700.630.01
Global Food Ethics

Cancelled

Location
East Baltimore
Term
4th Term
Department
Berman Institute (Bioethics)
Credit(s)
3
Academic Year
2019 - 2020
Instruction Method
TBD
Class Time(s)
Tuesday, 3:30 - 6:20pm
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
Yes
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Anne Barnhill
Contact Name
Anne Barnhill
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Prerequisite
Description
One of the great challenges of our time is how we will secure and provide plentiful, healthy, and nutritious food for all. The health, environmental, economic, and societal costs will be substantial if we don’t change our course of action. How do we do this in an environmentally sustainable manner, while protecting the welfare and rights of agricultural workers and the well-being of non-human animals? Solving this challenge is riddled with ethical concerns. This class will explore the ethical and moral issues that arise within the global food system and will give students the opportunity to think critically about conflicting views of a sustainable food system in the future.
Introduces and explores the ethical issues of the global food system. Provides students with the opportunity to think critically about a variety of conflicting views as to what it means to produce, process, distribute, market and consume food ethically in a globalized world. Borrows tools from practical ethics, political philosophy, and theories of justice to shed light on these issues that determine our common future and the way we personally and socially relate to the food we eat.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
  1. Identify the major ethical debates and challenges of the global food system from agriculture production systems to consumer knowledge and behavior
  2. Critique significant societal values and ethical assumptions that shape the food system
  3. Identify and analyze the obligations and responsibilities of different actors in high- middle and low-income countries, including local food movements, consumers, the food and agriculture industry players, and the public sector
  4. Explain how programs and policies (in high-, middle- and low-income countries) can take an ethical lens to decision-making and partnerships pertaining to the food system
  5. Identify potential short- and long-term ethically permissible, socially acceptable, and politically feasible solutions and strategies for producing, processing, distributing, marketing, selling and consuming food
  6. Apply personal experiences to an exploration of the ethical issues of the global food system
Enrollment Restriction
Enrollment Priority given to Master of Bioethics students
Instructor Consent
Consent required for some students
Consent Note
Consent required for Undergraduates
Consent Contact
abarnhi1@jhu.edu
Special Comments

In addition to the textbooks, there are several useful online resources that you’re encouraged to consult: The FEWresources.org website. This website, maintained by Madison Powers, provides an eye-opening roadmap of the food-energy-water nexus from a global justice perspective. David M. Kaplan’s “Philosophy of Food Project” (http://www.food.unt.edu). This website has useful summaries of philosophical arguments related to food.

Course meets in the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Deering Hall, Lower Level Conference room