ENS289 Sustainable Food and Food Security

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2016
Extent and Intensity
0/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Dan Keech (lecturer), RNDr. Naděžda Vlašín Johanisová, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: RNDr. Naděžda Vlašín Johanisová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 26. 4. 9:45–11:15 U23, Wed 27. 4. 8:00–9:30 U33, Thu 28. 4. 15:15–20:15 U36, Fri 29. 4. 8:00–9:30 U53
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 22 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/22, only registered: 0/22, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/22
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Daniel Keech, Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire, UK.

MODULE CONTENT - An Introduction to Discourses and Practices in Sustainable Food and Food Secuirty
This module starts by providing an overview of the place of food within (mainly Western/European/UK) society, including how the supply of (sustainable) food has been conceptualised and problematised within the literature. The reasons behind the growing significance of, and debates about, 'food security' as an issue are then considered, as well as an examination of the competing interpretations of how it should best be achieved. This includes considering concepts such as food sovereignty and food rights, and the relationship between them and food security. Global food networks, in the form of supermarkets, are then briefly outlined, including issues of food safety, trade liberalisation and private regulation, before both the theory and practice of food system localisation are examined in some detail. The module also explores what a sustainable diet might involve, including issues such as the implications of eating a meat-based diet as opposed to a more vegetarian-based diet, and the reduction of waste. Throughout the module, students will be expected to keep a food diary, which will form part of the assessment.
Syllabus
  • 1. Sustainable food and food security - introductions, an overview of the course, explanation of the assessment
  • 2. Concepts and narratives around sustainable food
  • 3. Quality, re-connection and re-organisation - Community Supported Agriculture and Farmers' Markets in the UK
  • 4. Cities as spaces of food citizenship - Bristol, Bamberg, Ghent, Riga
  • 5. Ecological entrepreneurship and the Third Sector - Conserving orchards in rural Germany
  • 6. Group presentations and assessment
Literature
    recommended literature
  • • Atkins, P. and Bowler, I. (2001) Food in society – Economy, Culture and Geography. London, Arnold.
  • BLYTHMAN, Joanna. Shopped : the shocking power of British supermarkets. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004, xviii, 382. ISBN 0007158041. info
  • • Carolan, M. (2011) The Real Cost of Cheap Food. London, Earthscan.
  • • Goodman, D. and Watts, M. (eds) (1997) Globalising food. Abingdon, Routledge.
  • • Goodman, D., DuPuis E. M., and Goodman M. (2011) Alternative food networks: knowledge, practice, and politics. Abingdon, Routledge.
  • LANG, Tim and Michael HEASMAN. Food wars : the global battle for minds, mouths, and markets. London: Earthscan, 2004, xvi, 365. ISBN 1853837024. info
  • • Lang, T., Barling, M. and Caraher, M. (2009). Food Policy: Integrating Health, Environment and Society. Oxford University Press.
  • • Lawrence, G., Lyons, K., Wallington, T. (2010). Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainability. Earthscan, London.
  • • Maye, D., Holloway, L. and Kneafsey, M. (eds) (2007) Alternative food geographies: presentation and practice. Elsevier.
  • SAGE, Colin. Environment and food. New York: Routledge, 2011, xv, 320. ISBN 9780415363129. info
  • • Edward-Jones et al. (2008) Testing the assertion that ‘local food is best’: the challenges of an evidence-based approach. Trends in Food Science & Technology. Vol. 19, pp. 265-274.
  • • Lang, T. (2010) Crisis? What crisis? The normality of the current food crisis. Journal of Agrarian Chang, 10(1), 87-97
  • • Kneafsey, M., E. Dowler, H. Lambie-Mumford, A. Inman and R. Collier (2013) Consumers and food security: Uncertain or empowered? Journal of Rural Studies 29 101–112
  • • Muller, B. (2007) Food Miles or Poverty Eradication? The moral duty to eat African strawberries at Christmas. Oxford Energy and Environment Comment, Oxford: OIES.
  • • Seyfang, G. (2006) Ecological Citizienship and Sustainable Consumption: Examining local organic food networks. Journal of Rural Studies 22(4), 383-395.
  • • Smith, J. and Jehlicka, P (2007). Stories around food, politics and change in Poland and the Czech Republic. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 32(3) 395–410
  • • Tomlinson, I. (2013) Doubling food production to feed the 9 billion: A critical perspective on a key discourse of food security in the uk. Journal of Rural Studies 29 pp. 81-90
Teaching methods
Lectures, case studies, class discussions, presentations
Assessment methods
(i) Students need to attend all the classes in the course. A register will be taken.
(ii) Students will need to complete and auto-ethnographic assignment. This will take the form of a food diary in which all food and drink purchases and consumption need to be recorded for the period of the course. In the final session, a 10 minute verbal presentation linked to the diary will be given in class by each student, with opportunities for questioning. Full instructions about how to keep the diary will be given in the first session.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2016, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2016/ENS289