This class explores society’s relationship with food and agriculture. We examine practices of production, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food. From seeds to the waste stream, we learn what social, political, and economic factors shape our food system and our food choices. Our focus will be both global and local as we investigate the relationships between food, culture, inequality, and ecology. Food justice and food security are organizing themes of the course. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Social Sciences, Elective)
Course Outcomes
- Demonstrate a general knowledge and comprehension of food and culture from a sociological perspective.
- Discuss the social construction of food as a form of cultural expression.
- Demonstrate understanding of food access, consumption, and politics as an issue of justice.
- Assess the ecological implications of the current global food system, especially industrial agricultural production.
- Describe the complexities of the modern industrial food complex.
- Identify sustainable and alternative models of food production.
- Demonstrate structural explanations for food insecurity and hunger.
- Examine our own eating habits through a sociological lens.
- Explain how the production, distribution, and consumption of food reflect deeper social patterns and inequalities.
- Describe how food patterns vary according to race, class, and gender.