The partnership is kicking off with the inaugural project focusing on park equity with School of Sustainability undergraduate students

By: Mauricio Cordova Flores, ASU Sustainable Food Systems graduate student.

His passion for solving social-economic issues has driven Chad Maisel’s career through positions at the USDA, Senator Cory Booker’s office, and two positions at the White House. He is currently the Special Assistant to the President for Housing and Urban Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council. My graduate cohort had the opportunity to meet with Chad on May 8^th, 2023, the first day of our Applied Food Policy immersive class in Washington, DC.

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In this series, we're sitting down with the Swette Center-affiliated faculty to catch up on food systems, innovation, and what makes a good meal. See the rest of the series on our Food Systems Profiles page.

Read on for an interview with Joanne Cacciatore, Senior Global Futures Scholar and Professor in the School of Social Work.

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By Janell Bohreer, ASU Sustainable Food Systems graduate student.

Note: This blog was originally written in May of 2023. On July 17, 2023, Xochitl Torres Small was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The food policy immersion week in Washington, D.C. affords students in ASU’s Sustainable Food Systems graduate programs an unparalleled experience. This year, the 2022 cohort had the distinct and fortuitous opportunity to meet with the Under Secretary of Rural Development, Xochitl Torres Small. Despite a hectic schedule of committee hearings following her recent nomination for Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Under Secretary Torres Small graciously set aside time to address the future leaders in sustainable agriculture policy. Her passion and commitment to the mission of Rural Development were immediately apparent when she discussed her role delivering on the priorities of the Biden-Harris administration.

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On the hottest day of the summer, with temperatures at 116 degrees Fahrenheit, several Arizona legislators invited by the Arizona Faith Network joined city staff and participants of the Arizona Heat Resilience and Cooling Center Workgroups on tours of local cooling centers and facilities in the Phoenix Metro area. Visits to the centers provided decision-makers with real-time, first-hand experiences and information about these critical relief efforts and the many challenges required to provide ongoing services to the public. The cooling center tours were coordinated by the Arizona Faith Network, the Cooling Center Workgroup, and Arizona Heat Resilience Workgroup to raise awareness of the issues and dangers of extreme heat to local communities and vulnerable populations.

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By Kaley Necessary, ASU Sustainable Food Systems graduate student.

At the end of an intense week of learning, networking, and immersing ourselves in food policy work in Washington, D.C., my graduate cohort had the opportunity to hear from a panel of non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders who shared their valuable experiences in advocating for farm and food policy change.

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Communities are increasingly faced with mitigating challenges related to extreme heat. Decision-makers play a critical role in developing policies and solutions addressing the challenges of extreme heat. A collaborative decision-making approach ensures equitable urban cooling solutions, including data-informed decision-making. The Heat Vulnerability Map & Cooling Solutions Webtool, created as part of the Healthy Urban Environments Initiative (HUE), maps heat vulnerability data to inform strategies and solutions for addressing extreme heat. Using heat data from various sources, the heat Vulnerability Map & Cooling Solutions Webtool features vulnerability variables, including temperature, socioeconomic status, household composition, housing type, transportation access, and more. With these variables in mind, the tool presents a regional vulnerability map to inform equitable strategies for heat. 

Regional Heat Vulnerability Map and Cooling Solutions Webtool

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SPRI is excited to welcome two incoming PhD students focused on sustainable purchasing. Both Abrar Alzayer and Ankita Singh will be connecting with SPRI and supporting our research. Please join us in welcoming Abrar and Ankita and read more about their backgrounds and research interests here.

Abrar Alzayer is an incoming PhD student in Sustainability originally from Saudi Arabia. She pursued her Master's degree in Business Administration from Mercer University in Atlanta and her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia. She also has a two-year diploma in accounting and two years of work experience in various industries. She worked at a non-profit organization that is recognized as a top green company in Atlanta. Abrar has always been passionate about sustainability and hopes to use her knowledge to encourage organizations to behave more sustainably. Her research interests lie in sustainable purchasing strategies, the engagement of internal stakeholders in sustainability concerns, and the effectiveness of sustainable procurement practices.

Ankita Singh started her career as a software developer but changed track to follow her passion of working in the development sector. She has a Master's in Public Policy and Bachelor's in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. Prior to beginning her PhD, she spent three years working with a think tank and media brand in India, on a wide array of projects related to sustainability, agriculture, health, social development, and innovation. Her research interests include sustainability policies and practices, agriculture and water stress.

We are so excited to be working with them both and can't wait to see what they bring to the field of sustainable purchasing!

As the threats of extreme heat, drought and climate change mount, stakeholders in Maricopa County are recognizing these challenges require a regional, coordinated response. On February 8, 2023, local leaders from regional and city governments and community-based organizations gathered at the Maricopa Regional Resilience Celebration to highlight critical voices that need to be centered in future climate efforts.

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Starbucks and Arizona State University have a long-standing partnership to build educational and innovative programming. This partnership will expand to Central America to develop a new sustainability learning and innovation lab at Hacienda Alsacia — the company’s global agronomy headquarters for research and development, located in Costa Rica. ASU will work with Starbucks beginning this fall to offer educational programming for select ASU students and Starbucks partners. The first wave at the farm will include study abroad opportunities for students tied to existing ASU degree programs such as sustainability, sustainable food systems, global agribusiness and environmental and resource management. The Starbucks lab is expected to physically open within the next three years. The lab will serve as a hub for hands-on and virtual learning opportunities for Starbucks partners (employees), students, researchers and industry leaders. They will work to innovate and scale sustainable solutions for some of the world’s most challenging environmental and social issues, including climate adaption and agricultural economics.

Read more about this innovative laboratory at ASU News.

By Sarah Williams, ASU Sustainable Food Systems graduate student.

Our cohort was extremely fortunate to spend a week in Washington D.C. to learn more about the intricacies and complexities of policy making. We met with many varied stakeholders working within the policy sphere to learn about the impacts one can have and the many paths that can lead you there. One such individual that I was especially ecstatic to meet was Kumar Chandran.

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As part of USDA’s $100 Million Dollar Transition to Organic Partnerships Program (TOPP), the ASU Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems will serve as the state lead to support farmers across Arizona as they transition to organic farming systems. This is a nation-wide collaboration led by the National Organic Program that will build programs specifically designed for farmers transitioning to organic practices and will include farmer-to-farmer mentorship, technical assistance, workforce development, and community building initiatives. This work is funded by a 5-year cooperative agreement overseen by the Western/Southwestern Regional Center for Organic Transition, housed at the non-profit organic certifier California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). 

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By Mira Ries

In March 2023, for the first time in two decades, swarms of Moroccan locusts (Dociostaurus maroccanus) arrived in northern Afghanistan. Drought, excessive grazing, minimal early control efforts, and rainfall all contributed to create the perfect environment for locusts to hatch and form swarms. On May 10 the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued an advisory note warning of a major outbreak in the country’s wheat basket.

The Moroccan locust is considered among the most economically damaging plant pests in the world. It feeds on over 150 types of plants, encompassing tree crops, pastures, and 50 essential food crops that are cultivated in Afghanistan. The species represents an enormous threat to farmers, communities and the entire country,” said Richard Trenchard, the FAO Representative in Afghanistan—especially since 15 million people in Afghanistan already face acute food insecurity, according to the UN World Food Programme.

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By Elizabeth Reilly, ASU Sustainable Food Systems graduate student.

In her remarks to a room full of agriculture advocates and change agents, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) emphasized that “farmers are leading the way” in building a more sustainable food system. There is no one more emblematic of that statement than Congresswoman Pingree herself. As both a certified organic farmer and member of Congress, she’s long been at the forefront of food systems change.

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How can humanities research contribute to creating a healthier planet? Sustainability and humanities scholars from ASU gathered at the Walton Center for Planetary Health to discuss this question and more during a roundtable event hosted as part of the 2023 Learning Planet Festival. The Learning Planet Festivalhad over 60,000 international attendees. More than 30 in-person and hybrid events were organized at ASU’s Tempe campus as part of the Festival.

Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan, media theorist and historian of science at King’s College London, visited Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory to participate in a series of Learning Planet events that focused on the role of the humanities within sustainability research. Geoghegan sat down with representatives from the Global Futures Laboratory to discuss how the Laboratory is leveraging the humanities to lead the way to a healthier planet.

Read the full article on BRIDGES Coalition

Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory is now home to the UNESCO BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition Flagship Hub.

The Flagship Hub launched on Oct. 19 at the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health during a series of events featuring leadership from ASU and global humanities and sustainability organizations.

The launch events not only served as a celebration of the Flagship Hub, but also as a demonstration of BRIDGES’ capacity to connect and support individuals and organizations who are already working within the intersection of humanities and sustainability sciences. The events featured speakers from ASU's Institute for Humanities Research and Humanities Lab, Future Earth, Humanities for the Environment, the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences, the Club of Rome and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

Read the full article on ASU News.

SPRI was awarded the coveted President's Award for Sustainability from Arizona State University. This award recognizes SPRI's collaborative nature, impacts on campus, and use-inspired, research. Our submission discusses the importance of sustainable purchasing for fighting climate change as well as the organizations and groups we collaborate with to produce actionable research.

President Michael Crow explains that this award is an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the work of ASU faculty and staff, "Through the efforts of ASU employees, we are creating one of the greatest learning environments ever established anywhere. I appreciate the commitment and significant contributions demonstrated by our university employees, and I support the opportunities we have to acknowledge and celebrate the individual and collective accomplishments of our colleagues.”

We are honored to receive this important recognition and look forward to the award ceremony that will recognize our team and the other President's Award Recipients later this year!

Interested in seeing our submission? Take a look here.

SPRI faculty will be running a workshop and be participating in a panel at SPLC (Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council)'s upcoming 2023 Summit in August. Nicole Darnall, SPRI Director and co-founder; Shirley-Ann Augustin-Behravesh, Associate Director, and Veronica Villena, Faculty Affiliate, will all be in Atlanta, GA in August 2023 discussing cutting edge research as part of SPLC's Summit.

The three faculty will be conducting a workshop called, Envisioning Public Procurement for a Sustainable Future. They will discuss how technology can transform public procurement to improve sustainability outcomes.

During a panel discussion, Darnall will discuss key findings from UNEP's 2022 Sustainable Public Procurement Global Review and identify opportunities to contribute to global, sustainable development.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has appointed 15 new members to the National Park System Advisory Board; among them is Gwen Iacona, an assistant research professor in Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences and the assistant director of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes.

As a member of the board, Iacona will advise the secretary and director of the National Park Service on matters relating to national parks. Her experience in conservation planning and decision support is what guided her to apply for the board.

Read the full article on ASU News

Looking back on the 2022-23 school year, we would like to express our appreciation for our student workers and their valuable contributions to the Swette Center. Their creativity, vibrant personalities, and passion for sustainable food systems greatly enhance our team. We are pleased that they will continue to work with us this summer and during the upcoming school year!

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