October 28 & 30 – Seeds, Land and Food Sovereignty
Class Content
This week, we will explore the importance of seeds, land, and food sovereignty in urban agriculture. We will begin by reviewing soil health before discussing how plants produce seeds and how to collect, save, and store seeds for future growing seasons. We will then examine the social, political, and economic dimensions of food and land sovereignty, including questions about who controls seeds, who has access to land, and how communities can gain greater control over their food systems. We will also introduce the second blog/essay assignment and return the first assignments with feedback.
Supplemental Readings and Resources
These optional readings and resources are included for anyone interested in exploring the topics from class in more depth. They are not required.
Presentations
Schedule
Introduction & Check-In
– Welcome and check-in
– Overview of the week’s topics
Recap: Building Healthy Soil
– Review of soil health and soil-building practices
– Questions and discussion from last week’s class
Seed Saving
– How different plants produce seeds
– Annuals, biennials, and plant life cycles
– Identifying, harvesting, cleaning, and storing seeds
– Seed diversity, adaptation, and the importance of saving seeds
– Discussion about seed saving and its role in food sovereignty
Food and Land Sovereignty
– What is food sovereignty, and how does it differ from food security?
– Access to land and control over food production
– Seed ownership, seed sovereignty, and biodiversity
– Land politics and challenges facing urban agriculture
– Community-based approaches to building food-sovereign urban food systems
Assignment 2: Building Sovereign and Sustainable Urban Foodscapes
– Introduction to the second blog/essay assignment
– Discussion of possible topics and connections to course readings
– Assignment expectations and questions
Assignment 1: Feedback
– Return of the first blog/essay assignments
– Review of feedback and areas for improvement
– Questions and discussion