This course approaches the New Testament not as scripture, or a piece of authoritative holy writing, but as a collection of historical documents. Therefore, students are urged to leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the New Testament and read it as if they had never heard of it before. This involves understanding the historical context of the New Testament and imagining how it might appear to an ancient person.
Professor Brownell concludes the course by exploring the question of how to change the food environment. He identifies health, environment and social justice as three broad reasons for changing the food environment and highlights the need to unite these initiatives. To address the questions of who creates change and how it happens, Professor Brownell explores top-down change and bottom-up change. As exemplars of both types, he reviews the issue of menu-labeling laws and identifies people who have inspired big change through local action.
Two guest speakers share their experiences in changing the food environment in their local communities. Melina Shannon-DiPietro describes how the Yale Sustainable Food Project changes people’s connection with food at Yale and reflects a growing national and academic trend. Jennifer McTiernan describes the development and goals of CitySeed, highlighting the power of individuals and communities to make change.
Dr. Brian Wansink explores the topic of how people can move from mindless eating to healthier eating. He identifies five myths that contribute to overeating, and suggests how his research on eating cues provides potential ways to intervene against people’s mindless eating patterns. He then describes the future direction of his research.
Dr. Marlene Schwartz discusses the topic of food policy in schools. She presents the history of federal regulation of the National School Lunch Program, the debate about competitive foods in schools, and describes research on influence of school food on student nutrition. She describes Rudd Center research conducted in collaboration with the Connecticut State Department of Education on the effectiveness of policy changes at the district and state level.
Professor Stephen Teret discusses how public health strategies and policies can address obesity-related issues. Specifically, he explains how gun violence prevention and motor vehicle related injury prevention can inform multi-level interventions for childhood obesity. In addition, Professor Teret also draws from his own experiences in public health and litigation, and offers advice on what to consider when selecting policies to protect the well-being of populations.
Professor Brownell discusses the specifics of government and its role in people’s food choices. He explores whether and how government should play a role in people’s food choices. Professor Brownell highlights the American mindset which couples freedom with issues of personal responsibilities, explores how the framing of the issue influences policy, and proposes a more nuanced view. He then reviews what the current government does on the nutrition program front.
Guest lecturer Professor Rogan Kersh describes the politics of food and nutrition as they relate to obesity. He describes how the U.S. Government has regulated individual behavior in the past, specifically with alcohol, drugs, sex, tobacco, and charts the associated triggers that move these spheres from being purely private to subjects of public regulation. Professor Kersh then connects these public policy movements and compares the triggers to the area of food and obesity.
Professor Brownell offers an overview of the food marketing landscape. He asks how much of food marketing is there, what impact it is having, who it’s impacting, and what can be done about it, in cases of negative impact. He suggests that food marketing is happening in very large amounts in ways that parents do not have knowledge or control over, and that it is having a highly negative impact on kids. Professor Brownell then describes the many forms of advertising, reviewing the history of character licensing and product placements.
Professor Brownell discusses how economic factors are a profound driver of food choices in both the U.S. and internationally. He reviews the history of food subsidies and how they have made the U.S. an agricultural force but simultaneously changed the current food environment and diet. Furthermore, Professor Brownell explores how economic incentives to purchase highly processed packaged, calorie dense, nutrient poor foods are increasing while incentives to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables are decreasing; and how this imbalance drives overconsumption globally.
