Teaching about Diversity and Racism in Food Systems: An Example for Agricultural Economics and Related Departments

This paper presents curriculum and metrics for a course titled “U.S. Food, Social Equity & Development”, taught since 2015. The course meets a race and racism diversity course requirement at the University of Vermont. Departments affiliated with AAEA have an obligation to teach and inform our students about racism in the food system: individual and systemic, intended and unintended, institutional and structural. This has been reinforced by the June 3, 2020, AAEA statement condemning racially motivated acts of violence, police brutality, and overreach of military action, and committed to pledging positive action toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. By understanding the opportunity associated with our obligation, we will graduate future professionals and scholars who understand the importance of including issues of racism in their research; future food producers who will better recognize and attend to the issue of racism; and future consumers who understand how their consumption decisions impact racism