Food Systems, the Environment and Public Health
Please Note: Certificate program may be completed entirely online!
OVERVIEW
Food systems are at the nexus of many of today's most significant public health challenges, including climate change, over- and under-nutrition, inequitable access to resources, and harmful exposures to workers and communities. Students earning the Certificate in Food Systems, the Environment and Public Health learn to apply a systems lens to understand the critical role of food systems in advancing public health and environmental sustainability. The certificate curriculum can be customized to meet the needs of full-time, part-time, and online students.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Students completing the certificate program will be able to:
1. Define and describe the concepts of food systems, food security, food system sustainability, and resilience.
2. Describe how food systems and food production practices affect the public’s health with attention to equity and the historical trends that shaped today’s food system.
3. Use a systems perspective to analyze and apply critical thinking to inter-relationships within food systems, specifically among diet, food production, the environment and public health.
4. Analyze strengths and weaknesses of political, social, and economic policies and other interventions to improve food systems.
5. Apply selected skills (such as research methodologies, communication, advocacy and behavior change) to promote healthy and sustainable food systems.
SPONSORING DEPARTMENT
Environmental Health and Engineering
ADMISSIONS
Contact information and complete certificate program admissions information are available on the certificate program page on the Bloomberg School of Public Health website.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION
Please note: Certificate program may be completed entirely online
The certificate program requires a minimum of 18 term credits. All required and elective courses must be taken for a letter grade; a minimum grade of C is required in all certificate coursework and students must maintain a 2.75 or better overall GPA for all certificate coursework. The certificate program length is flexible; however, the certificate must be completed within three years.
The student should review the section of the website that addresses completion before completing certificate program requirements. The student's transcript will not indicate that the certificate was earned until the Notification of Completion has been submitted, verified by the certificate program, and processed by the Registrar.
COURSE OF STUDY
Students should check the Bloomberg School course directory to confirm when the courses are offered. Students should also check prerequisites and whether instructor consent is required.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| All students must complete the following courses: | ||
| PH.550.860 | Academic & Research Ethics at JHSPH (All students are required to complete this noncredit online course in their first term of study) | |
| PH.180.620 | Introduction to Food Systems and Public Health (typically offered online in 1st term) | 4 |
| Core Elective Courses: Students must complete a minimum of two courses from Group A and one from Group B, totaling a minimum of ten credits. | ||
| Group A (Food Systems): Select a minimum of two courses from the following: | ||
| PH.180.605 | Food Systems Practicum (typically offered onsite in 2nd term) | 4 |
| PH.180.606 | Case Studies in Food Production and Public Health (typically offered online in 4th term) | 4 |
| PH.180.635 | Seafood and Public Health: Global Trade, Nutrition and the Environment (typically offered online in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.180.644 | Food System Resilience (typically offered online in 2nd term) | 2 |
| PH.180.655 | Baltimore Food Systems: A Case Study of Urban Food Environments (typically offered onsite in 4th term) | 4 |
| Group B (Food and the Environment): Select a minimum of one course from the following: | ||
| PH.180.607 | Climate Change and Public Health (typically offered onsite and synchronous online in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.180.611 | The Global Environment, Climate Change, and Public Health (typically offered onsite in 1st term) | 4 |
| PH.182.640 | Food- and Water- Borne Diseases (typically offered onsite in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.185.600 | One Health Tools to Promote and Evaluate Healthy and Sustainable Communities (typically offered online in 4th term) | 3 |
| PH.188.682 | A Built Environment for A Healthy and Sustainable Future (typically offered online in 4th term) | 3 |
| PH.221.611 | Food Security and Nutrition in Humanitarian Emergencies (typically offered onsite in 4th term) | 2 |
| PH.222.654 | Food, Culture, and Nutrition (typically offered onsite in 4th term) | 4 |
| PH.222.657 | Food and Nutrition Policy (typically offered onsite in 1st term) | 2 |
| PH.222.665 | Planning for Food Systems and Public Health (typically offered onsite and synchronous online in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.224.630 | Food Systems for Health Problem Solving Seminar: Lessons from American Indian Communities (typically offered online in 1st term) | 3 |
| PH.308.660 | Food Industry, Politics and Public Health (typically offered online in 4th term) | 3 |
| PH.380.740 | Nutrition Programs, Policy and Politics in the United States: the Impact on Maternal, Child and Family Health (typically offered online in 2nd term) | 3 |
| PH.700.630 | Food Ethics (typically offered onsite in 4th term) | 3 |
| Additional Recommended Courses: Students may select up to one course below to complete a total of 18 certificate credits | ||
| PH.180.625 | Community-Driven Epidemiology and Environmental Justice (typically offered onsite and synchronous online in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.185.601 | One Health Seminar (typically offered onsite and synchronous online in 4th term) | 1 |
| PH.188.688 | Global Sustainability & Health Seminar (typically offered onsite and synchronous online in 2nd and 4th terms. Students may take 2 terms of this course for 2 credits) | 1 |
| PH.221.654 | Systems Thinking in Public Health: Applications of Key Methods and Approaches (typically offered online in 2nd and 4th terms) | 3 |
| PH.224.689 | Health Behavior Change At the Individual, Household and Community Levels (typically offered onsite in 2nd term) | 4 |
| PH.260.848 | Community-Based Practice Through Civic Engagement (typically offered online in 4th term) | 2 |
| PH.224.690 | Qualitative Research Theory and Methods (typically offered online in 1st term and onsite in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.221.662 | Health, Equity, and Economic Development (typically offered onsite in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.221.663 | Globalization and Health: Framework for Analysis ((typically offered onsite in 4th term and online in Summer Institute ) | 3 |
| PH.305.684 | Health Impact Assessment (typically offered online in 3rd term) | 3 |
| PH.317.600 | Introduction to the Risk Sciences and Public Policy (typically offered onsite in 1st term and online in 3rd term) | 4 |
| PH.308.701 | Media Interviews and Applied Public Health Communications (typically offered onsite in the 4th term and sometimes in the Summer, Fall, and Winter Institutes. *Enrollment is prioritized to DrPH and MPH students.) | 3 |
| PH.410.611 | Under Pressure: Health, Wealth & Poverty (Typically offered onsite and hybrid in the 4th term) | 3 |
| PH.410.612 | Sociological Perspectives on Health (typically offered onsite and synchronous online in 1st term) | 3 |
| PH.410.620 | Program Planning for Health Behavior Change (typically offered onsite in 1st term and online in 4th term, Winter Institute, and Summer Institute) | 3 |
| PH.410.650 | Introduction to Persuasive Communications: Theories and Practice (typically offered onsite in 2nd term and online in Winter Institute) | 4 |
| PH.410.663 | Media Advocacy and Public Health: Theory and Practice (typically offered onsite in 4th term) | 3 |
| PH.410.672 | Organizing for Public Health with the Six Steps to Effective Advocacy: Turning Public Will into Public Policy | 3 |
| Recommended Courses for Non-Degree Students: Students who are not enrolled in a degree program at BSPH are strongly encouraged to complete one or more of the following courses.These credits cannot count towards Group A or B requirements but can count towards the fulfillment of the 18-credit requirement to complete the certificate program | ||
| PH.552.601 | Foundational Principles of Public Health (typically offered online in Summer, 1st, 2nd and 3rd terms) | 0.5 |
| PH.552.607 | Essentials of Environmental Health (typically offered online in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terms) | 0.5 |
| PH.552.610 | The Social Determinants of Health (typically offered online in Summer, 1st, 2nd and 3rd terms) | 0.5 |
| PH.552.612 | Essentials of One Health (typically offered online in 1st and 4th terms) | 0.5 |