SOC 2075 - Food and Society
3 Credits
Provides an analysis of the social complexities of local and global food systems. The social and cultural nature of food and water as providers of life are examined from the family dinner table to global systems of agricultural production and distribution. Engaging in discussions of the environment, local and global production, consumption, and the social problems of hunger and obesity, this course examines individual and social relationships to food and considers social, structural, and cultural solutions to the pressing social problems interwoven in social systems of production and consumption. Special attention is paid to the impacts of environmental considerations and climate change on our food systems.
Major Content Areas
Global and international policies and politics that relate to food, water, and sustainability.
Big agriculture and food production.
Local, rural, and urban food production and homesteads.
Grocery stores and food access.
Patterns of consumption and identity.
Environmental and climate change impacts and sustainability.
Hunger and obesity.
Intersecting impacts of food production with social institutions, identities, and inequalities of class, race, gender, and nationality.
Learning Outcomes
Examine how social institutions shape peoples relationships’ with and access to food and water.
Identify the processes and places of food production, including big agriculture, local producers, grocers, urban homesteads, and local and global food assistance programs.
Describe the environmental impacts of various methods of food production and the impact of climate change on food production.
Examine social movements around food justice.
Name solutions for social and environmental problems associated with local and global food chains, production, and consumption.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MNTC) Goals
08 - Global Perspective
10 - People/Environment
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