Module Identifier GG35220  
Module Title GLOBAL FOOD CHAIN:GEOG OF PROD, DISTRIB + CONSUMP SINCE 1500  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr John Walton  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Pre-Requisite This module requires a minimum enrolment of 14.  
Course delivery Seminar   20 Hours 10 x 2 hours  
Assessment Course work   Four submitted seminar papers (maximum length 1500 words each) with assessment based on the best three. Seminar papers must be submitted for assessment within 14 days of the seminar to which they relate. Papers relating to seminars held in the last two weeks of term must be submitted no later than the second day of the following term (i.e. by the end of the second day of the examination period). Late submissions subject to the departmental penalty of 5% points per day. All elements to be completed to obtain a pass; mark based on the aggregate performance. Attendance at seminars is compulsory. Three (3) marks will be deducted from the overall assessment for the module for each seminar that a student misses, unless the module co-ordinator receives notification of absence prior to the seminar concerned and the reasons for absence are condonable.   75%  
  Exam   2 Hours Unseen multiple-choice examination paper. Answer all 40 questions.   25%  
  Resit assessment   Students who fail the module will normally be allowed a resit, which will involve the resubmission of failed seminar papers and the submission of any seminar papers which were not submitted. Students may resit the examination component if the original mark for the examination component was less than 40%. Marks for any component marked at 40% or more will be carried forward. In the absence of extenuating circumstances (eg. illness), the maximum mark available on any resit component will be 40%. Marks lost through uncondoned absence cannot be recovered, and will be deducted from the overall resit mark.    

Module outline


Seminar Themes:

Module Aims


The module begins by examining the links between us as food consumers and the global economy. The module then considers how the present consumption chains of the developed world compare with those of the past and with those of the less developed world currently. The module moves on to explore the historical geographies of different aspects of the food chain, emphasising spatial and temporal variations in the variety of human experience. Each theme will be introduced by a brief overview provided by the module co-ordinator, followed by seminar presentations in which students consider different facets of that theme. Students will be encouraged to regard the module as a collective research endeavour. The breadth of the module ensures a continuing flow of new topics for students to research into the future. The overall aim of the module is therefore to encourage students to think, to understand the nature of of and the responsibilities associated with individual research, and to appreciate that the quality of collective endeavour depends upon their contributions as individuals. The module provides an oblique introduction to the concept of civic responsibility.

Module objectives / Learning outcomes


On completion of this module students will be able to :-

Reading Lists

Books
Fernand Braudel. (1983) Civilization and Campitalism. II: The Wheels of Commerce. London: Collins
Avner Offer. (1969) The First World War: An Agrarian Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press
David Grigg. (1993) The World Food Problem. Oxford: Blackwell
Tim Unwin. (1991) Wine and Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade. London: Routledge
Joanna Blythman. (1996) The Food We Eat. London: Michael Joseph
A W. Crosby. (1972) The Columbian Exchange. Westport
Fernand Braudel. (1981) Civilization and Capitalism. I: The Structures of Everyday Life.. London: Collins, 104-265.
Hugh Raven. (1995) Off Our Trolleys? Food Retailing and the Hypermarket Economy. London: Institute for Public Policy Research
Harvey A. Levenstein. (1993) Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America. New York: Oxford University Press
Colin Spencer. (1993) The Heretic's Feast: A History of Vegetarianism. London: Fourth Estate

Articles
D.B. Grigg.. (1995) 'The nutritional transition in Western Europe'. Journal of Historical Geography 21, 247-261