This course seeks to create an overall understanding of the whole food system, including production, distribution, advertisement, regulation of agriculture, as well as the impact of the food system on food workers, the environment and human health. Further, we will look through the lens of Jewish and Christian ethical values of justice and explore the spiritual connection to food. Finally, we will consider programmatic approaches to food justice and the role of religious leaders in working through faith communities to pursue food justice.
Readings:
(Note: Readings will be posted on the course website. Students are not required to buy texts, although the following four books will be used more extensively and students might want to purchase them for reference.)
Food Justice, Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi, MIT Press, 2010
Fair Food, Oran Hesterman, Public Affairs, 2011
Stuffed & Starved, Raj Patel, Melville House, 2012
Food Politics: How The Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, Marion Nestle, University of California Press, 2007.
Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating, Norman Wirzba, Cambridge University Press, 2011.