Food/Agriculture Certificate

Who the Food/Ag Certificate For?

John Gardner, PhDDean, BGI

Adjunct Professor of Crop and Soil Science, WSU

Agronomic research, developmentOilseed production, processing, marketing business

Tony D’Onofrio, MBASustainability Director, Town & Country Market

Executive Corporate ChefRetail food and grocery business

Who the Food/Ag Certificate For?

Those with an interest in sustainable agriculture business who are Seeking a job in alternative food/ag sector Planning to launch a business in the

sustainable food/ag sector Have a job in sustainable food/ag sector Very curious about this sector, but not yet sure

whether to enter it as a business owner or manager

Hybrid Format

Lectures: Faculty and guests Classroom, online, video

Dialog: Classroom and online Field trips Projects Starts Fall 2012 (special start Jan

2012 with sufficient enrollment)

Four Course Sequence

How the food/ag supply works today in the US and globally

The emerging alternatives in the food/ag sector that focus on economic, environmental, and social performance

Selecting a scale to operate a sustainable food/ag business from hyper-local to global

Practicum: a real world project

Key Concepts – Course 1

Know context of current food/ag sector History, drivers, issues, obstacles to improved

performance of food and agriculture systems Policy, regulatory, and certification systems Current organizational design of US and global

food/ag businesses

Key Concepts – Course 2

Examine emerging alternatives across food/ag sector Understand successes and failures among

alternatives Practical and business challenges of

alternatives

Key Concepts – Course 3

The Importance of Scale Concepts and case studies of food/ag

businesses from hyper-local, local, regional, national, and global scales

Selection and assembly of supply chain among scales

Chain-of-custody and quality assurance mechanisms among alternative supply chains

Integration of food/ag systems

Key Concepts – Course 4

Practicum - applying tools in an integrated real-world project

Options include Continuation from class 3 New client or work project

Formal implementation plan Stakeholder engagement Business case Present to:

Client Class: representative experts

Venture Development Process

Creativity and design thinking

Idea screening

Business model generation

Critique of business models

Use of industry analysis and competitive surveys

Preparing financials

Presentation and review by panel of experts

Hyper-local Local Regional National Global

Key Concepts

Design thinking Problem identification Stakeholder identification Benchmark identification Critical thinking Project management and

implementation

Questions?bgi.eduadmissions@bgi.edu206.855.9559