On-Line Anth 3888 Summer 2014
Anthropology of Food University of Minnesota Duluth 88358 -001, (05/19/2014 - 08/01/2014), Roufs,Tim, 3 credits, On-line Instruction
Schedule may change as events of the semester require
On-Line Calendar
"What you eat, and why you eat it . . ."
"This course dared me to find out where our food comes from, and has changed the way I think about the world. The 'textbooks' . . . were a joy to read. In short, this is the one course everyone who eats needs to take." — Andy Kadlec, UMD Labovitz School of Business
“Food is required by every human on earth, yet the types of food we eat and how we produce and consume it vary tremendously. It is therefore a nearly perfect subject for anthropology, since it can be examined in terms of human biology, culture, and social status across time from our evolutionary ancestors to the present day. . . .” -- Ryan Adams, IUPUI Anthropology
Note: The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Young Readers Edition (2009), also by Michael Pollen, is a different edition of the book.
The course anchor text, The Cultural Feast: An Introduction to Food and Society, 2nd Edition, is currently available on-line new from about $80.00-$146.66 [this is correct--it pays to comparison shop!], $55.00 used, and $58.48 to rent from Amazon.com (+ p/h, and at amazon.com you get FREE Super Saver Shipping on some orders). (20 April 2014)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2007) is currently available online from about $7.00 new / $0.39 used. (+ p/h, at amazon.com & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25). (20 April 2014)
Note: The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Young Readers Edition (2009), also by Michael Pollen, is a different edition of the book.
The Meaning of Food: The Companion to the PBS Television Series Hosted by Marcus Samuelsson is currently available online from about $5.52 new / $1.80 used. (+ p/h). (20 April 2014)
[This is also listed on Amazon.com for a muchhigher price. Be careful, if you use Amazon.com, to get on the correct page. See note below.)
The Meaning of Food is not available at the UMD Bookstore
Unit 1—Introduction to Anthropology / Orientation to the Course
Welcome Memo
Unit 1 Memo
Just Checking In
Have a look at the linked materials in the various units as you go along (such as the "On-Line First-Day Handout" in the next section), and look at the slide materials* (indicated by .pdf .pptx).
There will be more slides towards the beginning of the term, and more videos towards the middle and at the end.
The .pdf .pptx slide materials closely follow The Cultural Feast textbook. Some folks like to look at the slides before they read the assigned materials, some prefer to read the text(s) first. Either way is fine.
It is generally best to watch the videos after you have looked at the slides and reading material(s).
*A note on the slide formats: Since at this point we do not know what software you are using on your computer, we offer the slides in two formats. We recommend you first try "(.pdf)" , the “Portable Document Format” that is the open standard for document exchange. If you have problems with that format, please try "(.pptx)" , Office PowerPoint 2007. It is unlikely that you will have problems with both of them, but if you do, please let us know: troufs@d.umn.edu. When the materials are on your screen they should be running as a slide show. If you want or need to upgrade your software, you can download the latest PowerPoint viewer free, as well as download the latest Adobe .pdf Reader free.
Both the Midterm Exam and Final Exam are open-book/open-notes essay exams.
So there should be very little work and effort spent on memorizing facts, other than, perhaps, where to go to find the information you are looking for.
Have a look at the Main Characteristics of Anthropology full long slide deck (.pptx) or have a look at the Main Characteristics in segments . . .
(NOTE: The full set is a long slide deck as it covers some very important background information that will be referred to often as we go through the semester. Please bear with it to the end. And it will take a little longer to load, so please bear with that also, or have a look at all of the various segments separately.)
(NOTE: These are long slide sets as they cover more than 2000+ years. Please bear with it to the end. And it will take a little longer to load, so please bear with that also. Also see note on slide formats.)
Students in the past have commented that there is TOO MUCH INFORMATION available on the class Moodle and supporting WebSites. Yes, there is a lot of information, no doubt about it, and it can be confusing at first. It’s helpful when starting out to remember that the required information for the course is contained in the middle panel of your HomePage. The information in the sidebars and many of the links are just there should you find those interesting and/or helpful.
Your class project is a short presentation plus your term paper on your research
~
s2024 Live Chat for Picking a Project Topic
Week 3, Tuesday, 23 January 2024, 7:00-8:00 CDT Sign in on .
These are optional. If you can not make them live e-mail or e-Zoom.
su2024 Wk 4 InformalProject Statement, or Project Proposal (up to 20 points) due by Sunday, 30 June 2024
(We're starting this book here, with Michael Pollan's discussion of "The forager" and "The ethics of eating animals" as next Unit we begin having a closer look at hunting / gathering / foraging as a way people get their food in nonindustrialized societies)
(optional recommended) OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS have a look at The Meaning of Food, pp. 1-59 The materials from The Meaning of Food, pp. 1-59 are reviewed in the the video The Meaning of Food: "Food & Life" seen in the Unit 2 video feature.
s2024 Live Chat for Picking a Project Topic
Week 3, Tuesday, 23 January 2024, 7:00-8:00 CDT Sign in on .
These are optional. If you can not make them live e-mail or e-Zoom.
su2024 Wk 4 InformalProject Statement, or Project Proposal (up to 20 points) due by Sunday, 30 June 2024
We're continuing this book here, with Michael Pollan's discussion of Hunting and Gathering, and in Ch. 5 of The Cultural Feast we have a closer look at hunting / gathering /foraging as a way people get their food in nonindustrialized societies.
Chapter 5 of The Cultural Feast, focuses on "Food Technologies: How People Get Their Food in Nonindustrial Societies."
For Unit 3 Activities see
For Fun
Food Trivia
The human brain encodes what three factors in processing nouns?
su2015 The Live Chatfor the on-line Anthropology of Food Midterm Examwill be Wednesday, 24 June 2015, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Sign in on in the Week 6 Panel.
su2015 Week 6: The Anthropology of Food on-lineMidterm Exam will be available Thursday-Friday, 25-26 June 2015
Moodle Exams (and everything else on Moodle) works best with a Firefox
browser.
If you do not have a Firefox browser on your laptop, download one (it's free).
USDA Food Guide Pyramid (.pptx [updated in 2005, then replaced by MyPlate in 2011]
Nutritional Consequences: Foragers and Agriculturalists (.pdf) (.pptx) based on The Cultural Feast: An Introduction to Food and Society, Second Edition.
Bryant, Carol A., Kathleen M. DeWalt, Anita Courtney, and Jeffery Schwartz.
(Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson, 2003).
For Unit 5 Activities see
Unit 5 Reading Assignment
The Cultural Feast, Ch. 5, "Food Technologies How People Get Their Food in Nonindustrialized Societies"
(The materials from Ch. 5 is supplemented with the video Desert People, a classic film on one of the last gathering / foraging peoples discovered.)
Foraging
Demographic Issues of Foragers
Social, Political, and Ideological Features of Foragers
Diet and Health of Foragers
Food Preferences of Foragers
Nutrition and Health of Foragers
Horticulture
Social, Political, and Ideological Features of Horticulturalists
Diet and Health of Horticulturalists
Pastoralism
Social, Political, and Ideological Features of Pastoralism
Diet and Health of Pastoralists
Intensive Agriculture
Social, Political, and Ideological Features of Intensive Agriculture
Contemporary Peasant Societies
The Transition to Market Economies
Where Do Cuisines Come From?
Summary
Highlight: Farming Strategies in the Andean Region of Ecuador
If you are off-campus use Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection)
(pursuant to licensing agreements streaming videos are not available outside of Moodle)
"Fueled
by curiosity and a dash of naiveté, college buddies Ian Cheney and
Curt Ellis return to their ancestral home of Greene, Iowa, to find out
how the modest corn kernel conquered America. With the help of real
farmers, powerful fertilizer, government aid, and genetically modified
seeds, the friends manage to grow one acre of corn. Along the way, they
unlock the hidden truths about America’s modern food system."
Big River: A King Corn Companion
(27 min., SB191.M2 K56 2010 DVD, 2010)
If you are off-campus use Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection)
(pursuant to licensing agreements streaming videos are not available outside of Moodle)
"Following up on their
Peabody winning documentary, the King Corn boys are back. For Big
River, best friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis have returned to Iowa
with a new mission: to investigate the environmental impact their acre
of corn has sent to the people and places downstream. In a journey
that spans from the heartland to the Gulf of Mexico, Ian and Curt trade
their combine for a canoe––and set out to see the big world their
little acre of corn has touched. On their trip, flashbacks to the
pesticides they sprayed, the fertilizers they injected, and the soil
they plowed now lead to new questions, explored by new experts in new
places. Half of Iowa’s topsoil, they learn, has been washed out to
sea. Fertilizer runoff has spawned a hypoxic “dead zone” in the
Gulf. And back at their acre, the herbicides they used are blamed
for a cancer cluster that reaches all too close to home."
video--United States Focus:
Food Fight
(Educational Edition is 48 min.)
(73 min., 2009, UM Duluth Library Multimedia HD1761 .F66 2008 DVD) film homepage
Episode 3: "Food & Family"
looks at the complex way food defines families
(optional recommended) Review of the materials from Part 3 of the text,
The Meaning of Food, "Food & Family" from the Reading Assignments of last Unit and this Unit
Also have a look at . . .
Sherri A. Inness,
Secret Ingredients: Race, Gender, and Class at the Dinner Table
Ch. 8 "Thin Is Not In: Two Fat Ladies and Gender Stereotypes on the Food Network"
(Note: You do not have to read the book, just view the slides—but watch the video first, and freelist as directed)
~
When we're finished with the Two Fat Ladies slides based on Secret Ingredients, Ch. 8, we'll have a look at the slides on Obesity and on Eating Disorders . . .
The "Obesity Epidemic" (.pdf) (.pptx)
Body Image and Eating Behaviors (.pdf) (.pptx)
Eating Disorders (.pdf) (.pptx) Causes of Eating Disorders (.pdf) (.pptx) Obesity, Eating Disorders: Applications (.pdf) (.pptx)
For Unit 9 Activities see
From the Unit 9 Reading Assignment
Ch. 9, "Hunger in Global Perspective," pp. 258-295
Malthus vs. Boserup
The Factors in the Food Sufficiency Equation
Population
The Effect of HIV/Aids on World Population
Food Production
Consequences of the Agricultural Revolution
Decrease Food Aid to Other Countries
Trade Imbalances
What is Meant by Hunger and Malnutrition?
Who Are the Hungry and Malnourished?
Hunger and Undernourishment
Types of Undernutrition
Measuring PEM
Overweight in Children
What Are the Causes of Undernourishment and Malnutrition?
While you are watching The Two Fat Ladies do a "freelisting" of the things that The Two Fat Ladies talk about or
mention that are not specifically related to the actual cooking of the
meal in the kitchen. Freelisting is a technique commonly used by
anthropologists when doing fieldwork, and it's basically just making a
list of the things you're focusing on—but a complete list.
(Don't miss the gorilla. . . .)
Food Design takes a sneak peek into the secret laboratories of a major food manufacturer, where designers and scientists are developing your favorite mouthful of tomorrow
Unit 9 Feeding Frenzy - The Food Industry, Marketing & the Creation of a Health Crisis
(63 min., 2013, UM Duluth Library Multimedia RA645.O23 F43 2013)
"Over the past three decades, obesity rates in the U.S. have more than doubled for children and tripled for adolescents -- and a startling 70% of adults are now obese or overweight. The result has been a widening epidemic of obesity-related health problems, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. While discussions about this spiraling health crisis have tended to focus on the need for more exercise and individual responsibility, Feeding Frenzy trains its focus squarely on the responsibility of the processed food industry and the outmoded government policies it benefits from. It lays bare how taxpayer subsidies designed to feed hungry Americans during the Great Depression have enabled the food industry to flood the market with a rising tide of cheap, addictive, high calorie food products, and offers an engrossing look at the tactics of the multibillion-dollar marketing machine charged with making sure that every one of those surplus calories is consumed."
For Unit 9 Activities see
Video Explorations:
Freelist the things that The Two Fat Ladies talk about or mention that are not specifically related to the actual cooking of the meal in the kitchen.
You do not have to turn this list in, but keep it handy.
(China) (On-line Optional Resource)
(Malaysia) (On-line Optional Resource)
[food tears Chinese culture apart in Malaysia
肉
肉
"It was hardly surprising that, for the Chinese, the words 'meat' and 'pork' became, and remain, synonymous."
-- concluding sentence to Chapter 2 "Changing the Face of the Earth," Reay Tannahill, Food in History (NY: Three Rivers Press, 1988)
Food Revolution #2: The Meaning of Eating
-- the discovery that food is more than sustenance
For a comprehensive review of pork avoidance and its historical and social importance see
Frederick J. Simoons, Eat Not This Flesh: Food Avoidances form Prehistory to the Present, 2nd Ed.
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1994)
For Unit 10 Activities see
Unit 10 Reading Assignment
Ch. 10, "Addressing Global Food Issues," pp. 296-337
Hunger and Malnutrition: The Factors Influencing Adequate Nutrition
Food Availability
Agricultural Research and Extension
The Role of Biotechnology
Policy Options: Self-Sufficiency vs. Food Security
Food Self-Sufficiency and National Food Security
What Makes NSSS Important?
Commercialization of Agriculture and Household Food Security of Small Farmers
Income
Protecting Food Crop Production
Land Tenure
Health
Entitlements
Alleviating Poverty and Redistributing Income
Land Distribution and Agrarian Reform
Agrarian Reform
Credit, Marketing, and Price Systems
Food Aid as Food Subsidy
Nutritional Quality of Food, Education, and Household Distribution
Health and Sanitation
Summary
Highlight: Women: A Pivotal Link in the Food Chain
The Cultural Feast
Ch. 10, "Addressing Global Food Issues"
Hunger and Malnutrition Revisited
Adequate Nutrition
Policy Options: Self-Sufficiency vs. Food Security of Small Farmers
Commercialization of Agriculture and Household Food Security
Entitlements
Nutritional Quality of Food, Education, and Household
Distribution
Health and Sanitation
Highlight: Women: A Pivotal Link in the Food Chain
Ch. 11, "Dietary Behavior Change: How People Change Eating Habits," pp. 338-371
The Behavior Change Process
Stages of Change
Processes of Change
Factors That Influence the Change Process
Health Beliefs
Attitudes
Social Influences
Skills and Self-Efficacy
Intentions
Goal Setting
Other Factors That Influence Behavior Change
Implications for Practice
Summary
Highlight: U.S. Federal Food Programs
For Unit 11 Activities see
From the optional Unit 11 Reading Assignment
Ch. 12, "Designing Large-Scale Programs to Change Dietary Practices," pp. 372-396
Community-Based Health Promotion
Community
Distinguishing Features of Community Organization
States in the Community Organizing Process
Case Study
Advantages of Community-Based Interventions
Challenges Associated with Community-Based Interventions
Social Marketing
Distinguishing Features
Steps in the Social Marketing Process
Loving Support Makes Breastfeeding Work
Putting It All Together to Improve Dietary Practices
Summary
Highlight: Moving from Theory to Practice: A Case Study Using a Multilevel Approach to Changing Dietary Behavior
For Unit 11 Activities see
Unit 11 Video Explorations
video:
The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World And What We Eat
(85 min., CC, 2010, UM Duluth LibraryMultimedia SH329.O94 E43 2010 DVD film HomePage course viewing guide
Watch one of the two videos on The Future of Food below—the one by Deborah Koons Garcia or the one by HRH Prince Charles—and then Respond to that video when you have finished
If you have not done an optional Film/Lecture Review Extra Credit Paper, you may watch both and compare and contrast them for an optional Review Extra Credit paper
(this may be turned in at the end of the term)
Ch. 11, "Dietary Behavior Change: How People Change Eating Habits," pp. 338-371
The Behavior Change Process
Stages of Change
Processes of Change
Factors That Influence the Change Process
Health Beliefs
Attitudes
Social Influences
Skills and Self-Efficacy
Intentions
Goal Setting
Other Factors That Influence Behavior Change
Implications for Practice
Summary
Highlight: U.S. Federal Food Programs
Ch. 12, "Designing Large-Scale Programs to Change Dietary Practices," pp. 372-396
Community-Based Health Promotion
Community
Distinguishing Features of Community Organization
States in the Community Organizing Process
Case Study
Advantages of Community-Based Interventions
Challenges Associated with Community-Based Interventions
Social Marketing
Distinguishing Features
Steps in the Social Marketing Process
Loving Support Makes Breastfeeding Work
Putting It All Together to Improve Dietary Practices
Summary
Highlight: Moving from Theory to Practice: A Case Study Using a Multilevel Approach to Changing Dietary Behavior
With Ch. 11 as with
Chapter 12, if you expect to go into or be a part of any program or
company involved in dietary behavior change (including advertising and
marketing), it would be a good idea to read this chapter carfully. Materials from
this chapter may also be used as the make-up-your-own final exam question.
The Cultural Feast, Ch. 12, "Designing Large-Scale Programs to Change Dietary Practices"
Ch. 12 is not required reading, but as with
Chapter 11, if you expect to go into or be a part of any large-scale
program or company involved in dietary behavior change (including
advertising and marketing), it would be a good idea to read this
chapter. Materials from
this chapter may also be used as the make-up-your-own final exam question.
For Unit 11 Activities see
Topic 11 For Fun: Food Trivia
How big is a modern industrial fish trawler net compared to the UMD Administration Building?
su2015 The Live Chat for the on-line Anthropology of Food Final Exam will be Wednesday, 26 August 2015, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Sign in on in the Week 15 Panel.
f2020 The Anthropology of Food Final Examis scheduled for Final Exam Week, week of 14-18 December 2020
Use of AI-content generators for assignments in this class
When I taught Advanced Writing for the Social Sciences here at UMD, for over twenty-five years, my rule of thumb advice to students was to plan to spend 60% or more of their time and effort revising drafts (for academic type writing).
In 2001 Wikipedia appeared on the scene and very quickly became a useful tool asa starting point for many academic projects even though as an open-source resource the Wikipedia entries are not checked and verified in the same manner as other traditional reference materials.
Spelling and grammar checkers arrived on the general scene and helped with spelling and grammar checking, but, as you no doubt have discovered, they continue to require human editing.
And, of course, before that we had a selection of excellent Encyclopedia offering good starting points for many projects, the most popular being The Encyclopedia Brittanica.
And long before that there were libraries--since at least the days of Alexandria in Egypt, in the third century B.C.
The bottom line . . .
Today the evolution of research resources and aids continues with the relatively rapid appearance of ChatGPT and other automated content generators.
As many folks have already found out, they can be very useful as starting points, much like their predecessors. But, from the academic point of view, they are still only starting points.
Professors nationwide are for the most part advised, and even encouraged, to experiment with the potentials of ChatGPT and similar apps.
In this class it is fine to experiment, with the caveat that all of your written academic work demonstrates that your personal efforts—including content development and revision—reflect your personal originality, exploration, analysis, explanation, integrating and synthesizing of ideas, organizational skills, evaluation, and overall learning and critical thinking efforts.
That is to say you may experiment with the AI tool to do tasks such as e.g, brainstorming, narrowing topics, writing first drafts, editing text, and the like. AI-generated works should in no case be more than that.
In the end you need to become familiar enough with the various subjects, peoples, and places discussed in this class to research a topic and problem-solve on your own, and carry on an intelligent conversation about them in modern-day society . . . a conversation that goes byond your voicing an unsupported opinion.
For the record, what follows is the official UMD Academic Integrity Policy. Note that "unless otherwise noted by the faculty
member" this is the default policy.
"UMD’s Academic Integrity policy covers any work done by automated content generators such as ChatGPT or other generative artificial intelligence tools unless otherwise noted by the faculty
member. These tools present new challenges and opportunities."
"Within the confines of this
class The use of AI-content generators is strictly prohibited for any stage of homework/assignment
(e.g., draft or final product). The primary purposes of college are developing your thinking skills,
being creative with ideas, and expanding your understanding on a wide variety of topics. Using
these content generating AI tools thwarts the goal of homework/assignments to provide
students opportunities to achieve these purposes. Please make the most of this time that you
have committed to a college education and learn these skills now, so that you can employ them
throughout your life." -- Jennifer Mencl, UMD Associate Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, 10 May 2023
. "Academic dishonesty
tarnishes UMD's reputation and discredits the accomplishments of
students. UMD is committed to providing students every possible
opportunity to grow in mind and spirit. This pledge can only be
redeemed in an environment of trust, honesty, and fairness. As a
result, academic dishonesty is regarded as a serious offense by all
members of the academic community. In keeping with this ideal, this
course will adhere to UMD's Student Academic Integrity Policy, which
can be found at [http://www.d.umn.edu/conduct/integrity/Academic_Integrity_Policy.htm].
This policy sanctions students engaging in academic dishonesty with
penalties up to and including expulsion from the university for repeat
offenders."
— UMD Educational Policy Committee, Jill Jensen, Chair
(08/16/2007)
The instructor will enforce and students are expected to follow the University's Student Conduct Code [http://www1.umn.edu/regents/policies/academic/Student_Conduct_Code.html].
Appropriate classroom conduct promotes an environment of academic
achievement and integrity. Disruptive classroom behavior that
substantially or repeatedly interrupts either the instructor's ability
to teach, or student learning, is prohibited. Disruptive behavior
includes inappropriate use of technology in the classroom. Examples
include ringing cell phones, text-messaging, watching videos, playing
computer games, doing email, or surfing the Internet on your computer
instead of note-taking or other instructor-sanctioned activities."
— UMD Educational Policy Committee, Jill Jensen, Chair
(08/16/2007)
Failure to comply with the above
codes and standards when submitting an Extra Credit paper will result in
a penalty commensurate with the lapse, up to and including an F final grade for the course, and, at a minimum, a reduction in total
points no fewer than the points available for the Extra Credit project.
The penalty will not simply be a zero for the project, and the
incident will be reported to the UMD Academic Integrity Officer in the
Office of Student and Community Standards.
A Note on "Cutting and Pasting" without the Use of Quotation Marks (EVEN IF you have a citation to the source somewhere in your paper)
If you use others' words and/or works you MUST so indicate that with the use of quotation marks. Failure to use quotation marks to indicate that the materials are not of your authorship constitutes plagiarism—even if you have a citation to the source elsewhere in your paper/work.
Patterned failure to so indicate that the materials are not of your own authorship will result in an F grade for the course.
Other instances of improper attribution will result in a 0 (zero) for the assignment (or a reduction in points equal to the value of an Extra Credit paper), and a reduction of one grade in the final grade of the course.
All incidents will be reported to the UMD Academic Integrity Officer in the
Office of Student and Community Standards as is required by University Policy.
Students with disabilities:
It is the policy
and practice of the University of Minnesota Duluth to create inclusive
learning environments for all students, including students with
disabilities. If there are aspects of this course that result in
barriers to your inclusion or your ability to meet course requirements –
such as time limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of
non-captioned videos – please notify the instructor as soon as
possible. You are also encouraged to contact the Office of
Disability Resources to discuss and arrange reasonable
accommodations. Please call 218-726-6130 or visit the DR website
at www.d.umn.edu/access for more information.