Agric 4001 Special Topic Course (Ref 70637)
AgEc 4301 Topics in Agricultural Economics (Ref 70373)
RuSoc 3304 Topics in Rural Sociology (Ref 71055)

COMMUNITY FOOD SYSTEMS

Spring 2008
Monday and Wednesday, 1-2:15pm
320 Mumford Hall
3 Credits

Instructors

Mary Hendrickson Department of Rural Sociology Office: 200b Gentry Hall Phone: 882-7463 Email: hendricksonm@missouri.edu

Harvey James Department of Agricultural Economics Office: 146 Mumford Hall Phone: 884-9682 Email: hjames@missouri.edu

Description:  This course focuses on essential concepts in the research, implementation and understanding of food systems, with topics ranging from micro-level local, community and regional food systems to macro-level global trends in food production and distribution. In this course students will learn about commodity and food-chain analysis, and how to examine the social, economic and health implications of conventional and alternative food systems. Students will also examine specific U.S. policies and programs relevant to our present food systems and examine the growing proliferation of alternative marketing schemes, food sovereignty issues, and the relationships between community food systems and contemporary health and nutritional issues.

Objectives:  Students who are attentive, study assigned readings, complete all assignments, and participate actively in class discussions should, upon completion of this course, be able to

Understand what a food system is, how food systems are organized in global and community contexts, and how we participate in it.

Recognize and develop different components of community food systems.

Identify and understand links between food system organization and sustainability.

Understand the concept of food security and recognize factors contributing to food insecurity.

Appreciate how food policy is made at the local, regional, national and international levels.

Develop an ethical understanding of the food system – global and community, entitlement vs. privilege.

Make informed decisions about the acquisition and consumption of food.

Course evaluation:  Students will be evaluated on attendance and participation (15%), homework assignments (25%), quizzes (10%), and two exams (midterm 25% and final 25%).

Text and Required Readings: 

Mark Winne, Closing the Food Gap, Beacon Press, 2008 (Click here to order from Amazon.com)
Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, Harper Perennial, 2005 (Click here to order from Amazon.com)
Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America, Sierra Club Books, 1997 (Click here to order from Amazon.com)

Other readings as listed in the Topics and Discussion Schedule, available as PDF or HTM files on Blackboard or identified with Internet hyperlinks. You are expected to read the assigned books or articles before class. Quizzes may be given on assigned readings.

Academic Honesty: Academic integrity is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards breaches of the academic integrity rules as extremely serious matters. Sanctions for such a breach may include academic sanctions from the instructor, including failing the course for any violation, to disciplinary sanctions ranging from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, collaboration, or any other form of cheating, consult the course instructor. Thus, if we become aware of an incident of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarizing, etc) you will receive a grade of zero on the assignment/exam. In addition, we may report the incident to the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies (room 111 Jesse) and the department chair.

Disabilities: If you need accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately. Please see me privately after class, or at my office. To request academic accommodations (for example, a notetaker), students must also register with the Office of Disability Services, (http://disabilityservices.missouri.edu), S5 Memorial Union, 882-4696. It is the campus office responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students requesting academic accommodations, and for accommodations planning in cooperation with students and instructors, as needed and consistent with course requirements. For other MU resources for students with disabilities, click on "Disability Resources" on the MU homepage.

Disclaimer: This syllabus is subject to change to facilitate instructional and/or student needs.

Topics and Discussion Schedule

Unit I: Introduction to the food system and the economics of food

Week 1: Introduction to community food systems

Wed, January 23:

Introduction to community food systems and food maps

Mary Hendrickson, Community Food Systems: An Overview, 2003, http://www.foodcircles.missouri.edu/overview.pdf

Weeks 2, 3: Structure of the food system

Mon, January 28

How the system is organized and who the players are (macro considerations)

Thomas Lyson, “Going Global: The Industrialization and Consolidation of Agriculture and Food Production,” Civic Agriculture, Tufts University Press, 2004, ch. 3.

Thomas Lyson, “The Global Supply Chain,” Civic Agriculture, Tufts University Press, 2004, ch. 4.

Hendrickson, Mary K. and William D. Heffernan. "Opening Spaces through Relocalization: Locating Potential Resistance in the Weaknesses of the Global Food System." Sociolgia Ruralis 42(4):347-369.

Wed, January 30

How the system is organized and who the players are (micro considerations)

Penson, Capps, Rosson, and Woodward, "The U.S. Food and Fiber Industry," Introduction to Agricultural Economics, Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2006, ch. 2.

Michael Pollan, “The (Agri)Cultural Contradictions Of Obesity,” NYT, 2003.

Mon, February 4

Film: King Corn

Wed, February 6

Colloquium on film, King Corn

Unit 2: Issues in Food Systems

Weeks 4, 5: Sustainability

Mon, February 11

Ecological diversity through consumption decisions

Miguel A. Altieri, “Ecological Impacts of Industrial Agriculture and the Possibilities for Truly Sustainable Farming,” Hungry for Profit, pp. 77-92.

Agriculture Diversity in Missouri, 1950-1997, Missouri Regional Cuisines Project, http://extension.missouri.edu/cuisines/DIVERSITY%20CHART%20MISSOURI%20bw.pdf

Wed, February 13

Food miles and virtual water

Richard Manning, “The Oil We Eat: Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq,” Harper’s, February 2004, pp. 37-45, http://harpers.org/TheOilWeEat.html.

Chad Heeter, “My Saudi Arabian Breakfast,” http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0324-21.htm.

Jeremy Laurance, “The Real Cost of a Bag of Lettuce: You pay 99p. Africa pays 50 litres of fresh water,” The Independent, April 26, 2006.

Rich Pirog, Timothy Van Pelt, Kamyar Enshayan, and Ellen Cook, Food, Fuel and Freeways: An Iowa Perspective on How Far Food Travels, Fuel Usage and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Leopold Center, Iowa State University, 2001.

Mon, February 18

Colloquium on book, Fast Food Nation

Wed, February 20

Colloquium on book, Fast Food Nation

Weeks 6, 7: Food insecurity & safety

Mon, February 25

Food insecurity (where next meal comes from) and the community

Mark Winne, chapter 1, "Suburbia, Environmentalism, and the Early Gurglings of the Food Movement"

Mark Winne, chapter 6, "Restoring America's Food Deserts"

Janet Poppendieck, Sweet Charity?: Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement. New York: Viking, 1998, Introduction and chapter 7.

Wed, February 27

Food bank/food pantries
Field trip to the Central Missouri Food Bank

Mark Winne, chapter 5, "Food Banks: Waste Not, Want Not"

Matt Foulkes, Joan Hermsen, Nikki Raedeke, Sandy Rikoon and Erin Whiting, “Coping with Hunger: Food Pantry Clients in the Central Missouri Food Bank Region,” Project Report, 2005.

Mon, March 3

How safe is your food? Centralization, bioterrorism and decentralization

Michael Pollan, “The Vegetable-Industrial Complex,” New York Times, October 15, 2006

Wed, March 5

Ethics and the right to food

The Bread Which You Withhold Belongs to the Hungry: Attitudes to Poverty,” Peter Singer, http://www.iadb.org/Etica/documentos/dc_sin_elpan-i.htm

Weeks 8, 9: Obesity and nutrition

Mon, March 10

Marketing and the food system, How do food producers get signals about nutrition in the marketplace?

Marion Nestle, “Introduction and Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” What to Eat, 2006, pp. 1-24.

Jaffe, J. and M. Gertler. 2006. Victual Vicissitudes: Consumer Deskilling and the (Gendered) Transformation of Food Systems.  Agriculture and Human Values 23(2):143-162.

Wed, March 12

Nutrition and community food systems

Linda Scott Kantor, Community Food Security Programs Improve Food Access, Food Review, 24(1), 2001.

IATP, Food Without Thought: How U.S. Farm Policy Contributes to Obesity, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2006.

Mon, March 17

Obesity and the food system
Guest Speaker: Melinda Hemmelgarn, Food and Society Fellow.

Judy Putnam, Jane Allshouse, and Linda Scott Kantor, U.S. Per Capita Food Supply Trends: More Calories, Refined Carbohydrates, and Fats, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/FoodReview/DEC2002/frvol25i3a.pdf

Cutler, Glaeser and Shapiro, “Why have Americans become more obese?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(3), 2003, 93-118.

Wed, March 19

TBD

March 24 and March 26

Spring break. Stay home and fix a good meal

Unit 3: Community Food System

Weeks 10, 11, 12, 13: Components of community food systems

Mon, March 31

Creating Community Food Systems

Steven Garrett and Gail Feenstra, Growing a Community Food System, http://smallfarms.wsu.edu/publications/WREP0135.pdf

A Primer on Community Food Systems: Linking Food, Nutrition and Agriculture, http://foodsys.cce.cornell.edu/primer.html

Wendell Berry, “The Pleasures of Eating,” in Wendell Berry, What Are People For? Berkeley, CA: Northpoint Press, 1990, pp. 145-152.

Wed, April 2

Direct marketing – farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture
Guest Speaker: Dan Kuebler, Columbia MO Farmers Market

Mark Winne, chapter 3, "Farmers' Markets: Bringing Food to the People"

Mark Winne, chapter 8, "Community Supported Agriculture: Communities Find the Way"

Explore Fair Share Farm’s website, http://www.fairsharefarm.com/

Sarah Bantz and Mary Hendrickson, How Communities Can Support Agriculture: The Kansas City Food Circle Model.

Sat., April 5

Visit the Columbia Farmers Market (Location and hours at http://farmersmarket.missouri.org/), or the Boone County Farmers’ Market (Location and hours at http://www.boonecountyfarmers.com/)

Mon, April 7

Community gardens, victory gardens, urban agriculture

Mark Winne, chapter 4, "Community Gardens: Growing Our Own"

Explore the Gateway Greening website, http://www.gatewaygreening.org/index.asp

Whitmire Study for Gateway Greening, “Community Garden Areas, Reversing Urban Decline,” http://stlouis.missouri.org/501c/gatewaygreening/new_green/whitmire_study.html

Video clip from the Growing Growers Program

Wed, April 9

The Infrastructure of community food: Trucks, warehouses and relationships!
Guest Speaker:  Rusty Lee, Lee Farms LLC discussion on creating infrastructure

Local Produce Calendar at http://www.oletyme.com/shell.asp?id=22.

Steve Fairchild, “Food to the Forefront,” Today’s Farmer, MFA Inc., November 2006, pp. 8-11, http://www.mfaincorporated.com/web/guest/todaysfarmer/980901/980908

Clip from the Farmer-Chef Website in St. Louis

Mon, April 14

Mainstreaming community food systems – grocery stores and food services – (hospitals/college cafeterias, etc)

Margaret Haase, Andrea Azuma, Robert Gottlieb, and Mark Vallianatos, Fresh From the Farm and Into the Classroom, http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/publications/Fresh_From_the_farm.pdf

Buy Fresh, Buy Local and the Kansas City Market, http://www.henhouse.com/buy_fresh_buy_local/.

Wed, April 16

Packaging and labeling

J. Wilkins, “Seasonal and local diets: Consumers’ role in achieving a sustainable food system,” Research in Rural Sociology and Development, 6, 1995, pp. 149-166, http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/NEWSLTR/v8n3/sa-12.htm.

Explore the website: Mississippi River Hills Regional Cuisines Project http://www.showme.net/MRH/

Mon, April 21

Colloquium on book, The Unsettling of America

Wed, April 23

TBD

Unit 4: Miscellaneous topics on food systems

Week 14: Food policy and food culture

Mon, April 28

What is food policy? (local, state, national, international)
Guest Speaker: TBD

Mark Winne, chapter 9, "Public Policy: Food for the People"

Wed, April 30

Slow food, good food, fast food

Exploration of Slow Food International, http://www.slowfood.com/about_us/img_sito/pdf/Companion_ENG.pdf

Week 15 Misc and wrap-up

Mon, May 5

TBD

Wed, May 7

TBD

Friday, May 16, 10:30-12:30

Final Exam, in class