinessman, holds a Ph.D. in quantitative genetics from the University of Nebraska.

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Monmouth College admits students of any race, color, religion, sex, national or ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to Monmouth students.

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