UHCL : UHCL Students Study Food Sustainability Ahead Of Trip To Oman

Press release from University of Houston-Clear Lake:

December 13, 2021

Food security and environmental sustainability are complex issues in which global
production and logistics systems and diet play critical roles. Achieving a healthy
and sustainable food future is among the world's most urgent concerns, and 10 University
of Houston-Clear Lake students will be traveling over 8,000 miles to learn how Oman,
a small country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, has been innovating
toward this goal.

Associate Professor of Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Studies Maria Curtis, who is among three faculty members leading the trip, said she'd written a proposal
for a grant to do a study abroad program that aligned with U.S. State Department areas
of concern around food security and environmental sustainability.

"There are not as many study-abroad options in the Arab world, and the State Department
encourages programming that offer students to have a diverse set of options," she
said. "Food security and environmental sustainability are of global concern, and because
I developed this program to cover those topics as they relate in the Arab world, our
proposal stood out."

In keeping with one of the class's overarching themes of food security, Curtis asked
her students to make and share an Omani dish and explain its carbon footprint and
its overall sustainability in class. Over the fifteen-week semester, students learned
about Oman's different agricultural crops and regional foodways, reading about regions
and sites they will visit on their trip.

Meat is a staple of diets across the Middle East North Africa region where roughly
80 billion cubic meters of water, or 264 liquid gallons are used annually. Geraldo
Hernandez said he chose to slow-roast lamb using traditional methods and recipes because
locally sourced lamb in Oman is more sustainable than imported beef. To produce the
one kilo of lamb he brought to share with the class, he visited several local specialty
halal markets.

"There are a lot of issues with overgrazing, climate change, and the lack of water,"
he said. "The water footprint for local meat is much lower than imported, and water
is just too scarce. That's why accessibility to red meat is a problem."

According to the Water Footprint Network, 8,763 liters of water are required to produce
one kilo of lamb, compared to 15,415 to produce one kilo of beef.

Casey Gomez said she made marak dal, made of red lentils and spices like turmeric,
coriander, cardamom, cooked with ghee and tomato paste, and Monserrart Montalbo made
Zanzibari pilau, made of basmati rice and cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and coconut milk.
Zanzibar was once part of the Omani Sultanate and the cuisine of Oman reflects that
relationship.

Curtis said Oman was a "melting pot" for food, with many fusion dishes and many desserts
with ingredients like cashews, dates, and almonds. "It's a very cosmopolitan place,
particularly the capital city of Muscat," she said. "Our group will be visiting many
farms and markets, speaking to farmers, and trying different foods all over the country."

Senior Lecturer of Environmental Management in UHCL's College of Business Kathy Garland, who is among the trip's faculty co-leaders, said she was also taking the class along
with the students and learning more about conservation from the Islamic or Arab perspective.
"While I know something about these topics in the Middle East generally, and learned
more in 2019 when we hosted the joint Sultan Qaboos-UHCL conference on Energy and
Environmental Stewardship in partnership with the Omani Embassy, I needed to take
Dr. Curtis' class. As a trip co-leader, I have to be familiar with what students learned
in the class to inform my own contributions when we are in-country."

Faculty and students also enrolled in Arabic language classes, made possible with
funds from the State Departments' Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S.
Students grant.

"It's fascinating to me, because I teach sustainability and resilience here. I'm looking
forward to going to a place where that isn't controversial," she said. "Conservation
and a sustainability mindset are facts of life in Oman. They are as excited to have
us come as we are to go there, and learn about how to contribute to what they're trying
to do and how to engage the public around these issues. We struggle with that in the
U.S. and in Texas."

Assistant Professor of Psychology Georgina Moreno is also a faculty co-leader for the trip, and will be collecting information to apply
to creating better methods of recruiting Latinx students to study abroad programs.
The State Department IDEAS capacity-building grant helped launch this program, and
funding from the Center for Faculty Development and IHAPS will contribute to building
new partnerships and support faculty research after the completion of the trip.

This is the fourth international study trip to Oman that Curtis has organized in the
last six years. Students depart for Muscat, Oman on Jan. 3 and will study and travel
for about two weeks.

For more information about UHCL's Education Abroad opportunities, go online.

This press release was produced by University of Houston-Clear Lake. The views expressed here are the author’s own.