Time Schedule:
Elizabeth A. Madison
B HLTH 497
Bothell Campus
Class description
Most of us have grown up with only an incomplete understanding of where our food comes from. We purchase it from grocers who purchase it from distributors who purchase it from growers across the globe. Human relationships with food have changed over the course of our history – from a time when we hunted for everything we ate until now. Whether we are aware or not, food still comes from the earth. Farmers grow it. What we eat determines our health and well being - individually, locally, globally. Nutrition ecology examines our relationships with the food chain – from source to consumer to waste management. We will learn about the environmental impacts of food production, as well as the economic, political, social, and physiological implications of our food choices.
Student learning goals
Discuss the ecological implications of contemporary food production and distribution
Identify several connections between consumer food choices and population health
Discuss disparities related to food production and distribution
Examine personal choices about food and nutrition and evaluate the economic, political, ecological and physiological consequences of these choices
Develop an awareness and understanding of interrelationships in our food web
General method of instruction
The class is scheduled to meet 4 hours per week, on Tuesdays, 1:15 - 5:35. We will meet for a total of 5 in-class sessions, and the remaining sessions will be on-line reading assignments and discussion. We will work to create an inclusive learning environment in which all concerns and comments can be talked about. We will use a combination of film, online sites and scholarly articles pertaining to our subject. In class we will talk about various assigned readings and how these relate to our own experiences.
Recommended preparation
Please become familiar with the concept of emancipatory education. Bevis (1989) tells us that education, to be any good to the student, must be emancipating. Emancipating or liberating education frees the intellect to range among the many ideas, problems, and issues that characterize life. It enables one to master the skills to investigate intellectually engaging phenomena, imbuing the spirit with: • The clarity to see things seen every day but never really seen and to hear things heard every day but never really heard before. • The energy to pursue an idea wherever it leads. • The vision to see beyond preconceptions and cultural conditioning and so enable departure from traditional bias. • A love of reflection and contemplation. • A trust of sensitivity and intuition. • An enthusiasm for insights and meanings that requires detecting the assumptions that underlie assumptions. • A fondness for strategizing. • A commitment to search for that elusive thing called truth. • A flexibility in generating and using options. • To infuse the whole with the moral ideal of compassion and caring.
Class assignments and grading
We will write, read and talk weekly. Projects will emanate from students' own goals.
To be discussed in class.
