GLST 210

The Human Face of Globalization: An Anthropological View
Grease, Gristle, and Globalization

Food is one of the necessities of life; we all need to eat.  How does globalization affect food production and, ultimately, people’s lives around the world?  Food is the focus of this course as a means to better understand the interconnections between global capitalism and what we find on our dinner plates.
No prerequisite.

Websites related to the course materials:

Global Studies Program at Vancouver Island University. Includes information about the program and internships.

Feeding 9 Billion.  Feeding 9 Billion, a food security initiative based out of the University of Guelph, provides insight, outreach, & education around issues of food, agriculture & hunger globally. The 9-billion in the title is in reference to the projected world population in 2050.

Films: Food Issues & Food Security.  A compilation of food film lists from three organizations.  This list was created by Creatively United Community (Kassidy Kelly, 2018).

Genetic Modification.  This is the NewScientist.com‘s Topic Guide on Genetic Modification; includes a wide range of articles from news to opinon with external links.

The History of Globalization.  One of the topics of YaleGlobal Online, “a publication of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale” University.  Check the Globalization of Food & Plants, in particular.

Institute for Responsible Technology.  An anti-GMO website, which promotes itself as the “most comprehensive source of GMO health risk information on the web.”

Seeds of Diversity.  Canada’s Heritage Seed Program: “members collect and share over 1500 varieties of fruits and vegetables.”

How would you describe the difference between modern war and modern industry — between, say, bombing and strip mining, or between chemical warfare and chemical manufacturing? The difference seems to be only that in war the victimization of humans is directly intentional and in industry it is “accepted” as a “trade-off”.
–Wendell Berry, farmer, author (b.1934)

Last updated 2023-09-04