WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE? IDEOLOGY AND FOOD

Los Angeles is an epicenter for the study of the connection between people and the food they eat. This program provides students appropriate lenses to explore Plant-based Living and the learned norms around how we consume food. Rather than push a certain way of eating, this program is designed to help students make their own informed choices.

Learning Objectives

Appreciate the myriad challenges and perspectives related to food justice and food choice from a multiplicity of lenses.

Explore the health outcomes of plant-based lifestyles as well as the environmental outcomes of such ways of being.

Build an understanding of how animal and plant-based food is produced, processed, and consumed in the United States. How is it changing?

Lenses of Inquiry

Food Justice

How can we make informed choices about our diets that will not only benefit ourselves?

Environmental Impacts of Food Choice

How do our everyday groceries and meals impact the environment?

Food Production

What differences are there in the production of plant-based vs animal-based food?

Places and Activities

This program is flexible, and can be offered in 5 or 7 day itineraries.

DAYS 1-2: GETTING OUR BEARINGS

We arrive to Los Angeles and get settled, enjoying the hike up to Griffith Observatory which gives an expansive view of the city and important context. We spend a full day with Farm LA, looking into Food Justice and Urban farming.

DAYS 2-4: WE ARE ALL ANIMALS

We spend a day immersing with LA City Commission on animals to learn about land bridges and get to know animals at the Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary.

DAYS 5-6: FOOD JUSTICE AND CHOICE

We tour the Getty Center and explore its beautiful spaces, as well as meet with Genesis Butler, a youth activist and plant-based diet advocate. We also enjoy a vegan cooking class.

DAY 7: CLOSING THE LOOPS

We head to Santa Monica Pier to enjoy the sights and sounds of surf, and hold our program debrief before transferring to the airport.

Let’s work together

“[Envoys] knows kids extremely well…they know how to be cool with them while still commanding authority and establishing ground rules…I was incredibly impressed with the protocols established and put in place by Envoys.”

— Micah M. , Traveling Faculty, Friends Seminary Peru 2015

“Envoys was at the top of their game from start to finish. What initially interested me was their focus on curriculum during pre-departure meetings and the program itself. Envoys cares deeply about the experience of the participants and faculty. [They] constantly ask for constructive criticism and make changes when necessary.”

— Joe Vogel , Executive Director, Global Education Benchmark Group

“It was not only the good times with our friends or the relationships we built but how we were after we came back, returning to this agitated society with a new view of ourselves and not just our impact on the world, but the world’s impact on us.”

— Gabriela , Student, Deerfield Colombia 2014