This course will expose students to the exciting world of tropical agriculture and the ways that people in the tropics utilize a diverse array of food crops. Our lives as consumers in the developed world are touched by tropical products every single day. Whether it's the cinnamon in your tea, the vanilla in your cookies, the black pepper on your salad, or your cup of hot coffee, you likely consume tropical crops whether you know it or not. Ever stop to wonder where these items are from and how they are produced? We will examine agriculture and food culture throughout the tropical world's four principle areas: Latin America, Tropical Asia, Tropical Africa, and the South Pacific. Production systems ranging from large scale modern high input operations to home subsistence gardens are explored. Tropical crops are examined in five major groups: grains and legumes, starchy roots, exotic vegetables, tropical fruit, and herbs, spices, medicinal plants. Cultural uses of these crops throughout the tropical world are given special emphasis.

This course will introduce the disciplines of plant science and horticulture. Students will learn the fundamentals of plant structure and how cells, tissues, organs and whole plants develop and function. Students will then explore how environmental factors affect growth and development, and how humans manipulate them to produce horticultural crops: fruits, vegetables, flowers and landscape plants. Labs are designed to emphasize and reinforce the principles covered in lecture and will give students a hands-on introduction to horticulture. Lab.

In Advanced Aspects of Brewing, we will examine five specific aspects of the brewing industry: microbiology, waste products, sustainability, engineering, and analytical chemistry. We will utilize the UNH brewery to make a series of unique products that will serve as the testing basis for each module.

This course establishes a conceptual framework in systems thinking to critically examine New Zealand and global examples of the challenges that have arisen from the mismatch between land use and land use capability. Students investigate downstream effects of the rural-urban divide (food-justice), on people, health, services and the environment. Food security, ethical foods, as well as the influence of climate change on food supply and the viability of agribusiness are included.