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Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption

Module description

This module critically examines the workings of food systems, from the global scale to the local. You will study the globalization of trade in agriculture and food, including arguments for and against trade liberalization, as well as the idea of food sovereignty. You will examine food poverty, from famines to food deserts, and critically analyze the concept of food security in diverse contexts. You will also study a range of alternative food movements and networks as well as forms of ethical consumption, such as fair trade, organics, and transitions towns, with a focus on how these might create more viable livelihoods and contribute to environmental sustainability. You will also examine the use of food and foodways in the development of cultural economies and in the preservation of cultural heritage.

Module aims - intentions of the module

You will read works on food systems within a range of disciplines, including political economy, development studies, geography, sociology, and anthropology. Through engagement with the literature, you will develop perspectives on food systems at various scales, not only analyzing how existing systems work but also how alternatives to these might be created. The module will prepare you for your own research in the field of study, whether academic or within the context of public institutions, industries, or third sector organisations with an interest in food and its role in economic development, social justice, cultural preservation and environmental sustainability.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Critically analyze the histories of food systems of various types and scales
• 2. Identify and critically assess the roles of a range of actors and component parts of food systems of various types and scales

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Discern the political and economic drivers of food systems of various types and scales
• 4. Recognize and articulate critical perspectives on the social and environmental consequences of food systems of various types and scales

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Critically analyze sources pertaining to the operation of existing food systems and proposed alternatives
• 6. Present relevant information in support of coherent critical appraisal of existing food systems and proposed alternatives

Syllabus plan

The module will be structured as a reading and discussion seminar. The following themes will likely be covered, with minor variation from year to year depending upon the availability and current research of lecturers contributing to the module:

• Food, Agriculture and the State in Historical Perspective
• Famine and Food Aid
• Food Security from the Global South to the Global North
• Trade and Globalization in Agriculture and Food
• Food Sovereignty
• Ethical Consumption
• Short Food Chains
• Slow Food and Transition Towns
• Food, Heritage and the Cultural Economy
• Food, Brexit and the end (?) of Neoliberalism

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Desmarais, Annete Aurélie and Nettie Wiebe, eds.,(2010) Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community, (Pambazuka Press).

Devereux, S. (ed.) (2006) The New Famines: Why Famines Exist in an Era of Globalization.  London: Routledge. 

Hinrichs, C. Clare (2003) ‘The practice and politics of food system localization’, Journal of Rural Studies, 19 (1): 33-45.

Lang, Tim and Victoria Schoen (2016) Food, the UK and EU: Brexit or Bremain?, http://foodresearch.org.uk/food-and-brexit/.

Leitch, Alison (2013 [2009]) “Slow Food and the Politics of ‘Virtuous Globalization’”, in Food and Culture: A Reader, eds. C. Counihan and Penny Van Esterik (Routledge), pp. 409-425.

Nove, Alec (1969) “The Great Debate”, in An Economic History of the USSR (Penguin Books), pp. 119-135.

Pottier, Johan (1999) Anthropology of Food: The Social Dynamics of Food Security (Cambridge: Polity Press).

Raynolds, L. 2000. Re-Embedding Global Agriculture: The International Organic and Fair Trade Movements. Agriculture and Human Values 17(3), 297-309.

Rosset, Peter (2006) Food is Different: Why We Must Get the WTO Out of Agriculture (Zed).

West, Harry G.  (2016) “Artisanal Foods and the Cultural Economy: Perspectives on Craft, Heritage, Authenticity and Reconnection”, in The Handbook of Food and Anthropology, eds. James L. Watson and Jakob A. Klein, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 406-434.

Key words search

Food, agriculture, globalisation, ethical consumption, famine, food security