Philosophy of Food Reading Schedule

SEP 18: 1

• First Day of Class: See in class notes for details.

SEP 20: 2

• View: Food, Inc. & Fed Up

• Focus: These mainstream and well-regarded documentaries will quickly put a critique of the US Food System on the table. Check movie availability. Take some notes on: 1. Facts that you are surprised by, think important, or are suspicious of.; 2. Questions raised by the movie; 3. Claims or thesis that the movie's documentary evidence seems to support. Note segments or narratives. Try to note some names.

SEP 25: 3

• Gastrod episode, "The End of the Calorie"
• Groopman, Jerome. "Is Fat Killing You, or Is Sugar?" The New Yorker, April 3, 2017.

SEP 27: 4

• Montgomery, David and anne Bilke, "What Your Microbiome Wants for Dinner"
• Sonnenbergs, C 1, "What is the Microbiota and Why Should I Care?"
• View one of these gut movies:

• Medical Revolution The Gut Microbiome
• The Gut: Our Second Brain -- Please do try to watch this one. It has some remarkable graphics and the science reporting is very good as well.

OCT 2: 5

• Sonnenbergs, C 5, "Trillions of Mouths to Feed"
• Sonnenbergs, C 7, "Eat Sh*t and Live"

OCT 4: 6

• Montanari, Massimo. Food is Culture, (1-26).
• Pollan, Michael. Part 1: "In the Age of Nutritionism," In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (pp. 19-40).
• Next time add Diamond, "Agriculture's Mixed Blessings", recommended for this term.

• Focus: Montanari takes us quickly into the intersection of history, anthropology, and philosophy of food by situating food as primordial culture. Pollan gives us a quick introduction to "nutritionism" -- the idea that food just is nutrition, along with some analysis of the problems of nutrition science and nutrition policy. We'll read the rest of his analysis and recommendations in the first unit of the course.

OCT 9: 7

• Montanari, "Fire, Cooking, Cuisine, Civilization" (29-33) from Food is Culture.
• Barber, Dan. Introduction The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food, (1-21).

OCT 11: 8

• Pollan, Michael. Part 2: The Western Diet (pp. 83-132)

OCT 16: 9

• Nestle, "Introduction: The Food Industry and 'Eat More,' from Food Politics", 2013. (1-27).
• Nestle, Marion. Chapter 1: From "Eat More" to "Eat Less" 1900-1990 (pp. 31-50).

OCT 18: 10

• Nestle, Marion. Chapter 2, Politics Versus Science -- opposing the food pyramind, 1991-1992 (pp. 51-66).
• Moss, Michael. Chapter 4, "Is it Cereal or Candy," Salt Sugar Fat. (pp. 68-93)

OCT 23: 11

• Pollan, Michael. Part 3: Getting Over Nutritionism: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (pp. 139-201);
• Zepeda, Lydia. Carving Values with a Spoon. Food and Philosophy (pp. 31-43).

• Focus: Zepeda offers a more general reflection on the US Food system than we've had so far. Note the difference between energy-dense and nutrient dense. Track Pollan's "eating algorithms"

OCT 25: 12

• Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 8th Edition

OCT 30: 13

• Ethical Diets 1

• Alfino, Report of the Mission to Colony B
• Singer, Peter, & Mason, Jim. Chapter 18: "What Should We Eat?" (pp. 270-285): Rodale.

• Focus: Read the thought experiment and see which part of the report you agree with. There are legions of ethical and social justice issues in food beyond the question of eating animals. This chapter from Singer and Mason gives you an overview of the sorts of ethical problems connected with the production and consumption of food.

NOV 6: 14

• Nix, Stacy. Chapter 2: "Carbohydrates" Williams' Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy (pp. 13-30).
• Moss, Michael. Chapter 11, "No Sugar, No Fats, No Sales," (pp. 236-263).

NOV 8: 15

• Barber, Dan. The 16.9 Carrot. In H. Hughes (Ed.), Best Food Writing 2014, (185-190)
• Barber, Dan. Chapter 30: "Bread" (pp. 382-409)

NOV 13: 16

• Gopnik, Adam, "Who Made the Restaurant?" from The Table Comes First, 2012, (pp. 40-81).

NOV 15: 17

• Montgomery, David. Chapter 2: "Skin of the Earth" Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations(pp. 9-25);
• Montgomery, David. Chapter 3: "Rivers of Life" (pp. 27-47)

NOV 27: 18

• Moss, Michael. Chapter 8, "Liquid Gold," (pp. 161-181)

NOV 29: 19

• Nix, Stacy. Chapter 3: Fats Williams' Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy (pp. 31-46);

DEC 4: 20

• Tannahill, Reay. Chapter 6: Imperial Rome (pp. 71-91)
• Soler, Jean. "The Semiotics of Food in the Bible"

• Focus: Soler take us deeper into both the dietary regimes of the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as some philosophical considerations that might go into choosing a diet based on "trophic level". Chapter 6 tracks the story of wheat and bread technology in the Roman Empire, along with some curiosities like liquamen.

DEC 6: 21

• Montgomery, David. Chapter 4: "Graveyards of Civilizations" (pp. 49-81)

• Focus: This chapter expands the soil erosion story by showing how the pattern played out in Meso-America (Tikal Guatamala), Greece, Rome, before coming back to the Mideast and reconnecting with our friend Lowdermilk, who we last saw in China. The chapter finished back in meso-america. The focus here should be on the pattern of behavior that gets repeated throughout history, but also pay attention to the causal links that connect soil erosion to civilization decline. These vary in each situation.

DEC 11: 22

• Gratzer, Walter. Chapter 1: "The Ravages of War Terrors of the Table" The Curious History of Nutrition (pp. 1-15).
• Nix, Stacy. Chapter 4: "Proteins" Williams' Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy (pp. 47-63).

DEC 13: 23

• Montgomery, David. Chapter 8: "Dirty Business" (pp. 179-215);

24

• Montgomery, David. Chapter 10: "Life Span of Civilizations" (pp. 233-246)
• Gratzer, Walter. Chapter 8: "Paradigm Postponed: the Tardy Arrival of Vitamins" (pp. 135-161).

25

• Nix, Stacy. Chapter 7: "Vitamins" Williams' Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy (pp. 94-127).

26

• Ethical Diets 2

• (recommended) Singer, Peter, & Mason, Jim. (2006). Chapter 4: "Meat and Milk Factories," (pp. 42-69).
• Estabrook, Barry. "Hogonomics." (142-149).
• Fairlie, Meat: A Benign Extravagance, Chapters 1-3 pp. 1-34.
• Donaldson and Kymlicka, Zoopolis, Introduction, p. 1-16.

27

• Andrews, Geoff. Chapter 2: "The Critique of 'Fast Life'" The Slow Food Story (pp. 29-47).
• Barber, Dan. Chapter 12: "Land" (pp. 158-173)

28

• Ethical Diets 3
• Fairlie, Meat: A Benign Extravagance, Chapters 4-5 pp. 35-54.
• Chamowitz, pick either Chapter 1, "What a Plant Sees" or Chapter 5, "How a Plant Knows Where It Is" -- come with notes on your chapter.
• Donaldson and Kymlicka, Zoopolis, Chapter 2, "Universal Basic Rights for Animals," p. 19-49.

29

Course conclusion.