SOC 808 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Consumerism, Environmental Health, Food Policy

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 808
• Professor: Mustafa Koc

Document Summary

Modern food system has its strengths and weaknesses. It is important to identify these if we need to imagine a sustainable food system that can overcome these weaknesses. Hunger, obesity, farm crisis, global warming are interrelated symptoms of broader problems and require short, mid and long-term solutions. Effective response requires our ability to see interrelationships among these seemingly unrelated issues and working together. Why should we be concerned: we all can be suffering the consequences of the problems in the food system: But we pay the hidden costs of subsidies to the farmers, subsidies to big corporations, food safety problems, global warming, diet related diseases, wars, refugees. Whose responsibility is to deal with food system problems: the dominant liberal ideology emphasizes minimal interventions to the market place. Instead defends that individuals should be educated to make the right choices. Informing and educating individuals to make better choices and become more responsible consumers, producers, eaters, and citizens is crucial.