Course for international guest/part time students

Faculty: Faculty of Science
Organization: TTK Department of Social and Economic Geography
Code: geogrfoodl25gx
Title: Geographies of food
Usual semester: Spring
ECTS: 5
Language
Description: Where does our food come from? How does the way our food is produced influence ecosystems or our own health? We aim to answer these questions in our reading seminar by focusing on the production and consumption of food on different geographical scales. We take an intersectional approach to difference and power to approach standard subjects in the geography of food with a perspective focusing on inequality, uneven production and legacies of colonialism. We will also discuss places and regions often overlooked in conventional narratives, such as the Americas in the domestication of plants. The topics this course aims to cover are: descriptions and analyses of food systems histories of agricultural development with a focus on the roles of different regions major commodities such as meat, grains and produce with a focus on the place of production contemporary challenges in the food system, including labor, disasters/conflict and climate change recent and emerging trends in food and agriculture such as lab-grown meat and vertical urban farms. The course invites participants to take a synthetic approach to discuss food as something produced within an interconnected system, in which labor, food quality and the environment are considered together. It will be a valuable resource for students of human geography, environmental geography, economic geography, food studies, development and related disciplines.
Course content: Registration week - 12.02.2025. Introduction to the course - 19.02.2025. Food and Power: The Geographies of Food and Geography of Power - 26.02.2025. Food for Thought I.: The Origins of Food and The Nexus of Production and Consumption - 05.03.2025. Food for Thought II.: we watch a film (Soyalism) together or go to a field trip to a community garden 2025.03.12.--> Food for Thought III: Food System Contradictions and the Right to Food - 19.03.2025. What We Eat I.: Produce: Fruits and Vegetables and Seeds: Grains, Pulses and Nuts - 26.03.2025. What We Eat II.: Protein: Meat, Fish, Dairy and Eggs - 02.04.2025. What We Eat III.: Tropical Commodities: Beverages, Fruits, Sugar and Spices and Not Food: Ingredients and Additives - 09.04.2025. Field trip to Bangla bufe with Laila Parvin Suchi - 23.04.2025. Challenges in the Global Food System I.: Labour and Conflict and Disasters - 30.04.2025. Challenges in the Global Food System II.: Climate Change and the Future of Food - 07.05.2025. Presentations by students - 14.05.2025.
Assessment method: final presentation (2/3), short essay (1 page), short oral presentation of a chapter review (~5 minutes) and active participation in class (1/3)
Bibliography: Trauger, A. (2022). Geographies of Food and Power (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003159438 (The basis of the reading seminar is the above textbook, but additional literature will also be recommended during the course.)
Recommended bibliography: Gille, Zsuzsa (2016): The 2004 Hungarian Paprika Ban in Gille, Zsuzsa (2016): Paprika, Foie Gras, and Red Mud: The Politics of Materiality in the European Union. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 19-44 Gille, Zsuzsa (2016): The 2008 Foie Gras Boycott in Gille, Zsuzsa (2016): Paprika, Foie Gras, and Red Mud: The Politics of Materiality in the European Union. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 45-68 Holloway, Lewis (2022): Reconfiguring animals in food systems: an agenda for research. In Colin L. Sage (Ed.): A research agenda for food systems. Cheltenham UK, Northampton MA USA: Edward Elgar Publishing (Elgar research agendas), pp. 129–146. Jehlička, Petr; Grīviņš, Miķelis; Visser, Oane; Balázs, Bálint (2020): Thinking food like an East European: A critical reflection on the framing of food systems. In Journal of Rural Studies 76, pp. 286–295. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.04.015. Kneafsey, Moya; Maye, Damian; Holloway, Lewis; Goodman, Mike (2021): Eating Geographies: The Spaces and Cultures of Food Consumption. In Moya Kneafsey, Damian Maye, Lewis Holloway, Mike Goodman (Eds.): Geographies of food. An introduction. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 120–145. Kneafsey, Moya; Maye, Damian; Holloway, Lewis; Goodman, Mike (2021): Food and Place Identity. In Moya Kneafsey, Damian Maye, Lewis Holloway, Mike Goodman (Eds.): Geographies of food. An introduction. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 22–45. Kneafsey, Moya; Maye, Damian; Holloway, Lewis; Goodman, Mike (2021): Future Scenarios for Sustainable Food and Farming. In Moya Kneafsey, Damian Maye, Lewis Holloway, Mike Goodman (Eds.): Geographies of food. An introduction. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 261–294. Kneafsey, Moya; Maye, Damian; Holloway, Lewis; Goodman, Mike (2021): The Fight against Hunger and Malnutrition in the Majority World. In Moya Kneafsey, Damian Maye, Lewis Holloway, Mike Goodman (Eds.): Geographies of food. An introduction. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 171–200. Reigada, Alicia; Castro, Carlos de (2022): Agricultural labour in the global food system. In Colin L. Sage (Ed.): A research agenda for food systems. Cheltenham UK, Northampton MA USA: Edward Elgar Publishing (Elgar research agendas), pp. 89–110. Sage, Colin L. (2022): Introduction: A Research Agenda for Food Systems. In Colin L. Sage (Ed.): A research agenda for food systems. Cheltenham UK, Northampton MA USA: Edward Elgar Publishing (Elgar research agendas), pp. 3–43.

Back