ESPM 1901
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Alternative Paths for the U.S. Food System
Fall 2008
Location:
Time:
19 Skok Hall
Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:15
Emily Hoover
270 Alderman Hall
612-624-6220
hoove001@umn.edu
Karen Oberhauser
35A Skok Hall
612-624-8706
oberh001@umn.edu
Course Description:
Our answers to the question, “What should we have for dinner?” can have far-reaching
impacts on our health, our environment, and our economy. Michael Pollan explores the
consequences of food system choices in his recent book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural
History of Four Meals. This seminar will use that book as the starting point for an exploration
of alternative paths for the U.S. food system, including “conventional” agriculture and food
distribution systems, organic agriculture, and local foods. Learning activities will include:
interviewing local experts on policy and practice, economics and environment, and the biology
of food organisms; field trips that will introduce students to local alternatives in agriculture and
food; and capstone, small group projects that will investigate key food policy and practice
questions from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Credit hours: 3. At the U of M, for each 50 minute lecture period, you can expect to spend at
least 2 hours outside of class studying to receive an average grade of C.
Course Objectives: Students will:
 Develop an overall understanding of issues impacting our food system and the implications
of food systems choices for health, the environment, and the economy.
 Appreciate diverse perspectives concerning priorities in food systems.
 Identify specific questions or problems related to the food system and develop specific
action/policy recommendations for individuals, organizations, and governments.
 Develop skills in locating and critically evaluating information.
 Develop skills for effective communication via discussion and written formats.
Required Text:
Pollan, Michael. 2006. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, New York:
The Penguin Press.
Course Website:
We will be using a WebVista web site for the course. You will be able to access it through the
MyU Login. This site will offer links to readings that are available online and will facilitate the
exchange of information among us. You will also be posting assignments such as your weekly
journal reflections to this web site.
Minimum Requirements
1. Come on time and attend ALL classes for the fully allotted time.
2. Read ALL assigned materials by the assignment date.
3. Actively participate in class discussions.
4. Satisfactorily complete all projects.
5. Participate fully in project groups (do your fair share of the work).
6. Submit ALL assignments on time and at an acceptable level of quality.
7. Follow scholastic conduct policy.
Attendance: Class attendance is required and will account for 10% of your course grade.
Learning is an active process and it is simply impossible for you to participate if you aren't in
class. Each unexcused absence will result in a loss of 5% towards your total grade (i.e. two
unexcused absences and you lose the full 10% toward your grade). You may also be penalized
for being significantly late to class.
Class atmosphere: Any true discussion involves personal exposure and, thus, the taking of
risks. Your ideas may not agree with your neighbors' ideas, yet as long as your points are
honest and supportable, they need to be respected by all of us in the class.
Course Requirements and Evaluation:
Grades will be awarded based on the following activities and assignments:
 Class Attendance and Participation (10%). You are expected to attend all class sessions
and the two required field trips. This class also requires active participation of all members.
Participation includes being in class on time, reading prior to class, engaging in the
discussion, asking questions, listening to other class members and responding respectfully.
 Journal reflections (30%): You are expected to submit a personal journal entry reflecting
on the assignments for the class periods and field trips. Journal entries should be at least
one page, single-spaced and posted on WebVista by 5:00 p.m. on the due date. They
should be written clearly and well, with complete sentences, and proper punctuation. They
should not be in outline format.
 For days in which we’re discussing chapters from the Pollan book, the journal entry
should include (1) a brief summary of what you consider three to five key points that
were made in the readings. This summary will require you to synthesize information
that was presented; it should not be an outline of the chapter(s). Each point that you
make should include a topic sentence that makes the point, and a few other sentences
that explain that point. For example, a topic sentence from Chapter 1 could be: Many
factors are responsible for the predominance of corn in almost all aspects of our nation’s
food supply; (2) two to three questions that the readings raised for you; (3) one or two
things that you found most interesting about the reading; and (4) responses to the
specific prompt questions asked by the discussion leaders for that day.
 For field trip days (including Saturdays), your journal should include the first 3 items
listed for the readings; just substitute “on the field trip” for “the readings”.
 For days on which we have guest speakers, your journal should include the first 3 items
listed for the readings; just substitute “the guest speaker” for “the readings”.
 You will not need to write a journal entry for days on which members of the class
ESPM 1901, Section 2
Page 2
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prepare a meal.
Food Journal (10%). Three weeks during the semester you will be required to keep a log of
your food intake. At the end of the semester you will write a 1-page paper reflecting on
the information in your food journal.
Article on local fruit/vegetable production/marketing/manufacturing (10%). Writing for
the general public is a type of writing many professionals do. This assignment will have you
writing a short 2 to 3 paragraph article followed by a longer, 2 page article, suitable for
publication on a web site educating the public on local fruit/vegetable production etc.
Enrichment activity (10%). The UM has a vast number of seminars available for any one to
attend. This activity will require you to attend a seminar or interview a professional in the
field of food production and write a short description of the activity. Other activities can be
done for this segment of your grade but need to be approved by one of us.
Group Projects (30%): You will be assigned to a group of three or four students at the
beginning of the semester. Your group will be responsible for three activities.
o Lead class discussions (Your group will be responsible for leading two class
discussions, and you can divide into two groups that each lead one discussion if
you’d like). When your group is in charge of a discussion, you will need to read the
section at least a week ahead of the day and write one or two questions to be used
as prompts for the weekly journal reflection. You will also need to find at least one
other reading or other source of information to use as background material during
the discussion. It will be important to organize the class period to use the time
effectively, and we will ask you to turn in a schedule before the discussion as well as
tell us about the additional source you used.
o Prepare a meal for the class following the path of each food product in the meal.
o Group research/action project to be presented in class. These projects can vary
from a research report, to compiling a cook book, to volunteering for a local food
production organization and writing about that organization. We will discuss
options and details in mid-October when you are more familiar with your groups
and the course material.
Grading is absolute. That is, students are judged on the basis of their demonstrated grasp of
the subject matter, not on their performance relative to other students. The cutoffs for the
assignment of final grades are not absolute but the scale below can be used as an approximate
grading scheme. We guarantee that if you get more than 92% of the total points you will
receive an A. The A cutoff, and other cutoffs, might be lowered, but not raised.
92-100 = A; 89-91 = A-; 86-88 = B+; 83-85 = B; 80-82 = B-; 77 - 79 = C+; 73-78 = C; 70-72 = C-;
67-69 = D+; 63-66 = D; 60-62 = D-. Below 60% = F. Below 70% = N.
 In order to receive a passing grade (S) you must complete and turn in all assignments and
receive at least a C- average on all assignments.
 No incomplete will be given in this class unless a documented (e.g. with doctor's note)
emergency occurs.
Extra Credit: Completing all these requirements with distinction will keep you occupied. We do
not give extra credit assignments.
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ESPM 1901, Section 2
Late assignments: Assignments must be submitted on the dates and times stated. Late
assignments will not receive full credit. An automatic deduction of 15% is accrued for each day
the assignment is late. For instance, if an assignment is due on Monday and you turn it in
Tuesday, the highest grade you could receive would be 85%, turn it in Wednesday 70% and so
on. Weekend days count, too.
University of Minnesota Policy on Scholastic Misconduct: Scholastic misconduct is broadly
defined as "any act that violates the rights of another student in academic work or that
involves misrepresentation of your own work." Scholastic dishonesty includes, (but is not
necessarily limited to): cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing, which means
misrepresenting as your own work any part of work done by another; submitting the same
paper, or substantially similar papers, to meet the requirements of more than one course
without the approval and consent of all instructors concerned; depriving another student of
necessary course materials; or interfering with another student's work.
Classroom Expectations Guidelines: A complete set of University policies can be found at this
website:
http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/senate/documents/policy/classexpectguide.html
ESPM 1901, Section 2
Page 4
Class Schedule (all chapters referred to are from Omnivore’s Dilemma). Due dates for
journals for class discussions on the readings are not included below. They are to be posted to
the web site by 5 pm the day before the class Journals on field trips that occur during class or
on a Saturday are due within three days after the field trip.
Date
Sept 3
8
10
15
17
20
22
24
29
Oct 1
6
8
11
13
15
20
22
27
Reading assignments to be completed before
Assignments due
class
Introduction and Survey of food and eating
habits
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Plant: Corn’s Conquest”
Chapter 2: “The Farm”
Food Journal 1 due
Chapter 3: “The Elevator”
from Sept. 4 to 10
Chapter 4: “The Feedlot: Making Meat”
Visit campus facilities
Chapter 5: “The Processing Plant: Making
Complex Food”
Chapter 6: “The Consumer: A Republic of
Fat”
Chapter 7: “The Meal: Fast Food”
Field trip, leaving at 8:30 am
Visitor to discuss food on campus
Chapter 8: “All Flesh is Grass”
Chapter 9: “Big Organic”
Chapter 10: “Grass: Thirteen Ways of Looking First article (2 – 3
at a Pasture”
paragraphs) on local
fruit and vegetables
Guest speaker
MEAL planned and cooked by base group
Chapter 11: “The Animals: Practicing
2 page article on local
Complexity”
fruit and vegetables
Chapter 12: “Slaughter: In a Glass Abattoir”
Field trip leaving at 8:30 am
Lori (?) Local animal production
Start working in groups on research topics
Chapter 13: “The Market: Greetings from the
Non-Barcode People”
Chapter 14: “The Meal: Grass-Fed”
Meal planned and cooked by base group
Chapter 15: “The Forager”
Chapter 16: “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”
Chapter 17: “The Ethics of Eating Animals”
ESPM 1901, Section 2
Food Journal 2 due
from Oct 15-21
Page 5
29
Chapter 18: “Hunting: The Meat”
Chapter 19: “Gathering: The Fungi”
Meal planned and cooked by base group
Chapter 20: “The Perfect Meal”
Group project planning day
Fast Food Nation, Part 1
Nov 3
5
10
12
17
19*
Meal planned and cooked by base group
Fast Food Nation, Part 2 and discuss
Prepare questions for guest speaker
Guest Speaker and Meal from restaurant
No Class (Thanksgiving)
GMO’s for human consumption. Reading to
be arranged.
Group project presentations
24
26
Dec 1*
3
8
Enrichment activity
paper due
Group Project Writeup due
Food Journal 3 due
for Nov. 25 – Dec 2
Finish group project presentation
Discuss food journals
Meal to celebrate end of first semester
10
Base group
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
Name
Cage, DeVonna
Clark, Carly
Jackson, Leah
Klug, Morgan
Marty, Christine
McNamara, Ian
Modene, Brandi
Parr, Nicole
Peterson, Ariana
Schramm, Anthony
Schultz, Michelle
Staudinger, Randi
Stavenau, Melanie
Tisdale, Natalie
Zimmerman, Karly
1
2
3
4
Lead class discussion
Sept 24, Oct 22
Sept 29, Oct 27
Oct 8, Oct 29
Oct 15, Nov 5
Base group
ESPM 1901, Section 2
Meal
17-Nov
3-Nov
20-Oct
6-Oct
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