222.657.01
Food and Nutrition Policy
Location
East Baltimore
Term
1st Term
Department
International Health
Credit(s)
2
Academic Year
2023 - 2024
Instruction Method
In-person
Monday, 3:30 - 5:20pm
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
Yes
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Prerequisite
There are no formal prerequisites for taking the course; however, students are expected to be familiar with the basic principles of nutrition. Students are strongly encouraged to broaden their reading in the subjects related to the nutritional problems and policies that are addressed in the course in order to fully participate in class discussions and in order to prepare a paper critiquing a specific food or nutrition policy.
Examines the policy-making process underlying large-scale governmental, bilateral, and multilateral agency policies and initiatives that directly or indirectly affect: 1) the availability and quality of food and 2) the health and nutrition status of populations. Draws examples from the United States as well as low and middle-income countries. OFfers discussions led by faculty and invited guests with diverse experience in developing, implementing and advocating for food and nutrition policies.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Identify food and nutrition problems amenable to policy intervention and describe the epidemiological scope and the social, political and economic determinants that have implications for policy formation
- Identify various policy options that can be used to address a specific food & nutrition problems in a given setting / context
- Describe key stages in the policy process including the role of evidence and ethical implications in/for each stage
- Identify the key stakeholder groups that influence the policy process and propose strategies for reaching groups and building coalitions that will help advance the policy process
- Identify and apply principles of leadership and governance that relate to building collaboration and facilitating decision making across the policy process.
- Advocate for or against food and nutrition policies, integrating perspectives from diverse stakeholder groups, including those from other sectors and professions, aiming to improve health outcomes
- Evaluate the potential of a specific food and nutrition policy to impact population health and and health inequities by assessing the adequacy of design and identifying the factors (e.g stakeholders, context) which hindered or helped policy formation, adoption and/or implementation
- Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in written (decision memo) and oral approaches (elevator speech, senate hearing)
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
- 85% Written Assignment(s)
- 15% Presentation(s)