‘Farming the City:’ SPEA class at Indiana University to be taught by Foster International director

John Galuska. Photo by Aaron Bernstein.

“I want them to really see the connection between the people in the city who are buying and eating the food and the people who are growing the food.”

By Jennifer Piurek
Indiana University faculty and staff news

Excerpt:

This spring, Galuska will bring the concept of urban farming into the classroom at IU. “Farming the City: Global Perspectives on Urban Agriculture and Food Security,” a new course offered through School of Public and Environmental Affairs, will explore how forms of urban agriculture can help provide cities with consistent access to a variety of nutritious food sources. In addition to the international case studies, students will explore urban farming initiatives from Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Bloomington.

“I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but my mom’s father had chickens and had a hobby farm in Arkansas,” Galuska said. “My mom and her mother were more flower gardeners.” Somehow, it was enough to plant the agriculture seed in Galuska, a longtime vegetable grower who earned his doctoral degree at IU’s Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology with a focus on Caribbean verbal and music traditions.

Over the past 10 years, his interest in sustainability and local food security has increased.

Through “Roots, Fruits and Jamaican Ecologies,” the interdisciplinary service-learning course he created with a biologist, Galuska has had the opportunity to work with rural farmers and park rangers in Jamaica. While the study of Caribbean expressive culture may seem far removed from the topic of sustainable agriculture, Galuska said he now sees distinct correlations between the creative processes practiced by poets and musicians and the innovative approaches to small-scale agricultural production practiced by farmers. Tracking the origins of food from soil to table — or farm to fork — is part of this research. “I’m interested in studying food systems and better understanding people’s conceptions of food, foodways and farming,” he said.

Read the complete article here.