project is summarized in Table 1 . Fig. 1. Potted ornamental plants for sale along a street in Dakar, Senegal. Fig. 2. Ornamental plantings at a hotel in Dakar, Senegal. Table 1. Proposed project schedule with deliverables for the curriculum development
I thank Chris Carlson for providing data on the curricular development process at Kent State Univ.-Salem.
As organic agriculture continues to grow, pressure from students and the public to develop novel curricula to address specific needs of this sector of agriculture also will increase. More students from the cities and with limited background in production agriculture are enrolling in agricultural programs with special interest in organic production. This new student population is demanding new curricula based on a better understanding of agroecology principles and more experiential training. Several universities throughout the nation have engaged in a profound curriculum transformation to satisfy the emerging need of students in organic production. This workshop was organized to bring together experts that are working on different organic and sustainable agriculture curricula throughout the country to share their experiences and lessons learned. Most of these curricula include a traditional classroom teaching component, a major experiential component, a student farm for hands-on experience and internships, and in some cases a marketing—typically a community supported agriculture (CSA)—component. Others programs are more extension oriented, providing applied training to growers outside of the university teaching curriculum.
This project directly addresses national food safety “priority issues”. Project design incorporates food safety and food chain security as focal points of educational efforts, then initiates practical, producer-level research, teaching, and extension whereby food handling and safety issues are addressed in a systems context. The overall Project goals are (1) to deliver information about Fresh Produce Food Safety (“FPFS”) programs and principles defined in the FDA Guide to fresh fruit and vegetable handlers in the Southeastern United States, (2) to provide hands-on individual state assistance with FPFS program implementation, and (3) to determine the influence of packing line procedures on the survival of foodborne pathogens. Part of the education envisioned under the new grant is introducing the concepts of recall and traceback. These concepts, proposed for incorporation into a new Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) act being discussed for adoption, possibly in 2006, essentially allows for the traceback of food to its point of origin. Osborne and others published a new protocol last month as “Model Recall Program for the Fresh Produce Industry” and want to help growers stay ahead of the curve on these issues. As a consequence of this project, the region's commercial fresh fruit and vegetable handlers will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to establish effective GAPs programs. Developing new GAPs programs to fit the specific needs of the packing and chain store operations in the Southeastern United States can significantly reduce the possibility of illness originating from Southeastern fresh fruit and vegetables. Delivering such programs will serve as a valuable training tool for fresh produce industries nationwide.
Abstract
The occupations rilled by students receiving a BS degree in Horticulture are many and varied. Of particular interest is the changing nature of these occupations in recent years. At one time, production oriented curricula sufficed for the vast majority of horticulture students. Today’s occupations, however, require a student to have a broad background in such areas as business, management, economics, education, and sociology. It is not rare in today’s agricultural job market to find employers who may wish to hire a horticulturist, but may relegate his knowledge of horticulture to a position secondary to that of business knowledge, or some other specialty. The changing nature of employment from the predominantly production oriented jobs of some years ago has also resulted in pressures upon the academic world to constantly re-evaluate horticulture curricula and re-tailor it to a rapidly changing job market.
How do you teach community supported agriculture (CSA) principles, small-scale organic farming, and local food issues at a major land grant university and develop related small-scale farming research and outreach? You create a place and opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to work together with the soil and plants to raise food in a non-classroom farm setting. After several years of discussion and obtaining funding, the Michigan State University (MSU) Student Organic Farm (SOF) CSA started in May 2003 with 25 memberships and increased to 50 after 1 year. The farm allows experiential learning of CSA management, crop selection, scheduling, maintenance, harvest, and organic farming methods. The CSA helps many MSU students and faculty see the value of supporting local organic food systems. With more than 3 years of experience working with students to run the SOF and the CSA, we are in the process of developing an organic farming certificate program. A total of 40 credits will include 12 months on campus plus a 16-week on-farm internship. The program has three major components: 1) organic farming courses with seven one-credit courses; 2) horticultural crop production courses with eight courses for a total of 15 credits; and 3) approximately 20 credits of experiential course work combined with classroom and independent learning.
Recipients of a monthly horticultural job opportunities newsletter and firms or organizations listing positions in the newsletter were surveyed to determine the perceived value of the newsletter as a job search and recruitment tool, respectively. Survey information was used to develop a profile of the individuals and organizations using the newsletter. Original position descriptions on which the briefer newsletter listings were based were used to develop a profile of the industry segment, degree and/or experience requirements, geographic location, and starting salaries and benefits of positions listed from January 1993 to December 1994. While the newsletter generated contact between prospective employees and employers, only 20% of the prospective employees received job offers by responding to newsletter listings. The newsletter was valued more by individual recipients as a job search tool than by institutional recipients or private industry as a recruitment tool. Starting salaries of listed positions were comparable to those previously reported in industry and academic surveys. Foreign language skills and previous work experience were requested more frequently than above-minimum (typically 2.00) grade point averages or completion of government or industry certification programs. Landscape-related disciplines constituted most BS or BA positions listed, whereas advanced degree positions were distributed more evenly over horticulture-related disciplines. Data supported the inclusion of internship programs and foreign language requirements in horticulture curricula.
preschoolers ( Midden and Chambers, 2000 ). Skelly and Zajicek (1998) reported an increase in positive environmental attitudes of second- and fourth-grade students participating in a garden-based curriculum. Because food is almost wholly derived, ultimately
and graduate programs based on this curriculum. Similarly, Yoo (2016) emphasized the necessity for professional curriculum development and continuous education to enhance job competency in South Korea. Horticultural therapists in South Korea are
indigenous Indonesian plant species have potential for development into horticultural crops. However, many of these species remain understudied and thus underused. The development of new horticultural crops in Indonesia is attractive for several reasons: 1