‘Eye-opening’: My Scribner Seminar, The Business of Food

Members of Skidmore’s Class of 2028 are settling into campus residences, getting to know one another, and getting a sample of Skidmore’s liberal arts curriculum through their Scribner Seminars — a hallmark of Skidmore First-Year Experience.  

Scribner Seminars for the 2024-25 academic year range from Buzz: Art and Design of Caffeine taught by Professor of Art History Mimi Hellman to My Therapist is a Robot: Technology and Psychotherapy taught by Assistant Professor of Psychology Lucas LaFeniere.  

Alex Bonrouhi ’27, who hails from Marina Del Rey, California and is a goalie on the Skidmore ice hockey team, plans to major in both economics and management and business. He looks back at his Scribner Seminar experience and how it excited him about academic life at Skidmore.  

---

My experience taking First-Year Scribner Seminar, The Business of Food, with Professor of Management and Business Caroline D’Abate ’93 was eye-opening. Topics such as business, agriculture, history, and technology all came together to create an informative course that shed light on the business food value chain, the history and evolution of farming, and the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of many of our favorite foods.  

The material covered multiple fields of study which broadened my horizons and made me think about future classes I might want to take. I also got a sense for Skidmore academics, both in terms of approach and expectations.   

 Before taking this seminar, I would never have read a book like Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” which covers the range of food choices our society faces. The opportunity to learn about the roles of certain foods in the farm-to-table process — corn and beef, in particular — helped me appreciate the effort that the limited number of farmers around the globe must put forth to feed us all.  

Learning from readings, class discussions, and group projects helped me get a better sense of the scale of products that farmers produce as well as the role of global corporations in modifying and packaging food for consumption. I now see the importance and value of improving one’s diet by consuming locally sourced, non-GMO foods that are offered throughout our community.  

Supporting these local businesses helps fund safe and environmentally friendly farming practices that go a long way toward preserving our planet and keeping people healthy.  

For me, the most impactful learning came from hands-on experiences we had on field trips to local businesses: 

• We visited Saratoga Apple, where we met with their farm manager to learn about apple farming, seasonal work, and the challenges of producing a reliable crop in upstate
• At Druthers, owner Chris Martell shared the challenges of creating and growing a winning restaurant, its operations, and the importance of community in business ownership.
• And at 9MilesEast, we toured the organic, whole food café to learn from founder Gordon Sacks about food production and their focus on local, healthy food. 

Guest speakers, such as Professor of Business and Zankel Chair in Management Pushkala Prasad, provided personal experiences to include in my final paper, “The Life of a Burger,” in which I detailed the value chain processes that go into a hamburger.

Prasad explained that beef occupies 55% of the world’s agriculture and that 2,500 gallons of water is needed to produce one pound of beef, which strengthened my argument that current practices used by corporations are detrimental to and unsustainable for the environment.  

If you enjoy an engaging, collaborative learning environment, the Business of Food class is for you.