July 2, 2018: For Immediate Release

Media Contact:  Dr. Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, Director of Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Major, NC State University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, (919) 513-0085 or michelle_schroeder@ncsu.edu

RALEIGH, NC:  NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has a new major program.  The new Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems is a cross-departmental program offered through the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and Horticultural Science.  The program, which will admit its first students in fall 2018, is directed by Dr. Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and Assistant Director of Educational Programs for the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS).

Agroecology integrates ecology with agriculture for the development of sustainable agricultural practices and food systems.  Through systems-level understanding, agroecologists are able to develop sustainable solutions to local and global agriculture and food challenges.  The program will provide future food system leaders with the interdisciplinary knowledge, real-world experiences, and professional networks to help develop sustainable solutions for agriculture and food system challenges now and in the future.

“Demand for graduates in agriculture is stronger than ever, especially for those with knowledge of sustainability.  This Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems major will prepare students for diverse careers with courses taught by faculty experts in sustainable agriculture, unique hands-on learning and community engagement experiences, and professional development opportunities through internship and research experiences,” says Dr. Schroeder-Moreno.

The program offers students three concentration areas: Agroecology Research and Production, Community Food Systems, and Urban Horticulture.

 For more information, please visit go.ncsu.edu/agroecology

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems is a partnership of NC State University, NC Agricultural and Technical State University and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. CEFS develops and promotes just and equitable food and farming systems that conserve natural resources, strengthen communities, improve health outcomes, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond. For more information, visit www.cefs.ncsu.edu.

Download this press release as a printable PDF.

Angel recently graduated from N.C. State University with a Ph.D. in Agroecology.  She used participatory action research (PAR) to conduct research with smallholder farmers in rural El Salvador. Her three-year research project evaluated the role of sustainable soil management in improving food security for smallholder farming communities.  Angel also received her M.S. at N.C. State, where her research focused on soil ecology, specifically looking at the role of mycorrhizae diversity in drought stress on corn.  

Angel received a Fulbright Fellowship, a US Borlaug Global Food Security Graduate Research Award, and a CEFS Graduate Student Fellowship to fund her research.  Her dissertation will be linked to here once available.

What did your undergraduate/career path look like before you decided to come to NC State University and pursue a Ph.D. in Agroecology?

I had a roundabout path. I grew up in Western North Carolina and my extended family were farmers. I grew up gardening, canning, and surrounded by farming, but I wanted to get away from all that. I chose Furman University because I could play softball there. I completed my undergraduate degree in Ecology. Before my senior year, I had an internship in El Salvador with a non-profit doing sustainable agriculture work in rural communities, and that was a life-changing experience for me. I was so impacted by small farmers, seeing firsthand the impact of climate change, deforestation and poverty on their daily lives.

After graduating I moved back to El Salvador for a few years and worked in a Peace Corps-type program with a local non-profit. While working with farmers, I realized that I wanted to know more about the how and why of sustainable agriculture – we were promoting these practices but I didn’t really understand the “why”.

I decided to apply to graduate school in agriculture and I met Julie Grossman at a Carolina Farm Stewardship Association conference and she told me about CEFS and NC State. It worked out for me to come to NC State and work under Michelle (Schroeder-Moreno) in Agroecology. I did a master’s first and then a doctorate. I am really, really happy that it worked out for me to be at NC State but it was not a path I would have imagined at 16.

Why Agroecology as opposed to other majors/fields?

I liked agroecology because it combined my background in Ecology with agriculture and applied the systems thinking of ecology to traditional agricultural research. Also, agroecology is like a social movement that brings together activists and scientists. Partnering activism with science was always a passion of mine, and I wanted to use science to help marginalized small farmers.

Tell me about your time in El Salvador. What was the most valuable thing you learned there? The most surprising?

I spent most of my time in rural villages staying with different families, working with farmers. I had my backpack with a little food, water, and a soil probe. I slept in hammocks almost every night. It was the ultimate adventure! I would never really know what was going to happen next – sometimes it would rain for a week and I’d just be kind of stuck where I was. I needed to have flexible expectations. I got to know these farmers really well – I’d get up with them at 4 am, we’d bathe, wash clothes together, cook together. I went to weddings, funerals, first communions.

I’m still really surprised at how hard it is to do international research – in terms of time, how long everything takes, and the lack of resources available. In the end I didn’t do a lot of lab work in El Salvador and brought most of my lab work back to process in the US, because it would take a week to do a basic pH test, which here you can just do in a few minutes. I was working at the University of El Salvador, the biggest school in the country.

All of my research was self-funded through grants. It really changes your relationship with your research. I had been part of the research from the idea phase to the actual implementation, which made me a lot more committed to seeing it through. It was kind of my baby.

If you could wave a magic wand a change one thing about the food system, what would it be?

If we paid the true price of food – if environmental and carbon costs were included in the price of food. Like bananas, which are so destructive to produce, they are 39 cents a pound! Everyone eats bananas because they are cheap and available in every gas station and grocery store. Because they are so cheap and widely available we don’t even think about where they came from, the farmers who worked to grow them and all the environmental costs of growing them and shipping them around the world. If we paid the true cost of producing food, everyone would be forced to eat more locally and seasonally. It would pretty dramatically change the way we eat.

Tell me about a personal hero of yours and why he/she is your hero.

One, the farmers in El Salvador and smallholder farmers in the tropics are my heroes. There is so much risk to what they do, and you can really see the impacts of climate change on their lives. When I was there one season it didn’t rain, and the farmers re-planted three times, on these crazy slopes. They didn’t have crop insurance and their only option was to keep trying and hoping it would rain. Many of them really try to take care of the soil – because their livelihood depends on it. They plant trees because they know it’s important.

Two, as an undergraduate, I read a lot of Vandana Shiva. She really inspired me because she combines action and science. Also, she proves that you can study something completely different from what you end up doing. I was kind of scared of getting a Ph.D. because I didn’t want to end up in an ivory tower and lose my connections to people.

Vandana Shiva defied so many odds – being an Indian woman and getting a Ph.D. and now being a worldwide writer and activist for sustainable agriculture and small farmers. She has always been an inspiration to me.

What’s next for you?

I got a job in Durham and I’ll be working at DATU Research. It’s a small consulting firm that works on agriculture and climate change projects. My fiancée Sean works at the Soil Health Institute at RTI and we’re going to enjoy being in the same place after I’ve been gone for so long! Who knows what will happen long-term. I really enjoyed teaching and research and hope to stay connected to CEFS.

Dr. Michelle Schroeder-Moreno and the Agroecology Education Farm have racked up three wins in two weeks: an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for Schroeder-Moreno, and a Green Brick Award from NC State University’s Sustainability Office and an environmental education award from the City of Raleigh for the farm.

“These awards are the result of many years of hard work and the efforts of many people working together,” Schroeder-Moreno said.

The education award nomination praised Schroeder-Moreno for her “foresight” and “tireless work” founding the farm in 2005. Nominees were evaluated on multiple criteria, including leadership, effectiveness, sustainability and innovation.

Continue reading C. Kellner’s post at the CALS News Center

The Agroecology Education Farm has been in development since 2007, when NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences dedicated land at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory in Raleigh. The plot of 6 acres had previously been used for corn and alfalfa silage production.

Patiently yet persistently driving the farm’s development is Dr. Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, an Associate Professor in the Crop Science department at NC State, the Agroecology Program Coordinator, and CEFS’ Assistant Director of Educational Programs. “I envisioned the farm as a place that would bring together NC State students, faculty, staff and community members to learn about sustainable agriculture,” says Dr. Schroeder-Moreno.

In 2014, the farm hired its first full-time farm manager, Alison Reeves. Reeves grew up in Raleigh and graduated from UNC-Asheville with a BS in Environmental Science and from Virginia Tech with an MS in Entomology, with a focus on honey bee health. While at Virginia Tech, Reeves worked as the Dining Services Garden Manager.

That experience will serve Reeves well, as one of the AEF’s goals is to produce fresh, healthy food that can be served on campus at NC State dining halls. “The idea is to extend sustainable agriculture education back to campus through the dining halls. NC State University Dining has been a great partner to work with,” explains Dr. Schroeder-Moreno. In 2013, the farm sold nearly 1000 pounds of produce to NC State University Dining including tomatoes, peppers, melons, okra and herbs.

This year, Reeves hopes to increase both farm’s harvest as well as the amount sold back to campus. “I love working on a farm that is focused on both education and production. Connecting the students to where their food is coming from and creating community connections adds an extra dimension to farming,” she says.

Ready to get your hands dirty? The AEF hosts volunteers on Wednesdays from 3-7 pm and Thursdays from 2-5 pm. Larger volunteer groups can also contact the farm managerto arrange a convenient day and time. For more information, please visit the farm’s Facebook page.

From the September 2014 E-Newsletter