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Anthropologhy - Laura M. Montgomery, PhD

Food Systems: Justice for People and the Earth

Course Syllabus

Food Systems: Justice for People and the Earth
Course Outline
prepared by
Laura M. Montgomery, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Westmont College

(Please note: this course has not yet been offered. I will teach it in the 1997-98 academic year. I will then revise the course based on student input.)

Course Rationale :

The global persistence and growth of hunger and poverty raise important questions about the use of food producing resources: land, water, technology, labor, animals, and knowledge. Despite decades of development assistance and green revolution technology, one quarter of the world's population--over one billion--are hungry or undernourished. In seeming contradiction, this hunger exists alongside global increases in grain and beef production and the increased use of agricultural resources such as land, fertilizer, and irrigation. Furthermore, food production, marketing, and distribution have become more internationally rather than locally focused, implying the possibility of easily shifting the excess food production in one region to those with food deficits. Yet, the hungry are not only found in the poor, developing countries but also in scattered pockets throughout the rich, developed nations.

At the core of the world food problem are issues of stewardship: how are food production resources and the food itself used and distributed? Because as Christians we are called to serve the needy and the hungry, we see an imperative to educate ourselves about world hunger and to take positive action toward alleviating the problem. In addition, food systems provide an easy vantage point from which to view the broader issue of global stewardship as those systems involve many resources, both natural and human. In a graphic way, a focus on food helps us learn the human consequences of global resource use.

Course Description :

This course is designed for upper-divisional students from any major. It examines the patterns of food production and consumption in today's world and their consequences for hunger, poverty, and the environment. Because of its interdisciplinary, holistic, and comparative focus, anthropology will be the disciplinary lens through which we approach course topics. At the same time, we will consider the issues within a context of Christian stewardship. The course's emphasis will initially be to gain knowledge and then move to responsive action--praxis. Both cognitive and experiential learning techniques will be used throughout the course. The course is organized into three sections. Section 1 addresses the food, culture, and environment connections with a general introduction to world hunger. Section 2 examines the different types of food systems present in today's world. It also addresses the impact of the global economy on these food systems. Finally, section 3 focuses on the issue of food security and the development of plans of action at both the community and the individual levels.

Course Goals:

1. Students will understand the major systems of food procurement and consumption present in today's world.

2. Students will be aware of the relationships between humans and between humans and the natural world that are embodied within each major system.

3. Students will understand the possibilities and limits the natural world places on food production as well as the impacts of different production and consumption strategies on the natural world.

4. Students will understand the factors that influence the shift from subsistence to market production and the implications of that shift for food production and consumption.

5. Students will be able to discuss issues of food security and be able to articulate the global linkages of food abundance and scarcity.

6. Students will be able to apply Biblical principles of stewardship to issues raised in the course and develop a praxis theology they can implement in their daily lives.

7. Students will learn how to access and evaluate information on world food production and consumption.

Course Resources :

1. Required Texts:

Bates, Daniel G. and Fred Plog
1991 Human Adaptive Strategies . New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Bryant, Carol A., Anita Courtney, Barbara A. Markesbery, and Kathleen M. DeWalt
1985 The Cultural Feast: An Introduction to Food and Society . St. Paul: West Publishing Co.

Mintz, Sidney W.
1996 Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions in Eating, Culture, and the Past . Boston: Beacon Press.

Taylor, John V.
1975 Enough is Enough . Minneapolis: Augsberg Publishing House.

Uvin, Peter, ed.
1994 The Hunger Report: 1993 . Langhorne, PA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.

Additional Articles and Books on Reserve in Library.

2. Recommended Texts :

Ellen, R.F., ed.
1996 Redefining Nature: Ecology, Culture, and Domestication. Oxford: Berg.

Foster, Phillips
1992 The World Food Problem:Tackling the Causes of Undernutrition in the Third World. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Huss-Ashmore, Rebecca and Solomon H. Katz
1989 African Food Systems in Crisis, Part One: Microperspectives . New York: Gordon and Breach.

Huss-Ashmore, Rebecca
1990 African Food Systems in Crisis, Part Two: Contending with Change . New York: Gordon and Breach.

Lappé, Frances Moore and Joseph Collins
1977 Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Mennell, Stephen
1996 All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present. Second Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Sider, Ronald
1977 Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: A Biblical Study . Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

Vandermeer, John and Ivette Perfecto
1995 Breakfast of Biodiversity: The Truth about Rain Forest Destruction . Oakland, CA: The Institute for Food and Development Policy.

Whiteford, Scott and Anne E. Ferguson, eds.
1991 Harvest of Want: Hunger and Food Security in Central America and Mexico. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

3. World Wide Web :

Hunger Web--http://www.hunger.brown.edu/hungerweb

Internet Forum on Food Security--fao50-r@rml.ularal.ca

Food Security List--majordomo@igc.apc.org

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research--http://www.nsf.gov./stratare/egech/iaidsecr.htm

EnviroLink--http://www.envirolink.org

4. Other Scholarly Resources :

There is a large and abundant literature within anthropology--particularly in the areas of cultural ecology, culture and agriculture, and applied anthropology--that deals with the issues addressed in the course as well as a wealth of literature from other disciplines. Throughout the course, students will collaborate with the instructor in producing a supplementary annotated bibliography.

Student Work :

1. Reading Reports: The class will be taught in a seminar format. Each student will be responsible to have read the readings by the date assigned. On a rotating basis, individual students will be responsible to summarize the day's readings for the class and submit a brief reading report. The reports will include a summary of the author's main points and supporting evidence and a short review of the author's analysis.

2. Individual Research Project: Each student will select a food he or she consumes and research the patterns of production and consumption associated with it. The student will examine the consequences of the production and consumption of that food for the natural and the social worlds. The results will be presented in the form of a research paper.

3. Group Project: Class will develop, plan, and carry out a "Food Awareness Activity" for the wider campus community that illustrates the issues covered in the course.

4. Personal Action Plan: Each student will develop a personal praxis to implement and evaluate through the course of the semester. In the fourth week of the course, students will submit a preliminary plan and carry it forward for the next six weeks. Students will journal about their experiences in implementation. During the tenth week, students will revise their plan, if necessary, and continue implementation and journaling about their progress until the end of the course.


SCHEDULE OF COURSE TOPICS

I. Section One: Food, Culture, and the Environment

A. Week 1: The Current State of Food Production and Consumption
Readings :
Brown, Lester R., Christopher Flavin, Hal Kane (1996) Vital Signs 1996: the Trends that are Shaping Our Future . New York: W.W. Norton and Company,pp. 15-45.

Uvin, Peter (1994) "The State of World Hunger" In Uvin, Peter, ed.
The Hunger Report: 1993 . Langhorne, PA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.

Vandermeer, John and Ivette Perfecto (1995) Breakfast of Biodiversity: The Truth about Rain Forest Destruction . Oakland, CA: The Institute for Food and Development Policy,Chp. 1 "Slicing Up the Rainforest inYour Breakfast Cereal"

Films :
Malnutrition in a Third World Community **

B. Week 2: Understanding the Human Diet
Readings :
The Cultural Feast , Chps. 1-3.

Scrimshaw, Nevin and Vernon Young (1976) "The Requirements of Human Nutrition." Scientific American 235(3): 51-65.

Willett, W. (1994) "Diet and Health: What Should We Eat?" Science 264: 533- 537.

C. Week 3-4: Food, Power, and Ideology
Readings :
The Cultural Feast , Chps. 4-5.

Mennell, Stephen (1996) All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present . Urbana: University of Illinois Press, Chp. 2, "The Civilising of Appetite."

Mintz, Sidney W. (1996) Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions in Eating, Culture, and the Past . Boston: Beacon Press.

D. Week 5-7: Are there theological principles that we can apply to food systems? Readings :
CCCU Statement on Global Stewardship

Nash, James A. (1995) "Toward the Revival and Reform of the Subversive Virtue: Frugality" The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics, pp. 137-160.

Taylor, John V. (1975) Enough is Enough . Minneapolis: Augsberg Publishing House.


II. Section Two: Contemporary Food Systems
A. Week 8: General Overview
Readings :
Colson, Elizabeth (1979) "In Good Years and Bad: Food Strategies in Self- Reliant Societies." Journal of Anthropological Research 35: 18-29

The Cultural Feast , Chp. 4

Human Adaptive Strategies , Chp. 1

Messer, Ellen (1989) "Ecology and Politics of Food Availability." In Huss- Ashmore and Katz, eds. African Food Systems in Crisis, Part One: Microperspectives . New York: Gordon and Breach, pp. 189-202.

B. Week 9-12: Types of Food Systems
For each system of food production and consumption, we will consider:
1.What are the natural and human resources (labor, knowledge, technology) that are needed to sustain each system?
2.What are the social relationships embodied in the system?
3.What are the attitudes and food habits that accompany the system?
4.What are the relationships between humans and the natural world that are embodied in the system?
5.What are the theological implications of the system?
6.To what type of ecological system(s) is this best adapted?
7.What elements of social justice are present in the system?
8.What elements of environmental justice are present in the system?
9.What have been the impacts of the global economy on food security, social justice, and environmental justice within this system?

(1) Food Foragers
Readings :
Human Adaptive Strategies , Chp. 2

Lee, Richard B. (1994) "The Hunters: Scarce Resources in the Kalahari" In Spradley, J. and D. McCurdy, eds. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology . Eighth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, pp. 111-125.

Nietschmann, Bernard (1994) "Subsistence and Market: When the Turtle Collapses" In Spradley, J. and D. McCurdy, eds. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology . Eighth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, pp. 175-184.

Films :
Patterns of Subsistence: Hunter Gatherers and Pastoralists ; The Turtle People

(2) Food Producers
a. Pastoralism
Readings :
Human Adaptive Strategies , Chp. 4

Horowitz, Michael M. (1990) "Donors and Deserts: The Political Ecology of Destructive Development in the Sahel" In Huss-Ashmore, Rebecca, ed. African Food Systems in Crisis, Part Two: Contending with Change . New York: Gordon and Breach, pp. 3-28.

Legesse, Asmarom (1989) "Adaptation, Drought, and Development: Boran and Gabra Pastoralists of Northern Kenya" In Huss-Ashmore, Rebecca and Solomon H. Katz, eds. African Food Systems in Crisis, Part One: Microperspectives . New York: Gordon and Breach, pp. 261-279.

White, Cynthia (1991) "Increased Vulnerability to Food Shortages among Fulani Nomads in Niger" In Downs, R.E., et al, eds. The Political Economy of African Famine. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach, pp.123- 145.

Films :
African Drought: Changing Nomadic Cultures ; Nomads in the Savanna ;
The Gabra

b. Horticulture--Extensive Systems
Readings :
Human Adaptive Strategies , Chp. 3.

Rappaport, Roy A. Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People . New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 1-98.

Reed, Richard K. (1994) "Cultivating the Tropical Forest" In Spradley, J. and D. McCurdy, eds. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology . Eighth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, pp. 126-135.

Films :
The Maring: Documents of a New Guinea People Series ; Dani Sweet Potatoes ; Runa Guardians of the Rainforest

c. Agriculture--Intensive Systems
Readings:
Human Adaptive Strategies, Chp. 5

Harris, Marvin (1994) "India's Sacred Cow" In Spradley, J. and D. McCurdy, eds. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology . Eighth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, pp. 144-154.

Fleuret, Anne (1989) "Indigenous Taita Responses to Drought" In Huss- Ashmore, Rebecca and Solomon H. Katz, eds. African Food Systems in Crisis, Part One: Microperspectives . New York: Gordon and Breach, pp. 221-237.

Collier, George A. (1975) Fields of the Tzotzil: The Ecological Bases of Tradition in Highland Chiapas . Austin: University of Texas Press.

Films :
The Goddess and the Computer ; Where Land is Life ; A Week of Sweet Water

d. Industrial Agriculture
Readings :
Human Adaptive Strategies , Chp. 6

Barlett, Peggy F. (1989) "Industrial Agriculture." In Plattner, S., ed. Economic Anthropology. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, pp. 252- 291.

DeWalt, Billie R. and Kathleen M. DeWalt (1991) "The Results of Mexican Agriculture and Food Policy: Debt, Drugs, and Illegal Aliens" In Whiteford, Scott and Anne E. Ferguson, eds. Harvest of Want: Hunger and Food Security in Central America and Mexico . Boulder: Westview Press, pp. 189-208.

Durrenberger, E. Paul and Kendal M. Thu (1996) "The Expansion of Large Scale Hog Farming in Iowa: The Applicability of Goldschmidt's Findings Fifty Years Later" Human Organization 55(4):409-415.

Stonich, Susan C. (1991) "The Political Economy of Environmental Destruction: Food Security in Southern Honduras" In Whiteford, Scott and Anne E. Ferguson, eds. Harvest of Want: Hunger and Food Security in Central America and Mexico . Boulder: Westview Press, pp. 45-74.


III. Section Three: Food Security and Praxis--Week 13-15

Readings :
Cleveland, David A. (1990) "Development Alternatives and the African Food Crisis" In
Huss-Ashmore, R., ed. African Food Systems in Crisis, Part Two: Contending with Change . New York: Gordon and Breach, pp. 181-206.

Corbett, Jack (1991) "Food Security and Regional Development" In Whiteford, Scott and Anne E. Ferguson, eds. Harvest of Want: Hunger and Food Security in Central America and Mexico . Boulder: Westview Press, pp. 243-254.

Jonsson, Urban and Alfred Zerfas (1994) "After the World Summit for Children: Achieving the Nutrition Goals Through National Programs of Action"In Uvin, P., ed. The Hunger Report: 1993 . Langhorne, PA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, pp. 87-101.

Messer, Ellen (1994) "The International Conference on Nutrition: Historical Perspectives and Prospects" In Uvin, P. ed., The Hunger Report: 1993 . Langhorne, PA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, pp. 71-85.

Robins, Edward (1990) "The Lesson of Rwanda's Agricultural Crisis: Increase Productivity, Not Food Aid" In Huss-Ashmore, R., ed. African Food Systems in Crisis, Part Two: Contending with Change . New York: Gordon and Breach, pp. 245-267.

Films :
An Ecology of Mind



**Information on the films listed can be found in:

Heider, Karl G. and Carol Hermer (1995) Films for Anthropological Teaching . Eighth Edition. American Anthropological Association Special Publication 29.

Please mail any comments to Dr. Mark Lassiter.