Students in Dr Chambers’ Willamette University class, Sustainable Agriculture in the 21st Century, spent a semester reviewing the challenges faced in making agriculture sustainable. The class divided into three groups focused on the components of sustainability: economics, environment, and equity. After several weeks conducting independent research based on their sustainability focus and discussing key articles with the entire class, each group wrote a final report recommending a model for sustainable agriculture in the Willamette Valley. They used peer-reviewed literature documenting the successes and challenges of making agriculture sustainable to provide recommendations for the direction that agriculture should take in this region.
To read the students analysis and proposed models click on each of the links below.
An Economic Perspective
Building the Local Economies: A Model for Sustainable Agriculture in the Willamette Valley
An Environmental Perspective
Sustainaculture: An Environmentally Sustainable Model for Agriculture in Willamette Valley
An Equity Perspective
Ensuring Equity for Farmers, Workers and Consumers
After presenting each of the models the class worked to determine commonalities between the economic, environmental, and ethical perspectives as well as challenges, and recommendations for future research. The summary of our final considerations is included here: