Food Studies (FOOD) Courses

FOOD5001 Introduction to Food Safety Systems

This course provides the students with the voluntary and regulatory frameworks that exist to support a safe domestic food supply. Students explore food safety systems that address the biological, chemical and physical hazards as they relate to various aspects of the food industry. In this course students are presented with an overview of food safety systems and practical approaches at the retail level. Students dissect the complex challenges in today’s food supply chain. Students are introduced to a variety of quality assurance programs as well as discuss global food safety initiatives.
Offered at Online, Providence
3 Semester Credits

FOOD5030 Shaping the Future of Food

This project-based course provides students with the opportunity to explore the local food system from the unique perspective of a chef. Students meet local food producers, sample products, and investigate systemic issues related to the long-term viability of local food systems. Students analyze the impact chefs have within the food web and begin to research approaches to creating local, sustainable and more regenerative food systems.
Offered at Providence
3 Semester Credits

FOOD5100 Foodborne Disease and Pathogen Control

This course provides students with an introduction to foodborne pathogens that impact public health. Students research outbreak investigations that relate to these foodborne pathogens analyzing the cause and method of control to reduce the likelihood of a foodborne outbreak.
Prerequisite(s): BIO2220 or BIO2201.
Offered at Online
3 Semester Credits

FOOD5150 Law, Economics and the American Food System

In this course, students explore the American food system through the lens of (a) microeconomic theory; (b) the U.S. legal system; (c) policy and politics; and (d) history. In couching food system “wicked” problems as market failures, students complete an extensive research project that culminates in the development and presentation of a private market or public policy solution to the negative human health, ecological, economic and/or outcomes of agricultural/food market failures, including externalities, public goods deficiencies and abuse of market power. This course serves as a primer for additional study of the interaction of law and economics in determining the nature and performance of food systems and society more generally.
Offered at Providence
3 Semester Credits

FOOD5200 Eating Identities: Food, Culture and Social Justice

This course offers a critical, anthropologically informed exploration of the cultural, social, economic and historical forces that shape food systems. Students investigate how practices of production, preparation and consumption are embedded in relations of power, identity and meaning, with particular attention to foodways and foodscapes as analytic frameworks. Drawing on ethnographic, historical and interdisciplinary perspectives, the course examines how colonization, globalization and advocacy movements influence food choices and justice struggles across diverse communities. Through advanced research, critical reflection and food-making as inquiry, students create projects that illuminate the intersections of culture, sustainability and social transformation.
Offered at Providence
3 Semester Credits

FOOD6010 Food Safety Capstone

This project-based course provides students with the opportunity to resolve a relevant food safety concern. Students design a comprehensive food safety plan or evaluate current and emerging food safety issues with the culmination of a project that addresses a research, applied or theoretical opportunity. A written report that is suitable for publication is required.
Prerequisite(s): FOOD5001, FOOD5100, LAW5410.
Offered at Online
3 Semester Credits

FOOD6030 Action Research in Sustainable Food Systems

This action research-based course provides students the opportunity to investigate a systemic food system issue encompassing social, political, industrial or environmental constructs within their professional practice or area of choice. Students employ a critical lens to research and evaluate wicked problems in order to test and determine viable solutions to systemic challenges. This course builds an epistemological framework of inquiry, understanding of multiple perspectives, critical adaptive thinking, and responsible action.
Prerequisite(s): FOOD5030, IDES5030.
Offered at Providence
3 Semester Credits

FOOD6050 Regulatory Affairs Processing/ Retail

This course explores the United States regulatory framework governing the domestic food system. Students examine federal, state and local agencies that are responsible for food regulation. Students also investigate the influence of industry, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), consumers, and advocacy groups on the development of regulations.
Prerequisite(s): FOOD5001, LAW5410.
Offered at Online
3 Semester Credits

FOOD6100 Global Food Safety and Sustainability

This course investigates the biological, physical and chemical hazards that impact the global marketplace. Students examine the social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts in regards to foodborne disease control and prevention. Topics include the exploration of emerging agricultural solutions as a result of climate and population change.
Prerequisite(s): FOOD5001.
Offered at Online
3 Semester Credits

FOOD6150 Food Defense and Adulteration Prevention

This course explores strategies, best practices, and regulations designed to protect food from acts of intentional and economic adulteration, as well as emergency management planning for the food industry. Topics include ALERT training, which examines the five key points that industry and business can utilize to decrease the risk of intentional food contamination at their facility. Students develop a food emergency response plan that prepares for early threat detection and rapid response designed to minimize impact while coordinating recovery efforts across federal, state and local government agencies.
Prerequisite(s): FOOD5001, LAW5410.
Offered at Online
3 Semester Credits

FOOD6200 Produce Food Safety

This course provides students with the standards for growing, harvesting, packing and holding produce as established by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Students develop specifications for produce procurement that account for food safety and sustainability concerns navigating the complexity of supply chain coordination with the increased demand for greater transparency.
Prerequisite(s): FOOD5001.
Offered at Online
3 Semester Credits