Students Creating Curriculum Change: Sustainable Agriculture and Social Justice

As the sustainable agriculture movement in the U.S. evolves, it faces the challenges of integration and inclusivity. Including social justice questions within sustainable agriculture education facilitates broader discussions about inequality and who benefits from this education and its practice. In this article, we present a case study in which we share our process and lessons learned from our student-led effort to integrate social justice work within the sustainable agriculture graduate curriculum at a Midwest public land-grant university. We analyze different sources and data to discuss: a) how students’ efforts can lead to curriculum development, change, and implementation; b) how integrating social justice within sustainable agriculture curricula can fulfill existing gaps in content and pedagogy; and c) professional and personal lessons learned from this process. Conclusions and recommendations center on how programs undergoing or considering embarking on similar endeavors can learn from our efforts.