Admission requirements
Recommended are:
Qualitative Research Methods, and/or
Social and Gender Analysis for Sustainability
Description
At a global scale, the food sector is one of the biggest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. It drives the conversion of swathes of land into farms often resulting in biodiversity loss. Intensive production in terrestrial or aquatic farms are tightly coupled with energy consumption, particularly fossil fuels. They also contribute to land and water pollution, thereby degrading ecosystems. In view of complex challenges in the food sector, numerous technological and institutional innovations have been developed relating to the way food is produced, processed, and distributed. Many of these innovations aim to increase food production, improve efficiency, and bolster corporate profit. Yet, a significant fraction of the global population remains food insecure or malnourished and many who produce food for a living struggle with food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty. Thus, the current food system in which many of us are embedded in, is a site of injustices and inequities.
As described above, social and ecological sustainability challenges converge in food systems. Thus, calls for transformations in food systems have increased in the recent years. However, food system transformation that seeks to address sustainability challenges have been found to privilege specific goals such environmental conservation, without equivalent attention to and explicitly consideration of justice and equity issues. This is an important gap to understand and address because a genuinely sustainable food system transformation needs to address both environmental and social sustainability goals at equal levels of priority.
This 300-level course is designed for in-depth engagement with the concept of food system transformation. It emphasises the primacy of equity and justice in ongoing and envisioned transformation processes both in Global North and Global South contexts. This course will provide students a background on the concept of food systems. It will trace how food systems have changed over the course of time with the emergence of different kinds of food regimes, and discuss the attendant social-ecological impacts of such changes. In doing so, this course connects the concept of food system transformation with other knowledge areas that the students may have already studied such as biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change, and energy. It then introduces students to core concepts of the course, in particular – systems, food systems, transformation, food regime, equity, and social justice.
Together, we will learn about the key food system transformation processes that have historically unfolded at a global scale. We will explore how these processes relate to the appropriation of various natural resources such as energy, land, and water. We will explore current discourses and future visions around food system transformation as pathways for sustainability. We will then bring in critical perspectives and examine whether and how equity and justice are recognised and pursued in transformation processes. We will examine how these core concepts of the course have been operationalised by other scholars by exploring how they have been applied in analysing food system transformations in high, middle, and low income countries. Students will then work with cases in high, middle, and low income countries and develop their own analysis of either ongoing or envisioned food transformation processes, applying the concepts of equity and justice as analytical lens. Based on their own analysis, students will provide actionable recommendations for the justice and equity issues they diagnose in their selected case studies.
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students should acquire the knowledge and skills indicated below:
Knowledge:
Explain the concepts of food system and food system transformation;
Discuss how food systems have transformed at a global scale, and describe the attendant social and environmental sustainability challenges in such transformation processes;
Explain how equity and justice have been either addressed or ignored in past and ongoing food system transformation processes and its implications.
Skills:
Qualitatively code a select set of scientific literature on justice and equity in food system transformation;
Analyse an ongoing or envisioned food system transformation in a specific context either in high, middle, or low income settings; and
Propose strategic and practical ways for integrating equity and justice in food system transformation in specific contexts.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2025-2026 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
This course is designed to foster co-learning and co-creation of knowledge between the instructor and the students. Thus, the students will play an active role in the learning process throughout the block. To this end, diverse learning approaches will be used for this course. These will include interactive lectures, think-pair-share, small group discussions, and engaging with art or games to explore the meanings of justice and equity. Attendance is required for all class sessions.
Assessment Method
The students’ performance in the course is evaluated through the assessment activities indicated below. Every (part of a) day late for handing in assignments will result in a deduction of 2/3 of a letter grade for that assignment (e.g., B+ (on time) to B- (one day late) to C (2 days late), and so on.
Students must complete all assignments and exams at a reasonable level (which is determined by the instructor). Unless there are extenuating circumstances, not finishing an assessment component will automatically result in an F for the whole course. Extenuating circumstances must be communicated promptly and documented appropriately, where possible.
Assessment 1: In-class participation (individual)
- Weight: 15%, deadline: Weeks 1-6
Assessment 2: Thematic coding of selected literature (individual)
- Weight: 20%, deadline: Week 5
Assessment 3: Written report based on analysis of equity and justice in ongoing or envisioned food system transformation in a specific context (group)
- Weight: 25%, deadline: Week 7
Assessment 4: Art-based or game-based interactive presentation (group)
- Weight: 15%, Week 7
Assessment 5: Academic essay partly drawing on coded literature (individual)
- Weight: 25%, deadline: Week 8
Reading list
Week 1
Patel, R. (2013). Stuffed and starved: From farm to fork: The hidden battle for the world food system. Portobello Books. (Specifically Chapter 2 -- A Rural Autopsy)
Chappell, M. J. (2018). Beginning to end hunger: Food and the environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and beyond. Univ of California Press. (Specifically Chapters 1 – Introduction: Food and Famine Futures, Past, and Present; and Chapter 2 – Food Security, Food Sovereignty, and Beginning to End Hunger)
Week 2
de Bruin, A., de Boer, I. J., Faber, N. R., de Jong, G., Termeer, K. J., & de Olde, E. M. (2024). Easier said than defined? Conceptualising justice in food system transitions. Agriculture and Human Values, 41(1), 345-362.
Whitfield, S., Apgar, M., Chabvuta, C., Challinor, A., Deering, K., Dougill, A., ... & Vincent, K. (2021). A framework for examining justice in food system transformations research. Nature Food, 2(6), 383-385.
Davis, B., Lipper, L., & Winters, P. (2022). Do not transform food systems on the backs of the rural poor. Food security, 14(3), 729-740.
Week 3
Puupponen, A., Huttunen, S., Kortetmäki, T., Lähteenmäki-Uutela, A., & Kaljonen, M. (2023). Justice in Finnish food policies. Food Ethics, 8(1), 6.
Rao, N., Pradhan, M., & Roy, D. (2017). Gender justice and food security in India: a review.
Week 4
Prause, L., Hackfort, S., & Lindgren, M. (2021). Digitalization and the third food regime. Agriculture and human values, 38, 641-655.
Prause, L. (2025). The farm as digital factory: controlling labour and nature in digital agriculture. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 1-19.
Week 5
Thorpe, J. (2018). Procedural justice in value chains through public–private partnerships. World Development, 103, 162-175.
Bojovic, M., & McGregor, A. (2025). To milk, or not to milk? Exploring just and sustainable transition pathways for Aotearoa New Zealand's dairy sector. Journal of Rural Studies, 114, 103540.
Week 6
Patel, R. (2013). Stuffed and starved: From farm to fork: The hidden battle for the world food system. Portobello Books. (Specifically Chapter 10, the conclusion chapter)
Chappell, M. J. (2018). Beginning to end hunger: Food and the environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and beyond. Univ of California Press. (Specifically Chapter 6, the conclusion chapter)
Anderson, C. R., Bruil, J., Chappell, M. J., Kiss, C., & Pimbert, M. P. (2019). From transition to domains of transformation: Getting to sustainable and just food systems through agroecology. Sustainability, 11(19), 5272.
Week 7
- None. This is Justice Fest.
Week 8
- None. This is reading week.
Recommended or supplementary readings will be provided in the syllabus.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Aisa O. Manlosa-Kirk, a.o.manlosa@luc@leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
You will be required to read book chapters or scientific papers prior to the class sessions. Information about the final list of required readings will be indicated in the course syllabus several days prior to the start of the course. All class materials, communication, and submissions will be done through BrightSpace. If you have questions prior to registration, please contact the instructor by email.