Sustainable Food Systems

How do you feed a growing prairie community without exhausting its soil and water? Assiniboine’s Sustainable Food Systems advanced diploma is a nine-month, 63-credit programme at the North Hill campus in Brandon, designed for people who already hold a two-year diploma or a university degree and want to specialise in sustainable food production and food business.

The Sustainable Food Systems course list pairs growing with strategy. Crop Production Systems, Food Production Methods, Growing Media Applications, Integrated Pest Management and Sustainable Greenhouse Mngmt teach you how food is produced in fields and under glass. Food Security & Sustainability and The Food Industry examine the wider food system while Business of Food Production and Career and Business Planning prepare you to launch or manage a food enterprise. Food Systems Applied Research lets you investigate a real production question, and 1st Aid - Emergency is included.

North Hill gives the programme a fully equipped greenhouse, garden, orchard, growth chamber, field labs, tools and equipment, plus classrooms and computer labs. The Practicum - STFDS adds at least 120 hours (about three weeks) of food systems experience, approved and monitored by a faculty member. Graduates finish with First Aid certification, and Assiniboine’s articulation agreements can support further study.

The advanced diploma aims to help you implement sustainable farming practices, start, manage or work in sustainable food businesses, and help design food system strategies. Typical roles include food security programme coordinator, greenhouse or market garden manager, sustainable food business owner, local food project officer, applied research technician and agricultural extension assistant, with private companies, government, First Nations organisations and research groups. It suits graduates from agriculture, science, business or community fields who want a practical, systems-level understanding of how food reaches the table.