SOCI 3433 Sociology of Food

Prerequisite: SOCI 1121. This course takes a food systems approach to exploring the production and distribution of food in the United States. It focuses on capitalism and government policy as strong influences on the types of food available for consumption and some of the consequences of eating industrial food. The course explores paradoxes such as the problem of hunger in a land of plenty and the difficulty of small-scale conventional farmers to make ends meet when their yields are as high as ever. We also consider food movements that have responded to some of the social problems associated with industrial farming. We take a structural approach in this course as opposed to an individual-level, decision making approach about food choices. Students will also have an opportunity to experience life off campus by way of working in the Lucille Harris community garden in Harrisburg.