Course Description
This course focuses on the radical increase in food production over the last fifty years and the ecological (and social) problems it has created, as well as on some of the possible solutions: the organic movement, Slow Food, and the “local food” movement.

This course will include a field trip which explores the range of Italian sustainable food production, from traditional (the famous Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini and his “Whole Cow” meal) to the hyper-modern. These direct experiences will reinforce classroom assignments and provide valuable date for student presentations.

This course will ask students to:

• Consider the complex interplay of social and political factors in national food policy
• Analyze the whole chain of production, distribution, and consumption of food between various foods to determine their sustainability
• Compare the (political) geneses of the alternative food movements in Italy and the United States

Note: This course maybe taken individually. Student do not have to be enrolled in the Food Studies Program to take this course – No prerequisites.

Course Materials
Mandatory course reader in addition to James McWilliams’ Just Food.