The Appalachian Food Justice Institute (AFJI) is a collaborative educational program hosted by the WVU Center for Resilient Communities, based in the Department of Geology and Geography of Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and its community partners in the state of West Virginia. AFJI has been supported through funding from the One Foundation, USDA NIFA, WVU Extension Family Nutrition, MAZON, the Sisters Health Foundation and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. Appalachian Food Justice Institute participants will develop food system leadership and planning skills while learning about food justice, policy, hunger, farming, self-provisioning, hub distribution networks, climate change, racial justice, gender equality, and food sovereignty. Through coursework and firsthand encounters with leaders working on the frontlines of change, participants can learn from food activists and scholars, visit food and farm enterprises, and even intern with farming and food system organizations concerned with advancing equitable food networks in Appalachia. AFJI provides educational opportunities for community leaders, undergraduate students, high school students, and graduate students to learn how they can contribute to food system change in their communities. Students who enroll in one of our programs will learn firsthand from an amazing group of experienced food system changemakers in West Virginia and around the world.
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