Module 6: Crops part of Future of Food
Heather Karsten, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This module introduces students to key features of crop plants. The first part explores how climate and soil influence human selection of annual and perennial plants and how plant life cycles contribute to soil ...

Module 7: Soils and a Systems Approach to Soil Quality part of Future of Food
Heather Karsten, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This module introduces what is meant by soil quality or soil health, indicators of soil quality, and the multiple cropping system approaches that can enhance soil quality for agricultural production. In the first ...

Module 9: Climate Change part of Future of Food
Gigi Richard, Fort Lewis College
Module 9 is dedicated to climate change and explores the role that agriculture plays in human-induced climate change and the impacts that climate change may have on agriculture. In addition, adaptation strategies ...

Module 4: Food and Water part of Future of Food
Gigi Richard, Fort Lewis College
In this module, students will be introduced to the connections between water and agriculture. The first part of the module (4.1) explores how water is essential for growing food and how water is embedded in all of ...

Module 11: Human-Environment Interactions part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Module 11 focuses on the way that human-environment interactions in food systems respond to stress. Food production systems and food systems in general face adversity and must have sources of resilience to overcome ...

Module 10: Food Systems part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Module 10 continues the theme of human-environment interactions seen at a smaller scale with agroecosystems in Module 8, and develops the ideas of coupled human-natural systems (CHNS) begun at the beginning of the ...

Module 8: Pests and Integrated Pest Management part of Future of Food
Heather Karsten, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This module introduces three types of agricultural pests (insects, weeds, and pathogens), integrated pest management, and some of the transgenic crop technologies developed to reduce crop pests.

Module 5: Soils and Nutrients part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll
The purpose of this module is to give you as a learner a basic grounding in the nature of soils and soil nutrients. Module 5.1 provides the foundation for understanding soils, soil nutrients, and their connection ...

Module 2: History of Food Systems part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This second module in the Future of Food course provides a historical overview of the emergence and development of food systems until the present. Module 2.1, the first half of this module, describes the transition ...

Module 1: Introduction part of Future of Food
Steven Vanek, Pennsylvania State Univ-Penn St. Erie-Behrend Coll; Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
In the two introductory modules (1.1 and 1.2) of the course we will introduce the main theme of the course: learning about food systems as systems that combine human social systems, with the natural earth system ...