IDST 190: Food, Identity, & Social Change

Guide for Dr. Watts' IDST 190 course during the Spring 2025 term.

Introduction to Food Systems

Overviews

Food System Primer
From the Johns Hopkins Center for A Livable Future, this primer provides "bite-sized introductions" to various elements of food systems, including production, distribution, processing, and food policy.
About Food Systems
Defines "food systems", their drivers and outcomes, and links to various data sources and informational resources.
Overview of the U.S. Food System
Provides a succinct history of the U.S. food system and supply chain via a series of figures and graphs, including information on how the U.S. system evolved through time. Part of the larger work "A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System".
Sustainable Food Systems: Concept and Framework (PDF)
Discusses what makes food systems "sustainable".
Local Food Systems: An Overview
Description of how local food systems differ from national/international systems, provided by the National Agricultural Law Center.

Data & Statistics

U.S. Food System Factsheet
Quick facts regarding U.S. agricultural production, consumption, and sustainable alternatives, from the University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Systems
Our World in Data - Meat and Dairy Production
Our World in Data - Fish and Overfishing
Our World in Data - Agricultural Production

Top Library Resources

OneSearch
Use this discovery tool to search most of the University Libraries' collections, including books, journal articles, newspapers, dissertations, music, and video recordings. (Ex Libris)
IBISWorld
Market research reports for different industries in the US and select international markets, as well as state-specific industry reports and company benchmarking reports for more than 5000 companies. Reports include trends, statistics and analysis on market size, market share of competitors, forecasts, and industry growth rates. (IBISWorld)
D&B Hoovers
Access public and private company information (both US and foreign). This database includes executive contacts, news, SWOT reports, analyst reports and industry reports. Build company lists, research executives and explore triggers for various corporate events. Also included are reports from First Research. (LSEG - Dun & Bradstreet)
Nexis Uni
Search for newspaper articles and legal materials such as court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews, and more. (Lexis-Nexis)
Environment Complete
Search for journal articles in the areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, and more. (EBSCO)
Business Source Complete
Search for journal articles on topics related to business. Also included is some financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, and more. (EBSCO)
Ulrichsweb
Search for publication information on thousands of journals, newspapers, and magazine. It's most useful to figure out if a journal is scholarly and/or peer-reviewed. (ProQuest)