Food Systems Presentation Oct 2009

Food Systems, Culture and SocietyInternational Graduate InstituteUniversitat Oberta de Catalunya

An innovative, interdisciplinary programme in food studies

[email protected]

What is Food Studies?• Inquiry into why we eat what we eat• We are interested in understanding the forces

that shape our relationships to food, including: • Social• Cultural• Environmental• Psychological• Economic• Political• Geographic

Why Food Studies“Not all that long ago, most people

considered food too common, too quotidian, to be taken seriously as a field of study, let alone as an agent of social

change”Marion Nestle

The Power of Food“The power of food lies in its material and

symbolic functions of linking nature, human survival, health, culture and

livelihood as a focus of resistance tocorporate takeover of life itself”

Philip McMichael

What is a Food System? • The organization of the production,

processing, distribution, selection and consumption of food

• Broad and cross-cutting, “food systems”as a framework allows us to expand the scope of the programme to include issues linked to land, ecology, economy, power, production, processing, regulation, history, culture and politics

Programme Framework• Courses are framed around the principles of agroecology• Agroecology refers to a cross-scale, cross-sectoral,

interdisciplinary approach to agriculture and food• It recognises and embraces co-existing ecosystems and

populations and promotes ecological principles for alternative systems

• Beyond the farm, it promotes biodiversity and upholds farming principles that respect soil and water

• Agroecology demands that we pay attention to agronomy and society

• Techniques stress resilience, stability and sustainability

Food Web• Agriculture and food form part of a vast and complex

web• From farm to fork, the food web metaphor is useful for

understanding the complexity of food systems: when one strand of the web is weakened or neglected, the entire web is in turn weakened, but when all parts of the web work together, the strength of the web increases

From Food Web to Food Studies• The tension of the food web is maintained through

various social norms, ecological realities and institutionalised relations of ruling (laws, regulations, policies).

• This is our work: we study these sites of tension• The organization of the food web impacts who eats and

who does not, as well as what we eat and what we do not eat, what is planted, where and how is it cultivated

Masters in Food, Society & International Food Governance

Food Systems Analysis15 credits

Mandatory Specialisation

Mandatory Specialisation + 2 Specialisations in a chosen streams

Food Regulation Stream Food and Society Stream

International Agri-Food Policy

15 credits

Food Regulation(with IFLR)15 credits

Food and Society15 credits

Food Security(with FAO)15 credits

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA (30 credits)International Agri-Food Policy

+ 1 Elective Specialisation

Food and Society15 credits

Food Security15 credits

Geographic Indicators15 credits

Directed Project15 credits

Int. Agri-Food Policy

15 creditsFood Regulation

15 credits

Topics of Interest• Complexity of living

systems• Integrated systems in

relationship to differentproduct and distributionmodels in agriculture

• Intellectual property andseeds

• Traditional agricultureand knowledge

• Agriculture and gender• Considering the local

• Geographic indication– Social movements– Communities– Development– Tourism

• Food history andglobalization

• Anthropology of foodglobalization

• Food and migration• Anthropology of

consumption• Food security assessment

Masters in Agroecology• Sustainability and agroecology• Promotion and comercialisation• Integrated rural planning• Agroturism and economic

diversification• Working the land• Catalan agricultural ecosystems• Agriculture and cooporation

Some of our partners• Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO), UN• Michigan State

University’s Institute forFood Law and Regulation

• University of Missouri’sFood and AgriculturePolicy Research Institute

• Universities FightingWorld Hunger

Student Profile • Food Systems students will typically have

backgrounds in a field related to agriculture and food, such as:

EconomicsEnvironmental studiesDevelopmentInternational relationsLaw

Political studiesPublic healthProductionPlanningSociology

• Many will already have work experience in the agri-food sector and will be looking to broaden their knowledge and skills so as to advance their careers

Thank You

For more information, email us at

[email protected]

“Enhance your knowledgeabout food systems on

your schedule, fromanywhere in the world”