Foodscapes 1
This course is for people who is passionate about food and sustainable development, and want to understand the connection between food and landscape from booth an urban and rural perspective. The course is basen on that our cultural food choices affect the physical environment, this is illustrated through different themes, that provides knowledge about the connections between food studies and landscape architecture.
Food is one of the most pressing sustainability issues today, and it is indispensable in our daily lives. How our food is produced, transported, sold and consumed has a strong connection to how our surrounding landscapes look and function. This applies to urban, peri urban and rural landscapes. To understand this connection and how cultural ideas about food and landscapes have developed throughout history makes a difference in the development of sustainable societies.
Those who take this course will get a broad perspective on sustainable development, environmentally, economically, socially and culturally. The relationship between food and the surrounding landscapes are treated from many aspects and critically examined. Does shorter supply chains between producers and consumers contribute to a higher appreciation of food and its values and does the peri urban landscape benefit?
After the course, the students will have learned the differences between different forms of production and how food choices can create added values or conflicting interests. The course is based on humans as thinking and cultural beings, whose actions shape and reshape the landscapes they live in, values about food are used to build community and utilize the landscape as a resource.
Information from the course leader
Hi everyone,
First of all we would like to welcome all of you to the course Foodscape 1. We in the course team are looking forward to meeting all of you.
There have been some minor changes in the schedule, mostly regarding classrooms, most importantly, the location of the Course Introduction/Roll call has been changed and will be held in Aulan at 13.15 1/9. If you won't be able to attend the Roll call please send me an email at love.silow@slu.se.
Due to a transition period between two administrative systems the updated schedule will be sent to you via email.
If you have any questions before the course starts don't hesitate to ask.
Kind regards Love Silow & Anna Peterson
Course evaluation
The course evaluation is not yet activated
The course evaluation is open between 2025-10-26 and 2025-11-16
Additional course evaluations for FS0005
Academic year 2024/2025
2024-09-02 - 2024-10-31
Syllabus and other information
Syllabus
FS0005 Foodscapes 1, 15.0 Credits
Foodscapes 1Subjects
Landscape Architecture Food StudiesEducation cycle
Master’s levelModules
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Literature seminars | 5.0 | 0102 |
| Excursions | 3.0 | 0103 |
| Group work | 3.0 | 0104 |
| Final individual written assignment | 4.0 | 0105 |
Advanced study in the main field
Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirementsMaster’s level (A1N)
Grading scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Language
EnglishPrior knowledge
Knowledge equivalent to 120 credits, of which 90 credits within one of the following areas:\- natural sciences
\- social sciences
\- humanities
\- technology
\- food and meal science
and
English 6 or equivalent.
Objectives
The aim of the course is to build up understanding about food studies – the economics, politics, science and technology, and cultural and ethical values that surround the subject of food. Using a landscape architecture outlook, the course runs in parallel with studies of the relationship between food and the physical environment in the city and in the countryside.
This forms a basis for a holistic perspective and an understanding of the role of food culture in the development of society and landscape, in order to relate this to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the UN.
The student should achieve awareness of food culture as an analytical tool based on different perspectives, and should develop an understanding of the inbuilt complexity of diverse food landscapes.
The course also aims to provide an overview of the many aspects that characterize food landscapes. It takes a historical perspective, and treats concepts such as urbanity and rurality, the consumption and marketing of foodstuffs, food production, identity, cultural heritage, added values for food and places, environment and ecosystem services, and conflicts of objectives.
After completing the course, course participants must be able to:
- clarify, and discuss from an interdisciplinary perspective, the complexity that characterizes food landscape, the relations between food, people and place
- demonstrate, through presentations in maps and texts, an understanding of how food landscapes exist and interact on different scales
- account for, and discuss analytically, how the different perspectives on food landscapes explored during the course can be linked together.
Content
This introductory course creates an understanding of the relationships between landscape, food and people, and food culture, and of how food shaped and continues to shape our physical and cultural life world. The course consists of themed weeks that outline the course topics, such as relationships between city and country, added values linked to food production and landscape history in parallel with meal history. It will highlight many different perspectives that can sometimes stand in conflict with each other. The course also offers training in critical use of theoretical concepts.
The course will be taught through literature seminars, lectures and field studies. Assessment will be carried out through assignments (individually and in groups) throughout the course, with a written final assignment based on literature studies and discussions during the various themed weeks.
How well the student succeeds in achieving the course objectives depends on the ability to present and relate the key concepts to problems or topics that the student has interest in exploring. This means that it is central to learn to think about food concepts as a tool for critical analysis and creative work, rather than as facts to be learnt and memorized.
Literature seminars, field studies and essay seminars are compulsory.
The course focuses on the following generic competencies: critical thinking, oral communication, written communication, cooperation and independence.
Collaboration with the surrounding community takes place through gest lectures and excursions.
Grading form
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.Formats and requirements for examination
Active participation in compulsory elements and approved assignments.
If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.
The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.
If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.
For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Other information
The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.
If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Responsible department
Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management
Further information
Litterature list
Readings Foodscape 1 FS0005 2025
All course literature will be avalible online
Routledge Handbook of landscape and food
selected chapters
Austin, G. 2018. Conservation and ecology. In ;Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Joshua Zeunert, Tim Waterman. Routledge, pp. 253-271.
Brook, I. 2018. Ethics of agricultural landscapes and food production. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Joshua Zeunert, Tim Waterman. Routledge, pp.369-381.
Beck, J 2018. food utopia. In Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Joshua Zeunert, Tim Waterman. Routledge, Pp 585-596.
Isendahl, C. Barthel S. 2018. Archaeology, history, and urban food security. Integrating cross-cultural and long-term perspectives. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, Waterman,T. Routledge, Pp. 61-72.
Lupp, G,Tangerding, S and Kantelberg, V. 2018. Venison from the Bavarian forest: linking hunters, forest diversity, and consumer through regional marketing. In; Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Joshua Zeunert, Tim Waterman. Routledge, pp. 81-91.
Olsson, G, 2018. The shaping of food landscapes from the Neolithic to Industrial period: changing agro-ecosystems between three agrarian revolutions, In; Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, Waterman, T. Routledge, pp 117-126.
Olwig, K.R. 2018. Eating’s the Common of Landscape. Sacrificial food for thought concerning the meaning of landscape. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, Waterman,T. Routledge, pp.435-444.
Parham, S 2018. From the agora to the modern marketplace: food markets as landscapes of business and pleasure. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, Waterman, T. Routledge, 445-461.
Parham, S and Abelman, J. Food, landscape and urban design. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Joshua Zeunert, Tim Waterman. Routledge pp. 409-432.
Roe, M. 2018. Seascapes: food from the marine landscape. In; In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, Waterman, T. Routledge, pp. 140-159.
Strong, J. Foraging,2018. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, Waterman, T. Routledge, PP. 73-80.
Waterman, T. 2018. Taste, foodways, and everyday life. In; Routledge Handbook of landscape and food, Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food. Edited By Zeunert, J, , Waterman, T. Routledge, pp. 517-530.
Routledge International Handbook of Food Studies
*selected chapters *
Dirks, Robert and Gina Hunter (2013). The anthropology of food. In: Routledge International Handbook of Food Studies (ed. Ken Albala). London and New York.
Parasecoli, Fabio (2013). Food, cultural studies and popular culture. In: Routledge International Handbook of Food Studies (ed. Ken Albala). London and New York: Routledge.
**Articles **
Butler, A, Ångman, E, Ode Sang, Å, Sarlöv-Herlin, I, Åkerskog, A, Knez, I 2021,“There will be mushrooms again” – Foraging, landscape and forest fire, Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Volume 33, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2020.100358.
Ericsson, S, Östlund, L, Axelsson, AL. 2000. forest of grazing and logging: Deforestation and reforestation history of a boreal landscape in central Sweden. New Forests 19: 227–240, 2000.
Cloke, P. and Jones, O. 2001. Dwelling, place, and landscape: an orchard in Somerset. Environment and Planning A 33, pp. 649–666. https://doi.org/10.1068/a3383
Granvik, M.; Joosse, S.; Hunt, A.; Hallberg, I. 2017. Confusion and Misunderstanding—Interpretations and Definitions of Local Food. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1981. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111981
Fairclough, G. 2019. Landscape and heritage: ideas from Europe for culturally based solutions in rural environments, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 62:7, 1149-1165, DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2018.1476026
Jönsson, Håkan, Michaud, Maxime and Nicklas Neuman.(2021). What Is Commensality? A Critical Discussion of an Expanding Research Field, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol,18, issue 12. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6235/htm
Lindborg, R, Bengtsson, J, Berg, Å, Cousins, S, Eriksson, O, Gustafsson, T, Hasund, K, Lenoir, L, Pihlgren, A, Sjödin, E, Stenseke, M. 2008, A landscape perspective on conservation of semi-natural grasslands, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume 125, Issues 1–4, Pages 213-222, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2008.01.006
Roe, M, Sarlöv Herlin, I & Speak, S. 2016. Identity, food and landscape character in the urban context, Landscape Research, 41:7, 757-772, DOI: 10.1080/01426397.2016.1212324
W.J. Rittel, M.Weber. 1973. Dilemmas in general theory of planning, Policy Sciences 4, p 155-169.
Selman, P. 2008. What do we mean by sustainable landscape? Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 4:2, 23-28, DOI: 10.1080/15487733.2008.11908019
Trubek, Amy. B (2008). The taste of place. A cultural journal into terroir. Berkley: University of California Press. To read: Chapter 1. Place matters. Pp 18-53. https://content.ucpress.edu/pages/10672/10672.ch01.pdf
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