Agricultural Practices and Impacts

Course Description

Developed in partnership with The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

This course will help you develop the historical context and critical thinking skills to identify and assess sustainable food production opportunities. You’ll explore how farming has evolved over thousands of years and review agriculture’s troubling ecological and human health impacts. You’ll learn about alternative agricultural strategies, such as organic, local, and regenerative farming practices that seek to avoid harming ecosystems and people. Finally, you’ll be introduced to the principles of life cycle assessment to compare the impacts of different agricultural products and systems. Throughout the course, instructional presentations and learning activities will emphasize how you can practice identifying key economic, environmental, and social impacts and weigh the tradeoffs between different farming practices.

Agricultural Practices and Impacts is one of three related courses comprising a series of skills related to Food Sustainability. These courses are part of a portfolio of Nutrition related micro-credentials.

Course Learning Objectives:

• Explain how industrialization transformed traditional agricultural practices.
• Identify the economic, environmental, and human health impacts of industrialized agriculture.
• Identify the benefits and limitations of alternative agricultural practices.
• Practice using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods to compare and evaluate agricultural products and practices.

Basic Enrollment Requirements:

None

Completion Requirements:

This course is online and self-paced. Learners who enroll for the course ahead of the course start date will be given access to the course on the listed start date. For learners who enroll after the listed start date, access to the course will be given within 72 hours of enrollment, please lookout for an email invite to the course content. Learners will receive 8 weeks to complete the course and upon successful completion receive a digital badge.

 

Food Sustainability: Agricultural Practices and Impacts awards 5.00 CPEUs in accordance with the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s CPEU Prior Approval Program.