The Class That Changed How I See Food

By Dania Muhsen (GU-Q‘28).

This story is part of the Desert Hoya Blog, written by GU-Q students about their experiences and life as members of the Georgetown community in Qatar.

I used to think food was simple. You grow it, you buy it, you eat it. But enrolling in the class Seeds of Science taught by Professor Rowan Ellis back in Spring 2025 changed my views in a way I didn’t expect.

As the semester progressed, I realized that everything I eat is tied to land, climate, and history. The biggest surprise came from soil (something I had never paid attention to unless it was stuck on my shoes– lol). We spent weeks learning about soil carbon, nutrients, erosion, water retention, and why some countries have fertile fields while others struggle with dry, exhausted land. At first, I didn’t understand why we were spending so much time on “dirt,” but slowly it became the main character. Soil determines what nations can grow. It shapes dependence, vulnerability, and resilience. And yet it’s invisible to most of us. Our visit to Heenat Salma farm made everything we were learning about feel real; walking through the farm, surrounded by quiet patches of green fighting the odds of the climate, hearing the agronomist talk about seed banking and soil health– it all showed me that at its core, agriculture is political in the most human way.

Of course, living in Qatar made my experience more personal. We live in a place where the land, the climate, the water, face challenges of growing anything at all. As we studied regional agricultural systems and how they respond to stress, I found myself thinking about how dependent our own food system is, how fragile supply chains can be, and how remarkable it is to see local farms trying to write a different future for Qatar’s agricultural landscape.

Now when I eat, I notice more. I appreciate it more. I feel connected to processes I can’t see but depend on completely. And somehow, knowing that food is political doesn’t make eating feel heavier. It makes it feel richer, like each meal is part of a story much bigger than me, rooted deep in the soil I used to overlook.

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