FROM FARM TO TABLE: ISSUES IN THE CHINESE FOOD SYSTEM
Name： Tony Fuller
Nationality： Canada
Academic Title： Professor
Home University
University of Guelph
（From）：
Email Address： tfuller@uoguelph.ca
Undergraduate Master Doctoral student
English
Proficiency in English
Multi-methods:
•lectures
•guest speakers
•documentary films
•discussion group work
Group report (25%)
Attendance and discussion, one lunch conversation included (15%)
Final essay (60%)
2 credits
Professor Fuller has 35 years of experience as teacher, researcher, and administrator at the University of Guelph, Canada. He was Director of the Rural
Development Outreach Project (1976 to 1982) (52 projects and $2.7m budget) and head

of University-Government rural research relations from 1996 to 2004, allocating a budget of $247, 000 per annum for social science research. Professor Fuller has over
100 publications (books, reports and papers) and has published in 5 languages. He holds many teaching awards and believes that student education is the core purpose of the university. He also feels that multi-disciplinary research is essential in resolving many global issues and is currently working on complex adaptive systems within the food regimes of China (see Publications).
8 components, 4 hour sessions, over 2.5 weeks
Food is a central feature of our lives and a major component of the economy. In China, as elsewhere, the food system is changing because of problems of resource sustainability in an era of climate change (land, water and labor) and food safety.
This course will trace new ideas about food production and consumption in a critical discourse on food systems. The core concept is one of sustainability; which systems of food production are most sustainable and what is being done to change and improve the food we eat?
In this course, students will:
•learn critical thinking in global food issues
•develop personal positions on food health and safety
•increase knowledge of systems analysis
•integrate ideas from different disciplines
•apply new knowledge to local cases in China
•develop group discussion and report writing skills
The course has 8 components. It is intended to integrate science, media, economics and social studies into the content of the course. Reading, in English, at least one document before class, is essential for students to be able to discuss issues and follow the theoretical and empirical logics in the course. One day between classes and the weekends are free for reading the materials that will be available online. The class will meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday AM each week for 4 hours.
The Course Outline:
1. Critique of the industrial food system—
Why fast food is bad for you!
2. Sustainability in the context of Food Systems.
•The political economy of food --Who is the food system for? (King Corn, short video)
•Are current food systems sustainable in terms of environmental, social and economic goals and limits?
3. Food Production Transformations
•The two paths in China-- ‘Big is better, or Small is beautiful’. (Field Visit and panel discussion; Guest speakers, Zhou Li, Meng Fanqiao, Shi Yan)
(Which path would you take?)

4. Group work: Report on one food system and/or a system sustainability issue
Video: Darwin’s Nightmare (View online)
4.5 Video: Food inc.(in class).
5. Food Sovereignty
Guest speaker: Zhenzhong Si
6. Long Chains to Short Chains in the food system
•What parts of the food chain are sustainable?
•What is food health? (“You are what you eat”)
6.5. Select essay topics
7. Sustainable village food systems in China
•Guest speakers from IGSNRR/CAS…the case of Agricultural Heritage systems in China.
•Appreciating the past and welcoming the future?
8. Conclusions: what next in food systems sustainability?
•Brave New World of food sovereignty or Business as usual?
Colin Sage, Environment and Food, Routledge, 2012
•Mustafa Koc, J Sumner, and T Winson, Critical Perspectives in Food Studies, Oxford
University Press, 2012
•Paul Roberts, The End of Food, Mariner Books, 2009
•Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas, Steffanie Scott, Characterizing Alternative Food
Networks in China, Agriculture and Human Values, Volume 31, No. 3, 2014