Undergraduate Study

Food Systems Major Requirements

You must complete all major requirements outlined on this page and the general education requirements for the School of Public Health.

Suggested first- and second-year courses: biology, chemistry, composition or writing, economics, nutrition, statistics, and courses that satisfy the Interdisciplinary Breadth requirement.

Course Listings

5 credits of biology. Choose from:

BIOL 118Survey of Physiology (5, preferred)
BIOL 180Introductory Biology (5)
BIOL 161/162As earned through Advanced Placement testing

5 credits of chemistry. Choose from:

CHEM 120Principles of Chemistry I (5)
CHEM 142General Chemistry (5)
CHEM 143Accelerated General Chemistry (6)
CHEM 145Honors General Chemistry (5)

5 credits of Economics. Choose from:

ECON 200Introduction to Microeconomics (5)
FISH 230Economics of Fisheries and Oceans (5)
ESRM 235Introduction to Environmental Economics (5)

10 credits from courses that represent the breadth of areas that influence food systems. Choose from:

ACCTG 219Essentials of Accounting (4)
AES 150In-Justice for All: Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in the United States (5)
AES 151Identities, Cultures, and Power Across American Ethnic Groups (5)
ANTH 210Introduction to Environmental Anthropology (5)
ANTH 215Introduction to Medical Anthropology and Global Health (5)
ANTH/AES/ENVIR 211Environmental Justice (5)
ATM S 100Climate, Justice, and Energy Solutions (5)
ATM S 101Weather (5)
ATMS 111Global Warming: Understanding the Issues (5)
ATMS 211Climate and Climate Change (5)
B E 220Cities, Health, and Well-Being (3)
CEP 200Introduction to Community and Environmental Planning (5)
COM 220Introduction to Public Speaking (5)
COM 234Public Debate (5)
COM 289Communication, Power, and Difference (5)
CSE 142 Computer Programming I (4)
CSE 143Computer Programming II* (5)
ECON 201Introduction to Macroeconomics* (5)
ENV H 111Exploring Environment and Health Connections (3)
ENVIR 100Introduction to Environmental Studies (5)
ENVIR 239Sustainability: Personal Choices, Broad Impacts (5)
ENVIR 240The Urban Farm (5)
ENVIR 280Natural History of the Puget Sound Region (5)
EPI 221Maternal and Child Health-a Population Health Approach (5)
ESRM 100Introduction to Environmental Science (5)
ESRM 210Introductory Soils (5)
ESS 101Introduction to Geology & Societal Impacts (5)
GEOG 123Introduction to Globalization (5)
GEOG 208Geography of the World Economy: Regional Fortunes and the Rise of Global Markets (5)
GEOG 271Geography of Food and Eating (5)
GEOG 272Geographies of Environmental Justice (5)
GEOG 280Introduction to the Geography of Health and Healthcare (5)
G H 101/JSIS B/GEOG 180Introduction to Global Health: Disparities, Determinants, Policies, and Outcomes (5)
G H/ENV H 220Global Environmental Change and Public Health (3)
GWSS 244Indigenous Feminisms (5)
HSERV 100Personal and Public Health (3)
HSERV 204Communicating about Health: Current Issues and Perspectives (3)
HSTAA/ENVIR 221US Environmental History: Ecology, Culture, Justice (5)
HSTAA 231Race And American History (5)
HSTCMP 247Global Health Histories: Colonial Medicine, Public Health, and International Health in the Global South (5)
NMETHScience, Evidence and Health: Mastering Health Information and Personal Health Technologies (4/5)
NURS 211Power, Oppression, and Social Justice in Health and Healthcare (5)
NURS 215Disaster Management, Risk Reduction and Health (5)
NUTR 141Introduction to Foods (5)
NUTR 241Culinary Nutrition Science (3)
NUTR 341Exploration of Multisensory Dining* (3)
OCEAN 101Oceanography of the Pacific Northwest (5)
OCEAN 102The Changing Oceans (5)
PHIL/ETHICS/POL S 207Issues of Global Justice (5)
PHIL/ENVIR 243Environmental Ethics (5)
POL S 202Introduction to American Politics (5)
POL S 204Introduction to Comparative Politics (5)
POL S/HSTCMP 249/SOC 266Introduction to Labor Studies (5)
PUBPOL 201Introduction to Public Policy and Governance (5)
SMEA/ENVIR/JSIS B 103Society and the Oceans (5)
SMEA/ENVIR 201Climate Governance: How Individuals, Communities, NGOs, Firms, and Governments Can Solve the Climate Crisis (5)
SOC 110Survey of Sociology (5)
SOC 230Introduction to Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the United States (5)
URBDP 200Introduction to Urbanization: Planning and Designing Alternative Urban Futures (5)

*Course has one or more prerequisites.

4-5 credits of statistics. Choose from:

BIOST 310Biostatistics for the Health Sciences (4)
QMETH 201Introduction to Statistical Methods (4)
Q SCI 381Introduction to Probability and Statistics (5)
STAT 220Statistical Reasoning (5)
STAT 221Statistical Concepts and Methods for the Social Sciences (5)
STAT 290Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics (5)
STAT 311Elements of Statistical Methods (5)

5 credits of qualitative methods. Choose from:

ENVIR 301Research Methods in Environmental Studies (5)
GEOG 425Qualitative Methodology in Geography (5)
NUTR 202Research Methods in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health (5)
SOC 300Foundations of Social Inquiry (5)

30 credits, with cumulative 2.0 GPA.

NUTR 200Nutrition for Today (4)
NUTR 302Food Systems: Harvest to Health (5)
NUTR 303Food Systems: Individual to Population Health (5)
NUTR 402Food Systems Modeling & Analysis (5)
NUTR 412US Food Systems Policy (5) Writing
NUTR 493Food Systems Capstone (6)

Electives and Concentrations

You will choose a minimum of 20 credits of 300- and 400-level courses organized around 4 concentrations as electives. Concentrations, which do not appear on your transcript, allow you to focus electives on broad areas that impact these systems. These concentrations are:

  • Business, Economics, & Marketing: advertising, business, communication, consumers, distribution, economics, entrepreneurship, food production, informatics, law, leadership, marketing, retail
  • Environment & Sustainability: agriculture, agroecology, built environment, climate change, environment, global food security, GIS, hunger, urban food systems, sustainability
  • Nutrition & Health Equity: dietary guidelines, disease prevention, exercise, environmental health, equity, food safety, global health, nutrition, public health
  • Social & Economic Equity: communication, culture, determinants of health, geography, empowerment, inequality, intersectionality, justice, policy, poverty, society

The list of approved electives (pdf) includes information about how to check registration restrictions for these courses; limitations on the number of food systems related internship, study abroad, service learning, and research credits that can be applied towards this requirement; and the course substitution process.

More Information

Find procedures, policies, forms and more resources for completing the Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health major in the Current Students section.