Rooted: Food Players, Policy, and Power

Critical Indigenous Studies (CIS): Rooted: Food Players, Policy, and Power is an intermediate course that moves from theory to practice and focuses on the major players in our food systems and their often competing agendas, as well as how Indigenous communities and Tribes are informing policy and implementing change as part of a food revolution to benefit the planet and future generations. It is part of a non-sequential series that examines historical injustices responsible for the complex and inequitable food systems we experience today, from an Indigenous lens and critical analyses. You can take one course or all three. The course materials and structure honors grassroots efforts (both Indigenous and Western, and collaborations between) to bring control over food production, distribution, and restore access to the peoples most impacted.

Discussions will include critical reflection of historical events and the current debates around food, agricultural systems and human rights in a local and global context, with an emphasis on social movements aimed at food justice and food security locally and throughout the United States. Topics will include human rights, equity, food deserts, food scarcity, colonization and decolonization, traditional and healthy foods, Tribal food sovereignty, local food production, and activism. The goal of this course is to create a foundation of knowledge to support further academic work and civic engagement in the food sovereignty/food justice movements. This course will be offered online, with the general structure of synchronous learning (zoom classroom) 3 hours and asynchronous learning (on your own) 1 hour, per week.

Credit equivalencies are 2 - Critical Indigenous Studies and 2 - Food Justice.