John Hopkins’ Free Nutritional Programs, Part Two
Last month I posted about the free nutritional programs Johns Hopkins University is offering online. I decided to take the Nutritional Health, Food Production and the Environment one and see what it was like.
It was pretty intensive. The lecture “notes” are actual MP3s of some lectures and have some commentary. It was like actually attending class, except I could do it in my pajamas. I admit, I picked and choose which ones I listened to and which articles I read, but after finishing grad school in 2005, I am a little lectured out. Especially when it isn’t for credit. Of course, that is the beautiful thing about a free online class. You can do as much or as little as you want.
I was most interested in the “Occupational, Community and Social Impacts; Real Communities, Real People ” section so I concentrated on that. I learned some interesting facts about the hog industry, slaughterhouses and social issues surrounding them. For example: are slaughterhouses more frequently found near low income or African American communities?
This article provided some insight. I was given a new way to think about the production of food that we eat and how it impacts our community and environment, something I think we all can benefit from.
