The Objectives

Food and Land Security in Philadelphia is a side-by-side community-based learning program sponsored by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

Throughout the fall term, 10 Drexel students and 10 Philadelphia area neighbors meet weekly at ANS and around the city to explore food justice projects both locally and globally.

Along the way, we will work together to:

• Learn traditional farming techniques from community leaders and put these skills into practice

• Reflect on our place in the food system, asking where we belong in the fight for food and land security

• Engage in collective analysis of critical concepts, toward a shared understanding of the connection between food and freedom

• Share a meal prepared by our partner organizations, to experience first-hand the transformative potential of a community meal

The Outcomes

Our course begins in the BEES (Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science) classroom at the Academy of Natural Sciences. This will be our home base, where we will get to know each other, where we come from, and what brings us together. 

Every other week — rain or shine! — our work will radiate outward, engaging with expert practitioners of relationship-driven, community-based environmental justice projects. At the end of each of these sessions, students will be invited to participate in a culturally relevant community meal at no cost.

We will return to ANS biweekly throughout the fall to engage in discussion and reflection practice and to develop final projects that creatively express our own food stories. Students will be invited to exhibit these projects publicly at ANS after the conclusion of the term.

A Food Security Starter Kit is offered at no cost to all who successfully complete the course.

All are welcome. If you have any accessibility concerns, email steve.dolph@drexel.edu.