Three graduates are growing the seeds of sustainability through education

By Ivy Manning
Photos by Gregor Torrence

Thousands come to the Portland State University (PSU) campus every Saturday from April to November for the Portland Farmer’s Market, rejoicing in the diverse agricultural bounty that this area has to offer. As shoppers shuffle towards the dozens of stalls full of local vegetables, cheeses, and seafood, they probably don’t notice the University’s motto — “Let Knowledge Serve the City” — carved in stone in the bridge overhead. But for a growing number of students graduating from PSU, the motto speaks directly to another facet of Portland’s strength as a great food city: education.

Students nationwide are coming to Portland State University for its unique programming. Whether enrolled in the School of Community Health, School of Business, School of Urban Studies and Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, or School of Education, among others, students at PSU are studying food. Multiple aspects are covered — from supply chain issues and regional distribution infrastructure for getting food to market to the relationship between food and climate change, diet and health, and gardening as an educational tool.

The School of Business boasts a Food Industry Leadership Center, and the Portland Institute of Metropolitan Studies and the Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices both emphasize food-oriented research and education. In fact, the Institute of Metropolitan Studies asks questions such as: Can healthful food be affordable while farmers make a profit? Will we have enough farmers and workers to produce food in the future? Will our land and water supplies support food production and a growing population?

Still other PSU students take a hands-on approach to their food education by participating in the student-run Food For Thought Café. The café uses sustainably grown ingredients, including some grown on campus, to serve food-conscious faculty and staff. They reduce waste by using nondisposable plates and silverware, and integrate their planning and management into school curricula. Students’ efforts to establish Food For Thought Café led to the incorporation of local, seasonal and sustainable food goals into PSU’s overall food service contract.

Edible Portland caught up with three recent graduates from one program in particular: the Portland International Initiative for Leadership in Ecology, Culture and Learning (PIIECL), an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in the School of Education. The program addresses the emerging field of sustainability education and focuses on teaching in the community through projects like the Learning Gardens Laboratory, a student-faculty run garden in southeast Portland that works with elementary schools to teach youth everything from the biology of worms to helping the hungry.

These three graduates of the PIIECL program have put down roots, literally and theoretically, working in careers that are helping Portland to a brighter, and greener, future.