A UC Berkeley course with live streaming open to the public
The food system is multi-disciplinary and complex, involving agroecology, agronomy, anthropology, economics, nutrition, sociology, and the arts. In this course, experts on organic agriculture, school lunch reform, food safety, hunger and food security, farm bill reform, farm-to-school efforts, urban agriculture, food sovereignty, and local food economies will offer perspectives making the food system more sustainable and equitable.
Instructor: Garrison Sposito, ESPM
Co-Hosts: Mark Bittman, Robert Hass
Dates: Lectures will take place on Monday evenings of the Spring 2015 semester, beginning January 26th, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM PST. While in person attendance is only open to UC Berkeley students enrolled in the course, each lecture will stream live on the Edible Schoolyard Project’s YouTube Channel and will be archived on the Edible Schoolyard Network.
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Download: 2015 Edible Education 101 syllabus (PDF)
PART I – “The Trouble with the Food System”
January 26th: “A Brief History of the Modern Food System” with Michael Pollan (speaker biography) | VIDEO
February 2nd: “The Ecological Crisis as a Crisis of Agriculture” with Garrison Sposito (speaker biography) | VIDEO
Reading: “The Ecological Crisis as a Crisis of Agriculture” by Wendell Berry
February 9th: “The Hands That Feed You” with Eric Schlosser (speaker biography) | VIDEO
February 16th: Presidents’ Day (No lecture)
February 23rd: “Linking Farm Policy to Health Policy in the Global Economy” with Marison Nestle (speaker biography) | VIDEO
Reading: “Today’s ‘Eat More’ Environment” & “Utopian Dream: A New Farm Bill” by Marion Nestle
“What is the Farm Bill?” by Renée Johnson and Jim Monke
March 2nd: “The Long Green Revolution” with Raj Patel and Mark Bittman (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
Reading: “Seeds of Doubt” by Michael Specter
“How to be Curious about the Green Revolution” by Raj Patel
“International Manifesto” by Women of Via Campesina
Supplementary Reading: “The Long Green Revolution” by Raj Patel
PART II – “Getting Back to the Right Food System”
March 9th: “Mimicking Nature: Woodleaf Farm’s Ecological Design” with Carl Rosato and Helen Atthowe (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
March 16th: “Of Peaches and Power: Myths, Legends, and the Mundane of Family Farming” with Mas Masumoto, Nikiko Masumoto and Robert Hass (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
March 23rd: Spring Break (No lecture)
March 30th: “Sustainable Farming through Agroecology” with Stephen Gliessman and Mark Bittman (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
Reading: “Agroecology: Growing the Roots of Resistance” by Stephen Gliessman
“Agroecology as a Transdisciplinary, Participatory, and Action-Oriented Approach” by V. Ernesto Méndez et al.
PART III – “Building the Food Movement”
April 6th: “Fixing a Broken Food System: Some Ideas” with Claire Kremen (speaker biography) | VIDEO
April 13th: “Teaching Slow Food Values in a Fast Food World: Who Will Grow Tomorrow’s Food and Who Will Be Eating It?” with Alice Waters, Craig McNamara, and Robert Hass (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
April 20th: “With Liberty, Justice, and Sovereignty for All” with Anim Steel, Sara Mersha, and Mark Bittman (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
April 27th: “What’s Next for the Food Movement?” with Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman (speaker biographies) | VIDEO
Reading: “The Food Movement, Rising” by Michael Pollan
Sponsors: Edible Education 101 is presented by the Edible Schoolyard Project, UC Berkeley Food Institute, College of Natural Resources, and UC Global Food Initiative with support from the UC Berkeley’s Chancellor’s Office and the Epstein/Roth Foundation.
Illustration by Julie Van Scoy.