What can it mean to be part of a global regenerative agricultural movement connecting care for the earth, care for all people, and care for community? From the PNW origin of craft chocolate to the origin of Trinitario cacao (and The Cross-Atlantic Chocolate Collective’s Chocolate Rebellion), this program invites students to engage with diverse cultures of taste while earning an International Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC). Wa Samaki Ecosystems, located on 35 acres in central Trinidad, will host our month-long study. A working permaculture operation, Wa Samaki produces cut flowers for the local market, tropical fish, and organic food. Wa Samaki practices wildlife conservation, watershed rehabilitation, and offers community workshops, volunteer and internship opportunities, as well as Permaculture Design Courses. While the requirements for the PDC follow the accepted 72-hour contact format specified by the Permaculture Institute of Australia, the curriculum for our Evergreen program offers a relaxed pace for community building, reciprocity through non-extractive learning practices, individual research projects, free time, and weekend excursions. We’ll visit nature preserves, beaches, cocoa farms, and make chocolate. We’ll read Earl Lovelace’s The Dragon Can’t Dance and visit panyards to hear the relationship between abandoned American military base petrol cans and the carnival music of steel-drum bands. We’ll visit the Food and Agriculture Department at the University of West Indies-St Augustine (UWI) and tour the Cocoa Research Center, including The International Cocoa Genebank. Visits to Pax Guest House and Shiva Mandir will provide opportunities for learning about the spiritual traditions that have shaped landscapes and mindscapes of one of the world’s most ethnically and culturally diverse populations.
From syntropic agroforestry and farm-to-table food preparation at Wa Samaki,to sensory evaluation at UWI’s Cocoa Innovation Center, our attention to food will provide a regenerative source of opportunities for taste experiences and research. From this focus on eating as an agricultural act, including Caribbean food stories (Sidney Mintz’s Sweetness and Power) and food stories unique to Trinidad (Badru Deen’s Out of the Doubles Kitchen, Ramin Ganeshram's Sweet Hands), students will learn to create their own stories of how we are what we eat ... as well as what our food eats. Students will be supported to document their learning using field notebooks and cell phones and to reflect on and curate their learning using ePortfolios on a program WordPress website
Students interested in applying for this study abroad program are required to enroll in the fall quarter 4-credit course, Bittersweet: Preparation for Studying Cocoa and Permaculture in Trinidad. Students interested in this study abroad program are encouraged to enroll in the fall quarter 12-credit program Eating Media: Food's Power as Medium and Message. Note: Passport application processes currently can take 6-8 weeks.
Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:
8 - Permaculture in Trinidad
4 - Cocoa: Bittersweet Political Ecologies
4 - Food Studies: Field to Flavor in Trinidad
Registration
Priority registration will be for students who successfully completed the fall offerings Eating Media: Food as Medium and Message as well as Bittersweet: Preparing to Study Cocoa and Permaculture in Trinidad, including the Office of International Program's application for this study abroad.
Academic Details
Agriculture; Climate and Environmental Justice; Cultural Studies; Education; Food Justice; Food Studies; Food Systems; Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Studies; Ethnic and Media Studies
Schedule
This program includes a four-week study abroad program to Trinidad. The estimated total cost is $3,900-$5,160. Learn more about the program, including a detailed cost breakdown at evergreen.via-trm.com/program_brochure/20959/cost-and-funding.