Philosophy of Food Course Research Questions

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1. What is Food?

2. What does the "deep history" of human experience of food tell us about the place of food in culture and the problems humans have with food?

3. How did the US food system develop? What are some of it's characteristic problems?

4. What makes food nutritious? What else does food do aside from nourishing us?

5. How do our food choices raise ethical, environmental, and social justice concerns? Should we eat local, stop eating meat, eat food that was produced under just conditions?

6. How do our food choices raise aesthetic questions and questions about subjective satisfaction? How does the history of gastronomy inform this question?

7. What is the state of knowledge about nutrition?

8. How should I critically assess my own alimentary choices and habits? Should I change my diet? What criteria should I use to develop a healthy and just food practice?