EVST480:
Food, Agriculture, and Environment
Spring 2017.Tues. and Thurs. at11:10-12:30
liberal arts building, room 138
Instructor:
Neva Hassanein, 101A Rankin Hall
Email (my preference):
Phone: 243-6271 (o)
Office Hours:
I encourage you to come talk with me during my office hours if you have questions or if I can be of help in any way. Please sign up for a meeting time on the sheet posted across from my office door in Rankin. My office hours are: Monday, 12:40-1:40; Wednesdays 10:20 – 12:20. If these are impossible for you, please contact me to make an appointment.
Purpose of the Course:
According to Wendell Berry, “eating is an agricultural act.” Food is central to our lives, and ithas the capacity to profoundly connect us with nature and the place where we live. But most ofus know very little about how the food we eat each day is produced, how production processesmight impact the environment and human health, or how our food reaches our plates.Overall, the purpose of the course is to introduce you to some of the contemporary issues in thestudy of food and agriculture in the U.S. and to demonstrate an approach to interdisciplinarystudy and practice. We will look at the conditions created by the dominant, “industrial” food andagricultural system, as well as investigate emerging alternatives – such as “sustainable agriculture,” “organic farming,” and “local food systems.” You will have the opportunity to improve your critical thinking, writing, and oral communicationskills through class discussions and a series of assignments aimed at encouraging you to engagewith the readings, concepts, and other course materials.
Learning Outcomes:
To introduce the broad field of agri-food studies.
To increase participants’ knowledge of the development of US agriculture: The role of science and technology in agricultural industrialization, the major structural issues in the dominant food system (e.g., concentration of economic power), and questions surrounding sustainability of current food systems.
To develop participants’ knowledge of the alternative agri-food movements: The strategies being pursued, and the potentials and limits of those strategies.
To develop analytical and critical thinking skills through discussion, careful reading, and analytic essay assignments.
To increase substantive and experiential knowledge through an exercise assignment.
To improve presentation skills by sharing your learnings.
Requirements
Readings: The required readings (see schedule) will be posted on our Moodle site for thiscourse.
Class Participation and Attendance:
The course is organized as a seminar, which means it is primarily discussion. We will mix it up some, though. Its quality greatly depends upon the active participation and contributions of all members. Accordingly, you must be prepared to read,think, and take responsibility for your learning. Also, all of us have a responsibility to use thisopportunity to learn from the experiences, insights, and values of others in the course. My aim isto create a learning community in which we will grapple seriously and critically with the issuespresented by the readings.
One of your main tasks in this course is to do each reading thoughtfully before class and then tohelp us discuss it in class. Please bring readings to class! I hope you will enjoy attending class,and I will expect you to attend class consistently. If you are not in class, you cannot benefit fromhearing the discussion of the material, nor can you contribute to the group’s learning together.I understand that active participation in class discussions is not easy for everyone, but I encourageyou to give it a try. I may choose to give you a little extra credit at the end if you have been anactive and thoughtful participant in class. Please treat each other with respect when expressingyour views and help us to create space so that everyone has a chance to speak.
Discussion questions:
Each time reading is assigned, come to class with two questions that can help us with discussion. Twice (or four times for graduate students) this semester you will submit your two discussion questions and lead a brief discussion of one of them. In class, I will randomly call on some students to pose their discussion question and to lead the discussion that follows. If you fail to have a discussion question on a day that you are called on, you will lose points from your participation grade with no opportunity to make it up.Although you will develop two, you will only pose one (the second one is in case someone else has the same question as you do). Why have people develop questions that they probably won’t pose? Developing questions predisposes people to participate, leading to a more engaging experience for everyone.
Technology in the classroom:
Laptops and mobile devices bring many temptations that can distract from your learning and contribution to the discussions. Unless otherwise noted, laptops are not allowed in class. Similarly, do not text during class, which includes in class group meetings and work sessions. The first such infraction will be met with a warning. Additional ones will result in deductions to the participation grade.
Essays:
The course is divided into two major sections with an essay assignment due at the end of each one. The assignments will ask you to think critically about what you read, to synthesize thematerial covered, and perhaps do some extra research or activity.
I will distribute the question(s) and specific guidance at least two weeks before it is due.
Typically, these papers should be five to seven pages, typed, and double-spaced with normal margins andfonts. I expect these papers to be well organized, grammatically correct, and completelyreferenced.
Exercises:
A list of possible exercises (or projects) will be distributed during the second week of the semester. These will involve doing some research, taking action, or exploring on your own.
Presentations:
At the end of the semester, each student will make a short presentation on some element(s) of what they have learned over the course of the semester. This will generally be something related to one or more of their exercises. Presentations should be tight, well organized, and to the point. Students are encouraged to use visual aids or props.
Grading:
Your final grades will be based upon the following:
Class participation (20%)
i.e., attendance, contributions to class discussions, leadership, adherence to technology policy
Two essays (60%)
Final exercise (15%)
Presentation (5%)
Late Papers:
If you do not turn in an assignment on time for whatever reason, you can turn
it in as much as one week later – but no later than that – for one less point than it would have otherwise received for each day it is late.
Graduate students:
To receive graduate credit for this course, you will be expected to read the supplemental material when assigned and to share a summary and analysis of it orally with the rest of the class. You will contribute discussion questions four times during the semester. I will also expect greater sophistication in your analytical essays.
Guest Speakers:
Several guest speakers may be added as appropriate.
Other Activities:
If there is sufficient interest among the members of the class, we may want to
organize a field trip, participate in a service project, and/or have a potluck.
A note on plagiarism:
Academic honesty and integrity are essential. The student code ofconduct expressly forbids plagiarism, which is the representation of another person’s work asyour own. It will not be tolerated in this course, and any student whom I suspect of plagiarizingwill be subject to the procedures and consequences described in the student conduct code.
COURSE MENU
Subject to Change if Necessary
PART ONE: AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIALIZATION
1. Tuesday, Jan. 24 – Introduction to the course and to each other
2. Thursday, Jan. 26 –Agrarianism and industrialism
Lyson, Thomas. 2004. “From subsistence to production.” Pp. 8-29 in Civic Agriculture:
Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community. Medford, MA: Tufts University Press.
Berry, Wendell. 2001. “The whole horse.” Pp. 63-79 in The New Agrarianism: Land, Culture, and the Community of Life, edited by Eric T. Freyfogle. Washington: Island Press.
3. Tuesday, Jan. 31 – Agricultural development: Structure and markets
Guptill, Amy, Denise A Copelton, and Betsy Lucal. 2017. Industrialization: The high costs ofcheap food. Chapter 6 in Food and Society: Principles and Paradoxes. Second edition. Malden MA: Polity.
Howard, Phil. 2016. “Food system concentration: A political economy perspective.” Chapter 1, Pp. 1-16 in Concentration and Power in the Food system: Who Controls What We Eat? London: Bloomsbury Academic.
4. Thursday, Feb. 2 –Agriculture and environment, part I
Lengnick, Laura. 2015. The vulnerability of the U.S. food system to climate change. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 5(3):348-361.
Manning, Richard. 2014. “Idaho’s sewer system: As big ag flourishes, the Snake River suffers.”High Country News, 46(13): 10-17.In class video: Big River
5. Tuesday, Feb. 7 –Agriculture and environment, part II
Carolan, Michael. 2012. “Food, agriculture, and the environment.” Chapter 10, Pp. 223-2 45 in The Sociology of Food and Agriculture. London: Routledge.
6. Thursday, Feb. 9 – Systems thinking
Carolan, Michael. 2012. “Understanding the food system: Past, present and future.” Pp. 40-65in The Sociology of Food and Agriculture. London: Routledge.
Tuesday, Feb. 14 –The genetic engineers
Schurman, Rachel and William A. Munro. 2010. “Creating an industry actor.” Chapter 2, Pp. 15-50 in Fighting for the Future of Food: Activists Versus Agribusiness in the Struggle over Biotechnology. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hakim, Danny. 2016. “Doubts about the promised bounty of genetically modified crops.” New York Times, October 29. And reply from Monsanto (Fraley)
Ronald, Pamela. 2013 “Buddhist economics and a GMO rethink.”
Scientific American Food Matters blog:Scientific American Food Matters Blog
Thursday, Feb. 16 –Coexistence. Guest speaker: Kristina Hubbard, Director of Advocacy, Organic Seed AllianceHubbard, Kristina, and Neva Hassanein. 2013. “Confronting coexistence in the United States: Organic agriculture, genetic engineering, and the case of Roundup-Ready alfalfa.” Agriculture and Human Values 30(3): 325-335.
Mills, Allison. 2013. “A question of coexistence: Lewistown neighbors lay bare national GMO debate.” Great Falls Tribune, May 9.
Supplemental:
Glenna, L.L., J. Tooker, J. R. Welsh, and D. Ervin. 2015. “Intellectual property, scientific independence, and the efficacy and environmental impacts of genetically engineered crops.” Rural Sociology 80(2):147-172.
Tuesday, Feb. 21 –Shifting paradigms: What keeps us locked in place? Selections from this report to be announced. IPES-Food. 2016. From Uniformity to Diversity: A Paradigm Shift from Industrial Agriculture to Diversified Agroecological Systems. International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems.
10. Thursday, Feb. 23 – Futures?
Carlisle, Liz. 2012. “Critical agrarianism.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Pp. 1-11.
The Economist. 2016. “The future of agriculture: Factory fresh.” Technology Quarterly, The Economist June 9, 2016. Retrieved at: The Economist
11. Tuesday, Feb. 28 –Work session
12. Thursday, Mar. 2 –No class today! Work on your essays
13. Tuesday, Mar. 7 –ESSAY #1 due
PART TWO: CONSIDERING THE ALTERNATIVES
14. Thursday, Mar. 9 – Historical context
Allen, Patricia. 2004. “Perspectives of alternative agrifood movements.” Pp. 21-49 in Together at the Table: Sustainability and Sustenance in the American Agrifood System. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
15. Tuesday, Mar. 14 –Sustainable agriculture: Something in the soil
Berry, Wendell. 2009 (2006).“On The Soil and Health.” Pp. 161-172 in Bringing it to the
Table: On Farming and Food. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.
Carlisle, Liz. 2016. “Factors influencing farmer adoption of soil health practices in the United States: A narrative review.” Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2016.1156596.
Supplemental: Magdoff, Fred. 2007. “Ecological agriculture: Principles, practices, and constraints.”Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 22(2): 109-117.
16. Thursday, Mar. 16 – TBD
WEEK OF MARCH 20 – SPRING BREAK
17. Tuesday, Mar. 28 –Foodshed thinking
Kloppenburg, Jack R., Jr., John Hendrickson, and G.W. Stevenson. 1996. “Coming in to the foodshed.” Agriculture and Human Values 13(3): 33-41.
18. Thursday, Mar. 30 – What’s a local trap?
Born, Branden and Mark Purcell. 2006. “Avoiding the local trap: Scale and food systems in planning research.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 26:195‐207.
19. Tuesday, April 4 – Food justice
White, Monica. 2011. “D-Town Farm: African American Resistance to Food Insecurity and he Transformation of Detroit.” Environmental Practice 13(4):406-417.
Montalvo, Marcelo Felipe Garzo. 2015. “To the American food justice movements:
A critique that is also an offering.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Advance online publication: To The American Food Justice Movements
Vernon, R. V. 2015. “A Native perspective: Food is more than consumption.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Advance online publication. Food is more than Consumption
20. Thursday, April 6 – Food justice, democracy, sovereignty and security.
Holt-Gimenez, Eric. 2010. “Food security, food justice, or food sovereignty.” Food First Backgrounder Vol. 16.No. 4. Retreived at: Food First.org
Hassanein, Neva. 2008. “Locating food democracy: Theoretical and practical ingredients.” Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 3(2-3): 286-308.
Supplemental:
Hassanein, Neva. 2003. “Practicing food democracy: A pragmatic politics of transformation.” Journal of Rural Studies 19:77-86.
21. Tuesday, April 11 – TBD
22. Thursday, April 13 – TBD
23. Tuesday, April 18 – ESSAY #2 DUE
24. Thursday, April 20 – Final presentations.
25. Tuesday, April 25 – Final presentations
26. Thursday, April 27 – Final presentations
27. Tuesday, May 2 – Final presentations
28. Thursday, May 4 – FINAL EXERCISES DUE
Final: Our scheduled final exam period is Tuesday, May 9 at 8:00 – 10:00. We will NOT have a final exam. We will, however, schedule a final potluck and gathering.
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