GEOG 256 - Geographies of Food and Farming

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Farming and food production underpin many of our most immediate and global challenges. Food connects us to our landscapes and communities; it also drives global trade and exploitation. The world grows more food than ever before, yet factors such as corporate concentration and biofuel policies, in a context of climate change, continue to produce hunger and to degrade natural resources. In this class we start by examining the climatic, soil, and biogeographic factors that explain patterns of production. We explore how these interrelated factors support, and constrain, agricultural prosperity and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. We then learn to use key data resources to understand changes in production, starting near to home and then continuing to global regions. Finally, we explore policy frameworks that shape production, and ways that policies might shift to create more sustainable and equitable systems of food and farming. Mary Cunningham.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS