DGS 216 - Food, Culture, & Politics

5 Credits

Considers cultural and political dimensions of food from the dawn of agriculture to the present. Explores topics such as food and cultural identity, organic vs. conventional foods, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), agriculture’s role in climate change, chronic hunger, obesity, seed property rights vs. food sovereignty, foreign aid, and the U.S. food policy process.

Fees

Quarters Typically Offered
Designed to Serve General student body.
Active Date 20201208T18:00:17

Grading System Decimal Grade
Class Limit 38
Contact Hours: Lecture 55
Total Contact Hours 55
Degree Distributions:
AA

Diversity & Globalism
Social Science Area I

Course Outline

Local, regional, global and socioeconomic integration and interdependence in the Food System.
Ecological implications of food production.
Food and Climate change
Labor issues in food production
Urban agriculture
Food Security
Food Sovereignty
Food from nowhere vs food from somewhere
Food justice movements/food justice activism

Student Learning Outcomes
Describe contemporary and historical sociocultural perspectives around food production, distribution, consumption and disposal.

Explain contemporary sociocultural changes in economic patterns related to the food system.

Examine points of interconnectedness with others through the food system.

Compare the global forces that propel change in the food system.