RE: Food issues

[Andrew Biro]

Hi Leslie, Darwin’s Nightmare is a very good documentary about Nile perch and the connections between invasive species and various other “global connections” (underdevelopment, arms trade, HIV-AIDS in Africa). It was nominated for the best documentary Oscar last year, and might have won if it weren’t for the darn penguins J. It runs a little under 2 hours.   In terms of books on globalization of food trade, Deborah Barndt, Tangled Routes: Women, Work, and Globalization on the Tomato Trail (Garamond 2002) is good and pretty readable. I think Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts (Verso 2001) is a chilling historical account with important contemporary implications (even if these aren’t drawn too explicitly), though it is quite long and pretty dense, so you may want to just use selections. I used it in a Global Environmental Issues course that I taught a couple of years ago, and had the students choose one of the three countries that are the major focus of discussion in the book (China, India, Brazil) to write a short essay, which worked pretty well. I also think Upton Sinclair, The Jungle could be a good introduction to the industrialization of food production, perhaps paired with Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation?   If you want to have something on the local food movement (as an alternative to food globalization), Suzanne Belliveau, “Resisting Global, Buying Local,” Great Lakes Geographer, 12, 1 (2005) might be a place to start, at least for a list of further references.   Hope this helps. Cheers,   Andrew   Andrew Biro Dept. of Political Science Acadia University Wolfville, NS  B4P 2R6 (902)585-1925 [EMAIL PROTECTED]   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Leslie Wirpsa Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 11:55 PM To: gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu Subject: Food issues   Hello to you all. I know this is quarter and semester crunch time, but I have a request.   I am working on a syllabus for my "Global Connections" course at the International Studies program at DePaul University.   I want to teach about local/global changes and dynamics (environmental, economic, political, social, cultural) through the prism of food. Historically grounded. GMO debates, Green Revolution etc included.   This is a non-majors' course. I am trying to get my head around key literature and compelling cases (introduction of perch in lakes in Tanzania to create an export market to Europe, for example), plus good documentaries (not too long) related to the global food system/famine/malnutrition and inequality/over consumption/ impact of export oriented strategies on local economies/energy and transport "food miles" etc.   Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Ideas about multi-media/genre sources (documentaries, radio pieces, novels) in addition to books and articles would be appreciated.   Thanks!   Leslie Wirpsa Ciriacy Wantrup Post Doctoral Fellow in Natural Resource Studies University of California, Berkeley