Name: Higher Education & Creating a Climate Friendly Food System: The Role of Ethical & Religious Values
Start: 2024-11-22T12:00:00-08:00
End: 2024-11-22T17:30:00-08:00
Location: University of San Diego

Higher Education & Creating a Climate Friendly Food System: The Role of Ethical & Religious Values

The Center for Food Systems Transformation at University of San Diego invites you to join us at this academic conference and workshop.
About this Event

This conference and workshop is held in conjunction with the 2024 San Diego Annual Meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society for Biblical Literature (SBL). It is cosponsored by the Animals and Religion Unit and Religion and Ecology Unit of the AAR, and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at USD.

All AAR SBL attendees are also encouraged to join us at 9:00 PM for a reception with complimentary vegan food, beer, and wine at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, Solana Beach AB.

Hosted by the Center for Food Systems Transformation at the University of San Diego, "Higher Education & Creating a Climate Friendly Food System: The Role of Ethical & Religious Values" gathers college and university faculty, especially scholars of religion, who wish to understand how we as faculty can support better alignment between our schools’ values and the food our institutions serve. It is inspired by recent events that suggest colleges and universities are uniquely poised to model changes in food systems that could dramatically reduce climate impact. The 2023-2024 academic year saw nearly 400 colleges and universities across the U.S. with more than 1 million students experiment with using plant-based nudges. This “DefaultVeg” strategy gained currency after a pilot study, published in the in February 2024, demonstrated that defaulting to plant-based options achieved a 23.6% average drop in greenhouse emissions without adversely impacting diner satisfaction.

The format will combine time for networking and enjoying local food and drink with peer presentations and pragmatic guidance from nonprofit community partners who have been involved in supporting these changes in campus dining. We'll workshop how to integrate support for more just and sustainable campus food systems with our faculty obligations to teaching, research, and service.

Advanced registration is required and space limited.
The suggested donation is $25.

If you have any questions about the event, please don't hesitate to contact the Center for Food Systems Transformation Director and Program Chair Aaron Gross at [email protected].