1.
Food Security Summer Courses
Tulane University Summer Courses
in Italy
2015 – 9th edition

2.
• Why Studying Food Security and Humanitarian
Logistics in Italy
• Three complementary courses
• Methodology and approach
• Timing and logistics

3.
Why studying Food Security in Italy
Italy is home to the three UN organizations with mandate on food security and agriculture:
– Food and Agriculture Organisation
– World Food Programme
– International Fund for Agriculture
Food security policies have important players in the organisations focused on food.
Food aid continues to be the single largest component of international humanitarian response activities.
Key decisions are being made and solutions are being found to enhance food security at the Rome-based
agencies of the United Nations.
Italy hosts the European Food Safety Agency mandated with scientific research on new industrial food
additives.
In Italy the organisation Slow Food was born and then extended to the whole world to claim for production of
good, clean and fair food as driving principles of food and agriculture policies
During the three courses the students visit the Rome based UN
organisations HQs and meet with UN officers. Lectures and
presentations are given on themes and research always very
central and key to latest understandings and policy debate on
food security. Visit include Slow Food HQs, University and
Study Center in Bra (Turin).

4.
“
”
…those are the classes
that made my
grad school degree
worth more than just
the piece of paper
I got at the end of it.
Bijorn Betzler, edition 2013
Emergency Program Manager,
Food for Peace at Mercy Corps.

5.
Why studying Food Security in Italy – 2
Italy relies strongly on local food systems. In some
areas they are resisting the transformation of the
globalization, in others they are being created by
intentional efforts of movements of agriculturalist
and consumers.
During courses, students learn and exercise on
qualitative and quantitative research techniques,
also by meeting and interviewing with local food
producers and family farming business.

6.
“ My experience in Italy shaped my world view in unique
and important ways. The classes were stimulating, the
environment was one of a kind; I cannot recommend
this program enough.
It changes the way you look at the world, and the way
you interact with the world, and more than any other
coursework I think being with Professor Morrow in
Italy inspired the kind of health advocate I want to be.
I'm now in my second year at Tulane Medical, and I
dream about the lake and that summer often.
”
Giacomo Tomasello, edition 2011
MSC, ENS MC USNR

7.
Why humanitarian logistics in Italy
• In Brindisi, Italy there is the HQ of the UN logistics humanitarian depot network (UNHRD)
• The Brindisi hub serves the prepositioning and immediate transport requirements of more than 40
emergency response organizations
• Brindisi hosts the largest basis for the peacekeeping operations logistics support in the world
• UNHRD became a center for the study and practice of humanitarian logistics
• Imperial Rome was home to the first governmental food aid programme known in history
Field visits include trips to UN premises in Brindisi,
meetings with key UN officers of logistic services.
Itinerant lessons to the ancient Roman coast town of
Ostia where food aid ration for the ancient Rome
where baked are also featured in the program.

8.
“ I knew I had an interest in food, but I hadn’t known much about food
security or systems logistics until usurping this DRLS opportunity. It
turned out to be pivotal in my education and my career choices.
The month I spent learning from Nathan and Sabrina was some of the
most fruitful time of my entire MPH. The information I gleaned was
directly applicable to my career in global public health, and the
enjoyment I felt experiencing each lesson in Bolsena will stay with me for
a very long time. The reading assigned in these classes, even, is now on
my Kindle for leisurely understanding of systems, and I use much of the
information from Italy now working in Southern Africa. If I could take
these classes again, I would in a heartbeat. I’m extremely grateful for
having had the opportunity to learn about everything from need and
resilience, to WFP and Slow Foods, to spiral gardening and the vineyards
of Tuscany. These classes opened my eyes… my stomach… and my world.
I found my passion in summer 2013.
”
Camille Elyse Jones, edition 2013
MPH Candidate, Tulane University
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Masters
International Peace Corps Volunteer Botswana 2013-2015

9.
Three courses and three different angles
1. Food Security Information Systems and Logistics
May 18 – 29 2015
2. Food Security and food aid in humanitarian contexts
June 8 – 19 2015
3. Food Security and Resilience
June 22 – 4 July 2015

10.
Food Security Information Systems
and Logistics
- A number of pioneering efforts in food security information systems
to analyze vulnerability and target humanitarian response also
began at the UN Rome-based agencies. The current practice and
history of these efforts are the subject of course work and field
visits for this course
- Key stakeholder: UNHRD, head of the logistic network for
prepositioning goods for humanitarian response
Focus on systems, procedures and infrastructures for
producing and handling information on food security,
vulnerability, response.

11.
“ The logistics and information systems class
was a fun, hands-on learning experience.
The simulation lab taught me GPS mapping
skills, which helped me secure a spot in the
first ever joint Global Education Cluster
Child Protection Working
Group Information Management training,
which is what led me to my job co-leading
the Education Cluster in Mali.
Sarah Bellotti, edition 2013
Information Manager,
Education Cluster at Save the Children”

12.
Food Security and food aid
in humanitarian contexts
• Food aid continues to be the single largest component of international
humanitarian response activities. When it comes to food security, key
decisions are being made and solutions are being found at the Rome-based
agencies of the United Nations in partnership with diplomatic
missions and international civil society present in Italy.
• Key stakeholder: WFP, the largest humanitarian organization in the world
and the logistics leader for the UN system (“Logistic Cluster).
• Focus on current food assistance policies and their
evolution.
• Understanding of processes and components of food aid
interventions.
• Familiarization with humanitarian response challenges.

13.
“ Initially, I took this course to be a more well-rounded
professional since I did not have much experience in food
security, but this was hands down one of the best
decisions I made in graduate school. This program will
ignite a passion in you for food you never knew you
had. The experiences afforded to you by way of local
producers all the way to international humanitarian
agency officials in addition to realistic practicums in the
lab, will give you a complete exposure to all the
necessary fundamentals of food security and allow you to
experience parts of Italy you never new existed. I cannot
recommend this program enough. If you are debating
whether this is the program for you, trust me, it is!
Solome Asseres, edition 2013,
ECD/OVC internship with USAID ”

14.
Food Security and Resilience
• Resilience —the capacity for communities and households to
prevent, mitigate and recover from disasters and crisis — is
increasingly recognized as both a policy goal and key outcome of
food security focused development and humanitarian programs.
• Key stakeholders: FAO, Bioversity, Foundation, Slow Food Study
Center
Focus on drivers hampering food security and on variables
enhancing resilience at different scale. Features:
Gender analysis and mainstreaming in design and evaluation
Understanding climate change impact on food production
and mitigation experience

15.
“ That course was definitely the highlight of my Tulane
experience and one that I reference often.
It was an incredible combination of experiential
learning, collaboration, and exploration.
For me, as a distance student, it was the most
significant interaction I had with other colleagues
and professors.
Beyond that, it was great fun and went way beyond
an academic experience - transforming the way I
view food, local value chains, and community even
today.
Carole Stewart Chan, edition 2011
Asian Development Bank - Timor-Leste coordinator
of Private Sector Development Initiative ”

16.
Methodology and Approach
• Mix of lessons, hands on lab, field visits, individual
reading, students’ research, direct exchange with
experienced international professionals
• Formal and informal learning opportunities alternate
to allow for a more holistic and permanent learning
• Intense full immersion learning experience providing
familiarization with a variety of broad and essential
theoretical frameworks
• Actual learning and practice of practical research and
programming skills
• Networking with key stakeholders and facilitation of
internship opportunities

17.
Timing and logistics
• The courses are proposed in sequence and cost managed to allow and encourage for full
participation to the whole didactical offer (mid May, early July)
• A week break in the calendar (30 May – 7 June) allows for sightseeing around Italy and/or
Europe
• Classes are offered in the morning and in the afternoon (lab). Free time to complete
assignments and read suggested bibliography is granted every day as well. No classes are
scheduled on Saturday and Sunday, and individual travelling is also possible on the weekend.
• The Italian partner organisation Punti di Vista is available for suggestions and support for
optimising free time for visiting site of interest or organisations involved in the themes of the
courses.
• Event in the spotlight: In 2015 the international EXPO on food security will take place in
North of Italy (Milan) Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. The courses will link to the themes
and actors exhibiting in the EXPO 2015, and students could consider spending some free time
to attend events and sessions in Milan.
• Optional activities – as movie projection, cooking lessons, excursions – are scheduled when
on campus.
• All costs (tuition, local transportation, lodging, food, field visits) are covered entirely for the
duration of the course attended.

18.
Accomodation
• The campus where the Food Security Courses are hold is an ancient
Franciscan Convent in rural Italy, half way between Rome and Florence.
The convent has been managed for over 20 years by the CBO Punti di
Vista, dedicated to sustainable and inclusive development in local and
international settings, promoting ecological knowledge and initiatives, and
mainstreaming gender equality. See the convent website:
www.conventobolsena.org and the page on
www.facebook.com/conventobolsena
• When in campus the students have individual rooms, with shared
bathrooms, access to all the premises including library and workstations,
garden, lounge with fireplace. Internet wifi is available within the convent
and in large part of the garden.
• Three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are provided during the
courses, both when on campus and when travelling to field visits.
• During field visits (to Rome, or Bra – Parma, or Brindisi) accommodation is
in shared (max 3 persons) occasionally in single rooms.

19.
Food
• Fresh meals based on local seasonal and mostly
organic produces are catered in campus or in
nearby restaurants.
• During travel for field visits, best quality/price
restaurants are selected along the itinerary, and
the cost of meals is included in the overall fee.
• Specific dietary needs communicated in advance
are kept into consideration when on campus and
when on field trips.

20.
Travel
• Local travel is organized by taxi van, minibus,
urban taxi, underground, train, according to
need and availability of services.
• Local travel expenses (from the airport to the
airport when on course program) are all
covered by the course fee.
• International travel is not included in course
fee.

21.
Thank You!
• For more information and to apply:
– Go to: http://www.payson.tulane.edu/si
– Send an email to paysonsummer@tulane.edu
– Call 504-865-5240