Food and Cities: Programs, Policies, Planning and Design

Catalog description

This course explores environmental, social, and economic sustainability of urban food systems. Using New York City as a case study and learning lab, with the freedom to explore and learn from other urban food systems, this class will examine how existing structures work and evaluate innovations and additions that can be made to these systems through planning, policy and design to make them more sustainable. Students will consider questions such as: With more than half the world’s population living in cities and moving away from agricultural lifestyles, and the effects of climate change already being felt worldwide, how can people continue to eat sustainably? And how is the way we eat changing? Is recent inflation affecting our nutrition and the sustainability of our food systems? How vulnerable are our existing systems--our food and water supplies themselves—to the effects of climate change? This course will examine the effects urbanization and climate change has on food security and food systems. This course will explore New York City’s many food as well as water systems and explore the ways these systems could become more environmentally and socially sustainable. Students will also explore food systems in cities globally, looking at the worsening global climate crises and how international food production, food policy and international organizations are adapting to these trends.