According to nationwide studies, between twenty and fifty percent of American students go into college as undecided majors while over seventy-five percent of college students change their major at least once over the course of their college career. So if you’re at the point of “I’m-willing-to-throw-a-dart-and-wherever-it-lands-I’ll-go,” you’re not alone.
UVM is one of the only schools in the U.S. to offer a food systems undergraduate major & minor, as well as a Master’s and Doctorate program. I’m convinced there’s no better place to study food! Here are some reasons you should consider becoming (or switching into) the food systems program.
Food encompasses almost every discipline.
Food: it’s chemistry, biology, economics, anthropology, math (unfortunately), environmental studies, critical race studies all strewn into one. But, you won’t have to wake up every morning to do calclulus or code at your dorm desk. Instead, you get to see how food is such a critical part of our lives, our society, and nearly everything we do. You get to experience your education, hands-on, every single day.
You’ll get to take classes across departments.
The UVM Food Systems program extends beyond the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) into other departments and schools. You can study food literature with the English department, learn about food politics in the Poly Sci department, or work in the horticulture lab with the Plant Science department. Although there might be one element within food systems that interests you, such as permaculture design or food history, you still have to dip your spoon into everything food systems has to offer!
The internship opportunities are endless (and vary greatly)!
Hands-on learning is a core part of the UVM Food Systems experience. Throughout my time at UVM, I’ve interned with four different organizations and volunteered with tons more! The program can connect you with non-profits like Hunger Free Vermont and the Vermont Food Bank or businesses like Ben & Jerry’s. As a junior, I interned with an educational non-profit and helped teach farm-to-school programs in K-5 schools. Not only did I gain a lot of experience working in the education field, but it narrowed my focus for what I want to do post-grad. I’ve also had friends that went straight into consulting or farm-work post-grad while others decided to get their Masters or JD.
You’ll have more job security than your peers- everybody has to eat!
More than ever, we need people who can think on their feet and reflect on the broad-scale, systemic implications of policy. As a food systems student, you have the background and the professional connections to tackle real world problems.
You’ll have the opportunity to work with a variety of community partners and become more invested in the place where you live.
Food systems are naturally very political, place-centric topics. Your classes will look at both Vermont’s food system and the globalized food system, so don’t be surprised when your classes decide to take a field trip to a local farm instead of meet in the classroom! What you learn might even change your personal consumption habits, so be prepared to keep an open mind.
Eating is a key part of your college courses.
Need I say more?
You have the opportunity to get complementary minors or concentrations based on your interests.
I paired my Food Systems minor with another minor in Nutrition: it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! Many of the topics I learned about in my food systems classes were elaborated on in nutrition, so everything flowed very naturally. If nutrition and public health isn’t your primary area of interest, you might consider getting a minor in plant/soil science, political science, environmental studies, or animal science.
The professors are perhaps the coolest people on planet Earth.
Terry Bradshaw? Meredith Niles? Vic Izzo? It doesn’t get much better than that. Every professor within the FS program is passionate about something and willing to give you any sort of academic (or life) advice you need. They’re approachable, honest, and invested in the next generation of food systems professionals.