About this course: A food system encompasses the activities, people and resources involved in getting food from field to plate. Along the way, it intersects with aspects of public health, equity and the environment. In this course, we will provide a brief introduction to the U.S. food system and how food production practices and what we choose to eat impacts the world in which we live. We will discuss some key historical and political factors that have helped shape the current food system and consider alternative approaches from farm to fork. The course will be led by a team of faculty and staff from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. Guest lecturers will include experts from a variety of disciplines, including public health, policy and agriculture.

Who is this class for: This course is designed for anyone who is affected by the US food system, including consumers, producers, policy makers, and public health practitioners.

Created by: Johns Hopkins University

Taught by: Keeve Nachman, PhD, MHS, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Taught by: Robert S. Lawrence, MD, Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Taught by: Pamela Rhubart Berg, Food Systems Education Program Manager
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering

Level	Beginner
Commitment	6 modules. Each contains approximately 2 hours of lecture, 30 minutes of reading, and a short quiz.
Language	English
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Is Climate Change Vindicating Malthus? Food Security and the Right to Food (Bob Lawrence)

Welcome to our short course on the U.S. food system. In this first series of lectures, we dig into the very important concepts of food systems, food security and intergenerational equity and begin to explore what we eat, how that food is produced, and how our ...

10 videos, 4 readings

Graded: Week 1 Quiz (required)

WEEK 2

Food System Sustainability and Resilience

This lesson expands on the concepts of food system sustainability and resilience, and describes strategies that could dramatically improve the food system and the ability of future generations to feed themselves.

5 videos, 1 reading

Graded: Module 2 Quiz (required)

WEEK 3

Ecological Perspectives on Food Production

The 1938 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture stated, “Essentially, all life depends upon the soil ... There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together”. In this module, we will take a very brief look at the importance of methods...

7 videos, 1 reading

Graded: Week 3 Quiz (required)

WEEK 4

Food Animal Production and Public Health

We will now examine the meat and seafood industries, which we have touched on in previous modules as a key driver of the global food system. As incomes rise around the world, so too does our collective appetite for meat. One of the greatest challenges of the...

7 videos, 1 reading

Graded: Week 4 Quiz (required)

WEEK 5

Food and Farm Policy Perspectives

In the next set of lectures, we begin to explore food and farm policy, a huge and complex topic. Roni Neff returns with an overview of the history and content of the current farm bill and why it really should be called a ‘food bill’, considering the magnitud...

8 videos, 1 reading

Graded: Week 5 Quiz (required)

WEEK 6

Improving Food Systems: Stories from the Field

In this final module of the course you will hear from real people working to build a healthier, more sustainable food system. First, Michael Heller of Clagett Farm in Maryland will share his farming philosophy and how he links his farm to the local community n...

8 videos, 5 readings

Graded: Week 6 Quiz (required)

Graded: Peer Review Written Assignment: Op-Ed

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An Introduction to the U.S. Food System: Perspectives from Public Health

An Introduction to the U.S. Food System: Perspectives from Public Health

An Introduction to the U.S. Food System: Perspectives from Public Health