Metropolitan Food & Environmental Systems, BS
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Metropolitan Food & Environmental Systems
department website: https://mfst.illinois.edu/
overview of college admissions & requirements: https://academics.aces.illinois.edu/prospective-students
college website: https://aces.illinois.edu/
program director: Megan Dailey, Ph.D., mdailey5@illinois.edu
program office: 215 Mumford Hall, 1301 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana IL
program phone: (217) 244-5567
The Metropolitan Food & Environmental Systems (MFST) program uses an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and implementing solutions in the area of urban food and environmental systems to ensure the sustainability of readily available nutritious foods for metropolitan populations. The students in this major will learn to understand the science and practice of food production and security across urban environmental, economic, social, and health contexts, while maintaining environmental sustainability. Students in this program will be prepared for jobs in impact areas related to food systems, such as government, non-governmental organizations, institutional food buyers, investment firms, financial and insurance companies, industry, retail, and food service. Alternatively, students may choose to pursue post-baccalaureate education, including law school and graduate school in food systems or in specific areas of the food system. Because the MFST curricula includes required training in STEM education, critical thinking, scientific literacy, communication and leadership, students will obtain the skills necessary to traverse an ever-changing job market and have the freedom to choose from many career-life options.
A minimum of 127 credit hours are required for graduation, including General Education Requirements and the MFST Core Curriculum. Because the core curriculum includes many College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) departmental course requirements, the students in MFST have the unique opportunity to minor in many of the ACES departments or to delve deeper into a food system area of interest in addition to the core courses, including (but not limited to) advanced nutrition, plant or animal production, food processing, food safety, environmental sustainability, climate change, or landscape architecture.
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Metropolitan Food & Environmental Systems
Prescribed Courses including Campus General Education
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Composition I | 4 | |
| Writing and Research | ||
| Advanced Composition | 3 | |
| Leadership Communications | ||
| Cultural Studies | 9 | |
| Leadership Ethics & Society: Addressing Contemporary Challenges (US Minority) | ||
| The World Food Economy (Non-Western) | ||
or CPSC 116 | The Global Food Production Web | |
Western - select one course from campus approved list | ||
| Humanities & the Arts | 6 | |
| Humanity in the Food Web | ||
Select one course from campus approved list | ||
| Natural Science and Technology | 8 | |
| General Chemistry I and General Chemistry Lab I | ||
| General Chemistry II and General Chemistry Lab II | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning I | 3-5 | |
Select one course from campus approved list | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning II | 3-4 | |
| CPSC 241 | Intro to Applied Statistics | 3 |
| or STAT 100 | Statistics | |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences | 7 | |
| ACE 100 | Introduction to Applied Microeconomics | 4 |
| ACE 255 | Economics of Food and Environmental Justice | 3 |
| ACES Prescribed | ||
| ACES 101 | Contemporary Issues in ACES for freshman only | 2 |
Core Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Introductory Courses | 6 | |
| ACES 102 | Intro Sustainable Food Systems | 3 |
| MFST 101 | Experiencing Food Systems | 3 |
| Understanding Abiotic-Biotic Interactions Necessary for Food | 14-15 | |
| ANSC 100 | Intro to Animal Sciences | 4 |
| CPSC 112 | Introduction to Crop Sciences | 3 or 4 |
| or HORT 100 | Introduction to Horticulture | |
| NRES 100 | Fundamentals of Env Sci | 3 |
| NRES 201 | Introductory Soils | 4 |
| Human Nutrition | ||
| FSHN 120 | Contemporary Nutrition | 3 |
| or FSHN 220 | Principles of Nutrition | |
| Economics I and II | 7 | |
| ACE 100 | Introduction to Applied Microeconomics (fulfills SBS requirement) | 4 |
| ACE 255 | Economics of Food and Environmental Justice (fulfills SBS requirement) | 3 |
| Food Production I and II - Choose two from the following list: | 5-8 | |
| Food Animal Production, Management, and Evaluation | ||
| Meat Production and Marketing (If you take ANSC 309, you must take a 4-hour upper-level course here or from another list) | ||
| Dairy Herd Management | ||
| Beef Production | ||
| Sheep and Goat Production | ||
| Pork Production | ||
| Poultry Science | ||
| Crop Growth and Management | ||
| Principles of Agroecology | ||
| Greenhouse Mgmt and Production | ||
| Vegetable Crop Production | ||
| Horticultural Physiology | ||
| Urban Food Production | ||
| Soil Fertility and Fertilizers | ||
| Urban Planning I - Choose one from the following list: | 3 | |
| Introduction to City Planning | ||
| Urban Informatics I | ||
| Urban Sustainability | ||
| Cities: Planning & Urban Life | ||
| Chicago: Planning & Urban Life | ||
| Ecology & Environmental Sustainability | ||
| Social Inequality and Planning | ||
| Urban Planning II - Choose one from the following list: | 3-4 | |
| The Modern American City | ||
| Planning for Healthy Cities | ||
| Economic Development Planning | ||
| Watershed Ecology and Planning | ||
| Urban Ecology | ||
| Housing & Urban Policy | ||
| Real Estate Development Fundamentals | ||
| Policy I - Choose one from the following list: | 3 | |
| Undergraduate Open Seminar (Food Ag & Pol) | ||
| Ag Policy & Leadership | ||
| Farm, Food & Environmental Policy | ||
| Local Planning, Gov't and Law | ||
| Policy II - Choose one from the following list: | 3-4 | |
| Food Law | ||
| Agricultural Law | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Energy Economics | ||
| Environment and Development | ||
| Agricultural and Food Policies | ||
| US Environ, Justic & Policy | ||
| State and Local Public Finance | ||
| Technology I - Choose one from the following list: | 2-4 | |
| ABE Principles: Biological | ||
| ABE Principles: Machine Syst | ||
| ABE Principles: Soil & Water | ||
| ABE Principles: Bioenvironment | ||
| ABE Principles: Bioprocessing | ||
| Life With Animals and Biotech | ||
| Introduction to Plant Protection | ||
| Biotechnology in Agriculture | ||
| Genetic Engineering Lab | ||
| Data in Biology and Agriculture | ||
| Materials and Construction Sys | ||
| Wiring, Motors and Control Sys | ||
| Technology II - Choose one from the following list: | 2-3 | |
| Meat Science | ||
| Integrated Pest Management | ||
| Weed Mgt in Agronomic Crops | ||
| Weed Science Practicum (If you take CPSC 428, you must take a 4-hour upper-level course from another list) | ||
| Ugrad Bioinformatics Seminar (Intro to R Programming - if you take CPSC 491, you must take a 4-hour upper-level course from another list) | ||
| Food Processing Engineering | ||
| Principles of Food Technology | ||
| Package Engineering | ||
| Land and Water Mgt Systems | ||
| Residential Housing Design | ||
| Environ Control & HVAC Systems | ||
| Project Management | ||
| Elec Computer Ctrl Sys | ||
| Renewable Energy Applications | ||
| Chemical Applications Systems | ||
| Precision Agric Technology | ||
| Grain Bioprocessing Coproducts | ||
| Advanced Scientific Literacy - Choose one from the following list: | 3-4 | |
| Agri-food Strategic Management | ||
| Applied Animal Genetics | ||
| Math Modeling in Life Sciences | ||
| Applied Statistical Methods I | ||
| Community Nutrition | ||
| Inequality, Public Policy, and U.S. Families | ||
| Family Life Education | ||
| Quantitative Methods in NRES | ||
| Modeling Natural Resources | ||
| Environ Social Sci Res Meth | ||
| Urban Informatics II | ||
| GIS for Planners | ||
| Scenarios, Plans & Future Cities | ||
| Small Town/Rural Planning Workshop | ||
| Community Development Workshop | ||
| Social Ecology - Choose one from the following list: | 3 | |
| Food Marketing and Behavior | ||
| Inequality, Public Policy, and U.S. Families | ||
| Valuing Nature | ||
| Social Impact in Practice - Choose one from the following list: | 3-9 | |
| Collaborative Leadership | ||
| Applied Research Methods | ||
| Social Impact Learning Experience (MFST 450 & MFST 397 can only equal a total of 12 hours) | ||
| Experiential Learning Series | 7-16 | |
| MFST 301 | Experiential Learning Preparedness & Planning | 1 |
| MFST 397 | Experiential Learning | 3 to 9 |
| MFST 401 | Experiential Learning Review and Reflection | 3 |
| Capstone | 3 | |
| MFST 498 | Metropolitan Food & Environmental Systems Capstone | 3 |
| Total hours | 127 | |