POLITICS
The Politics of Food
AUTUMN HN157
Mondays
Tutor: Frank Armstrong
With human population standing at 7 billion the challenge of feeding so many has never been greater: global warming, loss of biodiversity and the imminence of peak oil endanger the sustainability of agriculture. Yet we confront a global obesity epidemic driven by over-consumption, as well other diet-related health problems. Meanwhile in the Third World malnutrition and even starvation continue. This course will examine the state and corporate actors that control the global production and supply of food. We will also explore the important cultural role that food plays in forging bonds between families, communities and nations.
In 1800 there were one billion people with average life expectancy no higher than 40 in any country; today that population stands at 7 billion with averages in most countries moving into the seventies. We investigate how advances in agriculture have played a crucial role in this unprecedented demographic growth, but how those methods, particularly associated with the Green Revolution, give serious cause for concern.
The obesity epidemic has been driven by cheap commodities, the persuasive power of advertising and the failure of national authorities to articulate a coherent health message. We trace its emergence and survey appropriate responses. We also analyse the forces that perpetuate shortages of food in Third World countries and look at appropriate developmental responses to this food insecurity.
Finally, we deal with the important cultural role played by food: ‘the common bond which unites the nations of the world, in reciprocal exchange of objects serving for daily consumption’.
| BELFIELD | ||
| 10 Mondays |
Sep 24, Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, Nov 5, 12, 19, 26, Dec 3 (No class Oct 29) |
7.30pm - 9.30pm |
|
FEE €190 |
Print Open Learning Application Form 2012.13 or ring (01) 716 7123 for Laser/ Credit Card payment |
Tutor Details:
Frank Armstrong writes about food for publications that include Spectator Scoff, The London Magazine, Food and Wine, The Village and The Journal.ie. He initially studied history in UCD before completing a Masters in Islamic Societies and Cultures at S.O.A.S. He also qualified as barrister from the King’s Inns and as a secondary school teacher before recognising that his primary and abiding interest was in food. Previously he taught a course on the Sociology of Food in St. Clare’s Oxford.
Provisional list of key topics to be covered:
- The origin of man in nature.
- The Neolithic Revolution and the emergence of agricultural civilisation.
- The Second Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.
- The Green Revolution and the challenges ahead.
- The emergence and spread of obesity and other diet-related conditions.
- The persuasive power of advertising and the response of national authorities.
- The challenge of Third World hunger.
- The importance of food in human culture.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone with a passion for food who wishes to explore the origins of agriculture and the challenges posed by the Western diet and continued Third World hunger. It would be of immediate relevance to someone working in a food business or interested in public policy.
Reading List:
The following is a selection of recommended texts for those interested in reading further around the course content. We advise that you do not buy books in advance of the course as your tutor will discuss the list and suggest the most relevant reading for particular interests.
Bourdieu, Pierre, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, (translated by Richard Nice, London, Routledge 1984)
Counihan, Carol and Van Esterik, Penny (editors), Food and Culture: A Reader: Second Edition (Routledge, New York, 2009).
Diamond, Jarred Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: (Norton, New York, 1997), and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: (Viking Press, New York, 2005)
Floud, Roderick; Harris, Bernard and Chul Hong, Sok, The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700: (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2011)
Hobhouse, Henry, Seeds of Change: Six Plants that Transformed Mankind, (Second Edition, Papermac, London, 1999)
Jones, Martin, Feast: Why Humans Share Food, (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007)
Kaufmann, Jean-Claude, The Meaning of Cooking (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2010).
Mintz, Sidney, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History (Viking, Penguin, New York, 1985)
Pollan, Michael, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, (Penguin, New York, 2005). In Defense of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasure of Eating (Penguin, New York, 2008).
Newman, Lucile F., Hunger in History: Food Shortage, Poverty, and Deprivation. (Blackwell, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1990).
Offer, Avner, Pechey, Rachel and Ulijaszek (editors), Stanley: Insecurity, Inequality & Obesity (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012)
McWilliams, James E. Just Food: Where Locavores Get it Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly. (Little Brown, New York, 2010)
Reader, John, The Untold History of the Potato (Vintage, London, 2009).
