NUTR 300 12 - Global Food Systems

1.00

The way we produce, distribute and consume food has lasting impacts on population health, in particular dietary health concerns. A systems approach can add to nutrition and other HHK students’ understanding of the range of factors influencing human health, and can provide them with the tools to address drivers and components within food systems that could aid in fostering change within that system. Additionally, nutrition recommendations provided without a food systems approach often neglect the complex effects our consumption patterns can have on the food system. This course can help guide students to address dietary concerns responsibly without negatively impacting other aspects of the food system, cultivating sustainable recommendations that are environmentally sound, economically stable, and socially equitable. In keeping with the aims of the university, this course also provides students with an opportunity to develop “systems thinking” skills that are beneficial for many fields beyond those associated with food and food systems. There may be other courses that address specific components of and/or challenges within the food system, but none that take a systems approach to connect various content. This class has the potential to reach many students from varying majors and to connect content from many courses in different departments. Fall.