Food Security 2 credits / 6 weeks weeks Professor Olivia Sylvester In this course, students we critically examine contemporary issues in food security as well as the historical processes that have shaped our current food system. We start by presenting the Food and Agriculture Organization’s framework for food security and use this as a lens for our critical thinking throughout the course. We analyze how sustainable agriculture is central to food security. We unpack how international trade and markets influence individual and national food security. We present food sovereignty as a movement that has emerged in response to trade liberalization and inequality in our food system. To build on principles of equality, we include gender as a lens to better understand the nuances of how food insecurity affects people differently. To close, we examine food waste and its innovative solutions. This class is relevant to students and professionals working in education, research, programming and policy that want to deepen their understanding of food security and to acquire tools and frameworks applicable in this field.
Olivia Sylvester
Olivia Sylvester, Ph.D., is the Head of the Environment, Development and Peace Department, and assistant professor at the University for Peace. She is also an adjunct professor for Long Island University and teaches in their Global Studies programme. In the last decade, Olivia’s research program has focused on food security, sustainable agriculture, climate change, environmental justice, and gender. Specifically, she works with Indigenous people, women, small-scale farmers, and youth on these topics. Her research is driven by social and environmental justice and she uses relevant methodologies (e.g., Indigenous, feminist) to achieve these goals. Olivia is also member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Society of Ethnobiology, and the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage Project. Being active within these networks allows her to work at the interface of policy and practice. |
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