Exploring Undergraduate Interest In Organic Agriculture Curriculum

The University of Florida launched the organic and sustainable agriculture minor program in fall 2005 and the organic agriculture undergraduate degree program in fall 2006. Both the minor and major programs are administered by the horticultural sciences department. Currently there are 21 students enrolled in the major program, accounting for 43% of the undergraduate enrollment in the department. To well identify the student interest in the new organic agriculture curriculum and further assist curriculum enhancement, an in-class survey was conducted in fall 2008 among students in the ‘Principles of Organic and Sustainable Crop Production’ course, one of the capstone courses developed for the organic agriculture programs. Out of 21 students who responded to the questionnaire, there were 12 students in the horticultural sciences department and 9 students from other majors including economics, political science, anthropology, zoology, aerospace engineering, animal science, food science, journalism, and wildlife ecology and conservation. Such a diverse range of student background presented a critical challenge for course content development. All the students believed that organic farming was better for the environment compared to conventional agriculture and a majority of them perceived that organic foods were healthier and safer than their conventional counterparts. Over 50% of the respondents indicated their support to small and local farms by purchasing organic foods. Regarding the sources where students learned about this organic production course, the course list posted online seemed to be rather effective. About 76% of the students were aware of other courses with a focus on sustainable agriculture offered by other departments. Despite the requirement for their major or minor, students preferred this course because it was more interesting while prerequisites were not needed. Integration of more practical information and experiential learning into the course was suggested by many students.