Our Program

If you are curious about local farming and marketing, interested in applied ecology or biology, are concerned about food justice, love good food, or just plain like to be outdoors…..  maybe you should check it out!

The food system is changing all over the world and particularly in New England, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs…. like a few of the young people in this video!

NOTE:  Sustainable Food and Farming faculty adviser, Dr. John Gerber, is in this video!  Simple Gifts farm is within walking distance of the UMass campus.

The Sustainable Food and Farming major in the UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture offers students an opportunity to build their own career path in:

  • local, organic and sustainable farming and marketing,
  • public policy, advocacy and community development,
  • community-based and farm-based education,
  • permaculture, urban ag, and community gardening, and;
  • herbalism and holistic health.

If you want to learn more, please continue below and contact Sustainable Food and Farming Program Coordinator Sarah Berquist at sbberqui@umass.edu for an appointment.  And let us know if you’d like to stop by to chat or to visit our farms!

Concentrate in one or more areas in Sustainable Food and Farming

sffconcentrations

***See Program PowerPoint linked here for more***

Requirements for the major are VERY flexible.  Each student gets a custom designed path to graduation.  For an outline of the course choices and requirements, see: SFF Course Requirements

To learn more about our faculty see: Stockbridge Faculty!

AND…. our B.S. degree encourages you to “roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty“! For example, you might want to join….

The UMass Student Farm and Market

sfe

Growing Food for All

foodforall

UMass Permaculture

PermaCertificate

Practical Animal Husbandry

The Real Food Challenge

rfcall

The UMass Beekeeping Club

club

…. and frankly, there are many more!

See more of our student projects and activities!

Or… start with our online classes!

If you are not ready to join us full time, you can get started by taking some or our classes online.  All of these classes will count toward your B.S. degree!

online

Our major is flexible

Given the broad range of career opportunities represented by the sustainable food and farming movement across the nation, our curriculum is necessarily flexible.  We want to support your own personal exploration and support your ability to choose your own path.

The approximately 150 students in the major at present are pursuing161011bestglobalbadge-design career paths related to growing and marketing food, working for changes in public policy to support local food, advocating for a more sustainable food system, building the capacity for community-based agricultural education, managing community gardens, and learning to homestead for personal reasons – among many others.

We are now the largest and most diverse sustainable agriculture undergraduate program in the nation aUMass Amherst has been recognized as the 3rd best Agricultural University in the U.S. and 5th best in the world!  We think we have something for you.  Please check us out!

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These pages also have information that may be useful if you are interested in our major:

Current UMass students interested in exploring this major should ask permission to take Intro to Sustainable Food and Farming, which is offered both fall and spring semesters.

Or consider Sustainable Food and Farming as a Second Major.