Read on for an interview with Angelia Seyfferth, Professor in the School of Life Sciences.

From the milpa fields of Mexico to the communal lands of Zimbabwe, researcher Mauricio Bellon has spent decades listening to farmers and learning from the crops they keep. After this spring semester, Mauricio will be retiring from Arizona State University and the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems.

"Overall, students walked away with valuable lessons in coalition building, negotiation, and compromise, as well as a broader understanding of the complex structures that are at the foundation of the rulemaking process."

"The room was not fractured over whether urban agriculture matters, but rather who governs it, how it’s funded and who bears responsibility when tradeoffs arise."

"Model USDA is designed to test students’ ability to navigate competing interests under political and scientific uncertainty. Scenario A did exactly that."

As a consultant on the Swette Center team, Mark Lipson is providing support to the farming community in Arizona as they work to establish the state's first organic cooperative.

"As a journalist, I realized the key role I could play in sharing information, whether that information sowed discontent or pleasure was not necessarily my responsibility. We asked probing questions, informed stakeholders of their opposition's opinions, and wrote think pieces on the state of affairs."

"In Scenario B, participants were tasked with developing a federal rule that the USDA would use to administer the Food and Nutrition Education in Schools Pilot Program. It was a rich and engaging day filled with collaboration and discussion aimed at moving the needle forward on school nutrition."

"For me, one of the biggest takeaways was that rural communities do not lack ideas or commitment. What they often lack is sustained access to power."

"Prescribed fire has many layers that are often overlooked. If we truly want healthier forests, we must also confront the political dynamics that shape how fire policy is implemented."

"This event brought together community partners from ranching, government, academia, and retail to learn what responsible meat production can look like and how to market it successfully."

"The weekend was a masterclass in the sheer scale of federal policymaking. To mirror real-world processes, the students were organized into a multi-faceted web of stakeholders."