Advancing Food Systems Change
The Center for Food Systems Transformation (CFST) at the University of San Diego supports scholarship that advances food systems change that responds to climate change and other issues of justice related to food.
The CFST also supports campus efforts to envision a more ethical food system, facilitates the transformation of institutional food practices to better align with community values and works to enrich USD's justice-driven Food Studies program.
Launched in Fall 2024, the CFST is guided especially by USD's commitment to the message of Laudato Si' to care for our common home, and the University's commitment to the study of ethical leadership and compassionate service. We acknowledge our location on Kumeyaay land.
Sowing the Seeds of CFST
Making a Commitment
USD Laudato Si' Letter Signing and Panel
In Spring 2021, USD signed a commitment to officially become a University of Laudato Si', as acknowledged by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. During the video USD President James T. Harris III, EdD, addresses the importance of food in responding to environmental and health concerns and shares how his mostly plant-based diet is one of the ways he seeks to embody his commitment to the ecological vision of Laudato Si’ (minutes 19-21).
Making an Impact
Beyond the Standard Western Diet
David Clough, PhD, chairs the Department of Theology and Applied Sciences at the University of Aberdeen and is an internationally leading scholar in Christian theology and ethics, with a particular focus on Christian thinking and practice in relation to the more-than-human world. In this lecture, he discusses a $700,000 four-year UK government-funded project on the Christian ethics of farmed animal welfare.
Interested in learning more about food systems and sustainability?