Exploring Food Waste and Farming Policy: Professor Berry’s Dialogues in Environmental Studies

This Week’s faculty in focus is Brieanne Berry, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA.

As a two-time Civic Engagement Fellow, Professor Berry has developed and adapted resources for deliberative dialogues, helping students explore complex environmental policy issues through multiple perspectives. She even contributed a new deliberative dialogue on wasted food for Project Pericles’ Deliberative Dialogue Topics and Prompts.

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In Fall 2023, she taught Introduction to Food Systems, through which students examined the environmental, economic, and social forces shaping what we eat and who has access to food. As part of the course, Professor Berry designed a deliberative dialogue on food waste, assigning students roles such as food pantry manager, school principal, or municipal official. Each group was asked to consider how to address food waste based on their assigned stakeholder’s priorities. The exercise sparked critical discussions on tradeoffs and solutions, culminating in reflections on how students could advocate for food waste reduction on campus, in their hometowns, or at the state level. 

Building on this success, she returned as a Civic Engagement Fellow in Fall 2024 for Introduction to Environmental Policy. In this course, students explored landmark environmental policies like the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The class also engaged in a deliberative dialogue centered on the 2024 Farm Bill, where students represented diverse stakeholders- including cattle farmers, food insecurity organizations, and environmental groups. By presenting their assigned stakeholder’s priorities and funding recommendations, students gained a deeper understanding of the policy-making process and the necessity of balancing competing interests.

Reflecting on the impact of the fellowship on teaching civic engagement Professor Berry shared, “I think that the fellowship pushed me to focus on this approach. While I tend to use case studies in my teaching, the fellowship ensured that I created a timely and engaging case study that allowed for multiple perspectives on an issue. It was such a great activity in my class and I'm really glad that I did this fellowship.”

Through these deliberative dialogues, Professor Berry empowered her students to see that policy decisions rarely have a single “right” answer. Instead, solutions depend on perspective, and diverse voices lead to stronger, more inclusive policies that can best support society and the economy, while respecting our planet.