Field Studies

University of New Hampshire students run a farmers market on campus. (University Of New Hampshire)

What do they bring? "A lot of salads," Belasco says.

Academic acceptance of interdisciplinary fields, such as American or women's studies, has also paved the way for food's debut as a legitimate subject. "Food studies answers the craving for interdisciplinary exchange among professors across the sciences and humanities that has been growing for a decade," says de la Peña, who launched UC Davis's food concentration and helped hire a full-time professor who teaches in both the American studies and food science and nutrition departments.

A new generation of teachers is developing new courses. For years, many professors were teaching classes that touched on food though that wasn't their area of expertise, Belasco says. But "today, younger academics who were not discouraged from studying food and have got their degrees in the last 10 years are turning around and proposing food courses."

Finally, universities' emphasis on sustainability, in operations and in the classroom, is paving the way for a greater number of food classes. The new UNH eco-gastronomy major, for example, is an initiative of the university's office of sustainability, which also promotes biodiversity, climate and culture projects.

The degree requires five courses at UNH, including introduction to eco-gastronomy, sustainable food production, and food and society, plus a semester abroad at Slow Food's University for Gastronomic Sciences, which teaches artisanal production and oenology. Unlike some other gastronomy programs, UNH's dual major formally links food appreciation to sustainable food systems. "We want to show students that putting a carrot in your mouth is not just putting a carrot in your mouth. It's who grew it, how it got to you, who produced the seeds," says Daniel Winans, a lecturer who will teach the introductory course.

Professors acknowledge that all the courses in the world aren't going to end college students' love affair with pizza and beer. But they are optimistic that academic food study will empower students to make more-informed choices about food. "Initially, students like to say that as poor students they can't make any changes. They can't afford any more than Subway or Hot Pockets," says Stephanie Hartman, who has taught food and writing courses at George Washington University and Catholic University. "But once you have gone from ignorance to a greater understanding of how your choices impact the food system, you can't go back."

That's the case for Yale junior Kris Baxivanos, who grew up in the farming town of Fallston, Md. "My parents cracked the champagne when they sent me to Yale," says Baxivanos, a women's studies major concentrating on food and agriculture. "My parents thought I'd go off and become a corporate CEO, and here I am coming back with a pitchfork."