SUM4035 – Agri-Cultural Perspectives on Meat
Course content
Food production today contributes to severe ecosystem degradation, loss of biodiversity and to one third of all greenhouse gases. One third of the world’s soils are degraded due to the way we produce food, animals and their feed. The number of animals killed for human consumption is at the highest it has ever been.
This course will provide students with a thorough understanding of the environmental and ethical challenges of industrialization of agriculture and offer alternative perspectives for food production with an emphasis on meat. The course will combine lectures, seminars, online content and farm visits.
The course begins by tracing the role of animals in local agricultures, explaining the ongoing historical trajectory of industrial meat production, and show how meat directs and shapes food systems both locally and globally. By engaging with agricultural transformations at local and global scales both empirically and conceptually we examine whether the reconnection of animals to the land in food systems can offer a solution, such as in regenerative agriculture. The course will give an in-depth understanding of the historical, political and cultural problems surrounding meat. We will examine meat production as an integrated and/or isolated part of agriculture and trace chicken feet, turkey tails and hoofprints geographically and culturally from production to consumption. Research cases from the global North and South will be used to explore and explain the ways in which the growing complexity of meat and feed production impacts everyday life and the global environment. Finally, we ask how we can adapt and imagine the role of animal husbandry and meat in sustainable and future food systems.
Learning outcome
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To obtain a nuanced understanding of the links between the global food system, soil degradation and the implication for societies, both empirically and theoretically;
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To better understand the development of meat production and consumption and its local and global consequences.
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To recognize and critically assess how various actors and groups contribute to, and are affected by, the global meat and feed systems.
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To identify and discuss the problems and dilemmas involved in meat as part of a future sustainable food system.
Admission to the course
You may apply to be a guest student at SUM. Please follow these instructions.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
A bachelor’s degree.
Recommended previous knowledge
Specialization equivalent to at least 80 ECTS within subjects from the humanities or social sciences, sustainable development, or equivalent relevant subjects.
Teaching
Attendance in lectures and seminars is mandatory, and active participation in class is both expected and encouraged. You must have an attendance of 80% to be eligible to take the exam.?
Obligatory activities: Poster and presentation
Examination
Home exam
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
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