The Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food
Kelly Brownell's Yale course examines eating as a biological, psychological, and political phenomenon. Lectures cover taste preferences, food aversions, and the regulation of hunger and satiety, then move into eating as social ritual and the ways society assigns blame for food problems. The politics section takes on sustainable agriculture, organic farming, genetically modified foods, nutrition policy, and the influence of food and agriculture industries on what people eat. Later sessions address malnutrition, eating disorders, and the global obesity epidemic, along with food advertising aimed at children and the links between poverty and diet. Recorded at Yale in Fall 2008 as part of Open Yale Courses, the class ran twice weekly for 75-minute sessions and is available as full video lectures with syllabus and course materials under a Creative Commons license, free to access with no certificate offered.