Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 x 2hr |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours Unseen examination; answer two questions. | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | 2,500 word coursework essay | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours Resit failed exam and/or resubmission of failed/non-submitted coursework components. Passed assessment elements (either exam or coursework) cannot be resat and the original mark is carried forward. | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | As before. | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Identify, refer to, and critically evaluate a range of interdisciplinary literature relating to the geography of food
2. Demonstrate an awareness of the key research questions and methods utilized by geographers with regard to food
3. Critically analyse contemporary debates about food
4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of key aspects of food provision systems
5. Further develop their critical thought and skills of debate and writing
Brief description
The module introduces students to key themes in the geography of food. Food has historically been a central theme of Geography, and the course begins by examining some of the changing ways in which Geographers have dealt with the topic over the past century. The focus of the module, however, is on the New Geographies of Food that have emerged over the past decade, particularly drawing on research from the Cultural Geography tradition. Themes covered include: the globalization of food; food and risk; food and gender; ethical consumption; and spaces of consumption. The course introduces students to, and develops their understandings of, key theoretical and methodological debates. It draws on a variety of contemporary empirical debates about food production and consumption, such as genetic modification, the role of science and certification in the marketing of food, and the relationship between systems of food provision and uneven development.
Content
- Geographies of food: an introduction
- Spaces of food provision 1: the rise of global and local foods
- Spaces of food provision 2: inequality and uneven development
- Cultures of consumption 1: supermarkets and convenience
- Cultures of consumption 2: ethical foods and alternative networks
- Regulating food 1: public policy and governance
- Regulating food 2: science and risk
- Food and identity 1: gender
- Food and identity 2: transnationalism
- Spaces of consumption: we are where we eat?
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | While the course does not explicitly involve quantitative methods, students will be encouraged to think critically about the roles of science and quantification in the regulation and marketing of food. |
| Communication | Written communication skills will be assessed and developed through the examination and coursework. Debate and discussion will also be encouraged during particular lectures. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | This is not explicitly developed through the module. Through the organization of free-time reading and exam preparation, students should implicitly develop their skills in this area. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to engage with ongoing debates about food during the module. They will be encouraged to explore a variety of sources, both paper and electronic, in order to do so. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | This is not addressed explicitly in the module. However, the module does cover a range of policy-relevant debates and will encourage students to engage with these with critical empathy. |
| Problem solving | This will be indirectly addressed through some lecture content but not explicitly developed in the module |
| Research skills | Students will be encouraged to develop their research skills through collating material from library and internet sources in completing the coursework. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students will develop skills in the application of spatial approaches of analysis to the study of food supply and consumption. |
| Team work | A small amount of team work will be conducted during particular lectures (during group discussions and debates) |
Reading List
General TextBell, David (1997.) Consuming geographies :we are where we eat /David Bell and Gill Valentine. Routledge Primo search Essential Reading
Atkins, P. and Bowler, I (2001) Food in Society: economy, culture, geography London: Hodder Primo search Kneafsey, M., Cox, R., Holloway, L., Dowler, E., Venn, L. and Tuomainen, H. (2008) Reconnecting consumers, producers and food: exploring alternatives Oxford: Berg Primo search Lang, T., Barling, D., and Caraher, M. (2009) Food policy: integrating health, environment and society Oxford University Press Primo search Recommended Text
Tansey, G., and Worsley, T. (1995) The Food System: a Guide London: Earthscan Primo search Supplementary Text
Cook, I. (2004) Antipode "Follow the thing: Papaya." 36(4): 642-664 Primo search Cook, I. and Crang, P. (1996) Journal of Material Culture "The world on a plate - Culinary culture, displacement and geographical knowledges." 1(2): 131-153. Primo search Singer, P., and Mason, J. (2006) Eating: What we eat and why it matters. London: Arrow Primo search Crang, P., Dwyer, C. and Jackson, P. (2003) Progress in Human Geography "Transnationalism and the spaces of commodity culture." 27(4): 438-456. Primo search Eden, S., Bear, C. and Walker, G. (2008) Journal of Rural Studies "Understanding and (dis)trusting food assurance schemes: Consumer confidence and the 'knowledge fix'." 24(1): 1-14. Primo search Freidberg, S. (2004) Environment and Planning D-Society & Space "The ethical complex of corporate food power." 22(4): 513-531. Primo search Guthman, J. (2008) Geoforum "Neoliberalism and the making of food politics in California." 39(3): 1171-1183 Primo search Ilbery, B., and Kneafsey, M. (2000) Area "Registering regional speciality food and drink products in the United Kingdom: the case of PDOs and PGIs." 32(3): 317-325. Primo search Jackson, P., Ward, N. and Russell, P. (2006) Journal of Rural Studies "Mobilising the,commodity chain concept in the politics of food and farming." 22(2): 129-141. Primo search Little, J., Ilbery, B., and Watts, D. (2009) Sociologia Ruralis "Gender, Consumption and the Relocalisation of Food: A Research Agenda." 49(3): 201-217. Primo search Marsden, T. (2008) Geoforum "Agri-food contestations in rural space: GM in its regulatory context." 39(1): 191-203 Primo search Naylor, S. (2000) Environment and Planning A "Spacing the can: empire, modernity, and the globalisation of food." 32(9): 1625-1639 Primo search Nygard, B., and Storstad, O. (1998) Sociologia Ruralis "De-globalization of food markets? Consumer perceptions of safe food: The case of Norway." 38(1): 35-+. Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6