Presentation of the Food Systems Department at the UOC

1. Food Systems, Culture and Society
International Graduate Institute
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
An innovative, interdisciplinary programme in food studies
foodsystems@uoc.edu

2. What is Food Studies?
• Inquiry into why we eat what we eat
• We are interested in understanding the forces
that shape our relationships to food, including:
• Social
• Cultural
• Environmental
• Psychological
• Economic
• Political
• Geographic

3. Why Food Studies
“Not all that long ago, most people
considered food too common, too
quotidian, to be taken seriously as a field
of study, let alone as an agent of social
change”
Marion Nestle

4. The Power of Food
“The power of food lies in its material and
symbolic functions of linking nature,
human survival, health, culture and
livelihood as a focus of resistance to
corporate takeover of life itself”
Philip McMichael

5. What is a Food System?
• The organization of the production,
processing, distribution, selection and
consumption of food
• Broad and cross-cutting, “food systems”
as a framework allows us to expand the
scope of the programme to include issues
linked to land, ecology, economy, power,
production, processing, regulation, history,
culture and politics

6. Programme Framework
• Courses are framed around the principles of agroecology
• Agroecology refers to a cross-scale, cross-sectoral,
interdisciplinary approach to agriculture and food
• It recognises and embraces co-existing ecosystems and
populations and promotes ecological principles for
alternative systems
• Beyond the farm, it promotes biodiversity and upholds
farming principles that respect soil and water
• Agroecology demands that we pay attention to
agronomy and society
• Techniques stress resilience, stability and sustainability

7. Food Web
• Agriculture and food form part of a vast and complex
web
• From farm to fork, the food web metaphor is useful for
understanding the complexity of food systems: when one
strand of the web is weakened or neglected, the entire
web is in turn weakened, but when all parts of the web
work together, the strength of the web increases

8. From Food Web to Food Studies
• The tension of the food web is maintained through
various social norms, ecological realities and
institutionalised relations of ruling (laws, regulations,
policies).
• This is our work: we study these sites of tension
• The organization of the food web impacts who eats and
who does not, as well as what we eat and what we do
not eat, what is planted, where and how is it cultivated

9. Masters in Food, Society & International Food Governance
Food Systems Analysis
15 credits
Mandatory Specialisation
Mandatory Specialisation + 2 Specialisations in a chosen streams
Food Regulation Stream Food and Society Stream
International Agri- Food Regulation Food and Society Food Security
Food Policy (with IFLR) (with FAO)
15 credits 15 credits 15 credits 15 credits
POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA (30 credits)
International Agri-Food Policy
+ 1 Elective Specialisation
Int. Agri-
Geographic
Food and Society Food Security Directed Project Food Policy Food Regulation
Indicators
15 credits 15 credits 15 credits 15 credits 15 credits
15 credits

10. Topics of Interest
• Complexity of living • Geographic indication
systems – Social movements
• Integrated systems in – Communities
relationship to different – Development
– Tourism
product and distribution
models in agriculture • Food history and
• Intellectual property and globalization
seeds • Anthropology of food
• Traditional agriculture globalization
and knowledge • Food and migration
• Agriculture and gender • Anthropology of
• Considering the local consumption
• Food security assessment

11. Masters in Agroecology
• Sustainability and agroecology
• Promotion and comercialisation
• Integrated rural planning
• Agroturism and economic
diversification
• Working the land
• Catalan agricultural ecosystems
• Agriculture and cooporation

12. Some of our partners
• Food and Agriculture • Michigan State
Organization (FAO), UN University’s Institute for
Food Law and Regulation
• University of Missouri’s • Universities Fighting
Food and Agriculture World Hunger
Policy Research Institute

13. Student Profile
• Food Systems students will typically have
backgrounds in a field related to agriculture and
food, such as:
Economics Political studies
Environmental studies Public health
Development Production
International relations Planning
Sociology
Law
• Many will already have work experience in the
agri-food sector and will be looking to broaden
their knowledge and skills so as to advance their
careers

14. Thank You
For more information,
email us at
foodsystems@uoc.edu
“Enhance your knowledge
about food systems on
your schedule, from
anywhere in the world”