This qualitative research study examined the relationship between sense of place and engagement in community food systems. Narrative inquiry, phenomenology, and case study methodologies were used to capture the rich, lived experiences of 29 participants involved in community food systems. The participants were affiliated with one of three organizations in Wisconsin. The results emerging from semi-structured interviews uncovered the interrelated motivations, outcomes, engagement activities, and senses of place of the participants. The study proposed that food, particularly the growing and eating of local food, had the unique characteristic of connecting people to the social and ecological aspects of place in ways that developed a strong sense of place and an integrated human-nature worldview centered on food (a “foodview”). The results also supported a multi-dimensional understanding of sense of place.
The results of this project will be useful to community organizers, food systems advocates, and sustainability educators.
Chronicling a semester-long civic engagement project, this essay explores the efforts of a senior seminar course to collaborate with a local wilderness preservation organization. The essay reflects on the role of students in their communities, their connections to wilderness, and the challenges and rewards of civic engagement.
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