Course ID: | GEOG 3660. 3 hours. |
Course Title: | Geography of Food Commodities |
Course Description: | An introduction to the political, economic, and social origins and implications of several Western food commodities, with a focus on breakfast (e.g., coffee, milk, eggs, and peaches). The course focuses on how natural and human resources are organized and regulated along food commodity chains. |
Oasis Title: | Geography of Food Commodities |
Duplicate Credit: | Not open to students with credit in GEOG 3660E |
Semester Course Offered: | Offered spring semester every year. |
Grading System: | A-F (Traditional) |
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Course Objectives: | Students who successfully complete this course will meet the following learning
objectives:
An appreciation for the complexity of the industrialized agro-food system.
An ability to recognize the ways in which labor practices, economic networks,
environmental conditions and international relationships shape supply, demand and
value within a globalized agro-food system.
An understanding of the rationales for, possibilities for and limitations to
alternative food systems.
An awareness of the significance of science and scientific practices for the
character of our food supply.
An understanding of the significance of colonialism for the character of the
contemporary industrial agro-food system.
This course meets the following General Education Abilities by accomplishing the
specific learning objectives listed below:
Communicate effectively through writing. This is met by a series of writing
assignments associated with supplemental reading and data analysis.
Communicate effectively through speech. This is met by oral presentations,
discussion leading, and classroom participation.
Computer Literacy is addressed through course administration, student-faculty
electronic interaction, and data analysis activities and assignments.
Critical Thinking is central to the learning objectives of this class, and is
developed through homework assignments, lecture, classroom discussion, and inquiry-
based learning efforts.
Moral Reasoning (Ethics) is an important element of this course, as it explores
linkages among human behaviors, economic development, differential cultural norms,
and globalizing forces. Moral reasoning is developed through lectures, writing
assignments, classroom discussion, and inquiry-based learning activities. |
Topical Outline: | THE MODERN FOOD SYSTEM
The Making of the Modern Food System
Industrialization and Grain Production
TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD SYSTEMS
The GMO Debates
Film: Harvest of Fear
ORGANIC FOOD: ISSUES AND DEBATES
WHERE DOES FOOD’S VALUE COME FROM?
Fish, fishing and global trade
Chocolate
COFFEE
Origins and growth of demand for coffee
Coffee and international trade
Specialty coffee and fair trade organizations
Banana farming: Vertical integration vs. contract farming
What do bananas have to do with cashmere?
Trading blocs and trading regimes: The Banana War and the WTO |