Certificate in Leadership in Edible Education

Please Note: This program is not enrolling in 2025. 
Students interested in an education master's program or graduate certificate can explore our flexible, low-residency Nature-Based Early Childhood Education Master's program or Certificate.

Edible Education encompasses the entire way we think about food in schools, from wellness policies to the quality of school lunch, from the content of core curriculum to career and technical education, from school gardens to food waste recycling, and from the ecology of a school campus to our wider food community. The Leadership in Edible Education certificate is designed for those who are interested in exploring food and its connection to society, and who want to make a difference in K-12 schools, post-secondary education, and the wider community. This certificate is offered by AU Seattle.

Certificate Program Overview

The Leadership in Edible Education Certificate provides place-based, experiential education in real-world settings and is designed for educators and food community professionals interested in making a difference through edible education. Students will explore landscapes, programs and people that are defining the field of edible education in the Central Puget Sound Region. We offer a highly placed-based and student-centered approach with a cohort model that attracts a strong, diverse community of learners. We use our community as curriculum and our field classes take place in school, agricultural, community, and commercial sites throughout the region.

Degree / Certificate Requirements

Coursework

• 12-16 credits over three quarters
• Extensive field classes, up to day-long in length, spread over a 10 week quarter
• Two or three one-hour support seminars each quarter decided upon by students

Required courses

• ESE Education Toward Food Citizenship & Community
• ESE Food in Schools & Postsecondary Institutions
• ESE Edible Education I: Theory & Practice
• ESE Edible Education II: Field Application & Culminating Project

For detailed curriculum, degree requirements, and course descriptions, please visit the AUS catalog.

Career Outlook

The LEE Program is designed to assist students in building their professional repertoires in the emerging field of edible education, with the aim helping participants further their careers in this and related fields.  The final quarter of the program is dedicated to a culminating field project/internship with this ultimate goal of professional growth in mind. Students who complete this program can find careers as a:

• Public elementary, middle, or high school teacher and leader incorporating Edible Education in their professional roles
• Independent or parochial elementary, middle, or high school teacher and leader incorporating Edible Education in their professional roles
• Informal  educator and leader, incorporating Edible Education in non-school settings such as non-profit organization, farms, restaurants, food processing and distributing enterprises, arts or cultural institutions, recreational organizations, and government, tribal, and public utility agency outreach and educational programs
• Edible Education program developer or coordinator and leader
• Edible Education curriculum lead, supervisor, or specialist and leader
• Edible Education research specialist and leader
• Edible Education policy specialist and leader
• Edible Education consultant and leader

Learning Outcomes

• Prepares educators and others to create, develop, adopt, conduct, revise, and extend programs of learning in edible education.
• Students engage in experiential, place-based study of food systems, including: food gathering and production, processing of original plant and animal items, distribution, consumption, and post-consumption waste outcomes.
• Students learn to analyze food systems, including their histories and current geographic levels of organization, critical contemporary issues, and potential for future development.
• Students pinpoint how food systems can be devoted to clean, fair, fresh, nutritious, local, accessible, and traditional food for all.