The University of Michigan is leading interdisciplinary curriculum and directing programs and partnerships around food, hunger, equity, and environmental impact — for the university community and beyond. U-M organizations are pioneering every stage of sustainable food systems and leveraging leading research along the way.
From analyzing the greenhouse gas emissions linked to animal-based foods to studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access, U-M experts are leading efforts to bring forward multidisciplinary, sustainable approaches. Some of our key initiatives in food include: the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, the Center for Sustainable Systems, the Campus Farm, the U-M Sustainable Food Program, and M Dining. Find U-M experts in sustainability and environmental science, across fields and academic units.
To LSA Collegiate Fellow and anthropologist Alyssa Paredes, the banana narrative is a parable for commerce, environmental degradation, and disparity. By uncovering the complex paradoxes and disconnects in the banana industry, Paredes reveals how industrialized food production shapes the fate of many rural regions in our world.
Food systems initiatives regularly use stories as a communication tool to showcase and gain attention for their work. Yet few of these efforts use systematic ways to collect and analyze stories.
The President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality at the University of Michigan has submitted its final report, which contains recommendations to help the university achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The report includes 50 recommendations that U-M could take to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.
The Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program at U-M’s Graham Sustainability Institute has awarded research grants to seven projects aimed at reducing net carbon emissions. The first round of funding was awarded to projects that investigate groundbreaking energy-storage and carbon-capture technologies, innovative ways to reduce carbon emissions in agriculture, and new options for lowering the carbon footprint of U-M student diets.
A study published by U-M researchers quantifies the air pollution that impacts Latinx communities in California due to beef production. The study focuses on Costco's beef supply chain in California and explores the environmental impacts of air pollution resulting from beef production in the San Joaquin Valley, a region that has some of the worst air quality in the United States.
Zahir Janmohamed, co-founder of the James Beard nominated podcast Racist Sandwich, discusses why he thinks the subjects of race, gender, class cannot be separated from discussions about food; and offers advice and lessons learned from his successes and failures to get traditional media to center their stories around non-white, non-male voices.
