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Comparative Food Systems: An Introduction to International and Local Food Systems

Name： / Tony Fuller
Nationality： / Canada
Academic Title： / Professor
Home University（From）： / University of Guelph

本科生

Freshman,Sophomore,Junior,Senior,Postgraduate,Doctoral Student

English

No prerequisites required, but proficiency in English,bothwritingandspeaking, is highly recommended. The Instructor is a native English speaker.

Lecturing in class

Multi-methods:
•lectures
•guest speakers
•documentary films
•open discussion andgroup work

Group report (30%)
Attendance and discussion, one lunch conversation included (20%)
Final essay (50%)

2credits

Professor Fuller has 35 years of experience as teacher, researcher, and administrator at the University of Guelph, Canada. He was Director of the Rural Development Outreach Project (1976 to 1982) (52 projects and $2.7m budget) and head of University-Government rural research relations from 1996 to 2004, allocating a budget of $247, 000 per annum for social science research. Professor Fuller has over 100 publications (books, reports and papers) and has published in 5 languages. He holds many teaching awards and believes that student education is the core purpose of the university. He also feels that multi-disciplinary research is essential in resolving many global issues and is currently working on complex adaptive systems within the food regimes of China (see Publications).

8 components, 4 hour sessions, over 2.5 weeks
Food is a central feature ofdaily life and is a major issue for policy on food security,foodsafetyand food sovereignty inanyglobalorlocal economy. In China, as elsewhere, the food system is changingrapidly because of problems of resource sustainability in an era of climate instability, affecting land, water and labour, as well as food safety. Food systems analysis has become a global academic issue and is supported by a large and contested literature.
The course is designed to challenge students to think about the origins of their food, its content and the processes that make food available (or not) in both global and local systems.
The course is constructed to help students from different disciplinary backgrounds to ‘think’ about food, using a systems methodological approach.
Students will learn about systems thinking to analyse two food systems, undertake selected readings in English, prepare an essay (in English) and be part of a group exercise. The core concept is one of sustainability:which system of food production is most sustainableand what is being done to increase the safety and quality of the food we eat?
In this course, students will:
•learncritical thinking in global food issues
•develop personal positions on food health and safety
•increase knowledge of systems analysis
•integrate ideas from different disciplines
•apply new knowledge to local cases in China
•develop group discussion and report/essay writing skills

This course would take place over 3 weeks in July, 2018 at Renmin UniversityofChina. The course has 8 components. It is intended to integrate science, media, economics and social studies into the content of the course. Reading, in English, at least one document before class, is essential for students to be able to discuss issues and follow the theoretical and empirical logics in the course. One day between classes and the weekends are free for reading the materials that will be available online.The class will meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday am, each week for 4 hours (8:00-12:00).
The coursewill bedivided into three parts:
1.The Industrial Food System; where and how your food is grown and what happens to it before it gets to you (The ‘dirt on your food’). (Modules 1-3, Prof. Fuller)
2. Alternative Food Systems; organic and slow food movements, global and local. (Modules 4-6, Prof. Fuller and guest speakers),
3.Comparing and Integrating the Global and the Local.(Module 7-8, by Prof. Fuller)
The Course Outline:
Module1. Critique of the industrial food system
•Theindustrialfoodchain. Isfast food good for you?
Module2.Sustainability in the context of Food Systems.
•The political economy of food --Who is the food system for? (King Corn, short video)
•Are current food systems sustainable in terms of environmental, social and economic goals and limits?
Module3. Student Critiques of the industrial food system
•Group work: Report on one food system and/or a system sustainability issue
•Video: Darwin’s Nightmare (View online)
•Video: Food inc.(in class)
Module 4. Alternative Food Systems
Developing techniques for analysing food systems
Module 5. Learning from the past.
•Guest speakers from IGSNRR/CAS…the case of Agricultural Heritage systems in China.
•Appreciating the past and welcoming the future ( Discussion in groups)
Module 6. Food Sovereignty
•food self-sufficiency and national security(DrZhenzhong Si)
Module 7. Food Production Transformations
•The two paths in China-- ‘Big is better’, or ‘Small is beautiful’. (Field Visit and panel discussion; Guest speakers, Prof. Zhou Li, Prof. Meng Fanqiao, Dr. Shi Yan)
• Which path to sustainability would you take?
Module 8. Conclusions: what next in food systems sustainability?
•Comparing and Integrating the Global and the Local.

Colin Sage, Environment and Food, Routledge, 2012

•Mustafa Koc, J Sumner, and T Winson, Critical Perspectives in Food Studies, Oxford University Press, 2012
•Paul Roberts, The End of Food, Mariner Books, 2009
•Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas, Steffanie Scott, Characterizing Alternative Food Networks in China, Agriculture and Human Values, Volume 31, No. 3, 2014
other materials selected by the instructor will be provided in class

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