Food and Public Policy

This course teaches you to think differently about the food system and your place within it. It focuses on developing the skills you need to bridge the gap between research and policy implementation. You’ll learn how to solve specific problems in your work while keeping one eye on the bigger picture.

Taught in the unique environment of City’s world-renowned Centre for Food Policy, the focus is firmly on policy in the wider context of the food system.

You’ll be guided by a highly experienced team, including Professor Corinna Hawkes and Professor Tim Lang, as well as guest lecturers.

Who is it for?

This course is for anyone working in the area of food, or who wants to get into the food sector. You must be keen to learn how food policy works and, if you already work in the sector, how your work fits into the food system as a whole.

Benefits

Improve your career prospects by gaining a better understanding of the food system and learning new ways of approaching problems in the field of food and public policy. This unique course is also an excellent route into studying for a full Masters in Food Policy.

This course is the only one of its kind. It allows you to dig into the detail of food and public policy. It will encourage you to think systemically about food policy and give you the tools you need to start influencing and leading in the food policy sector – and throughout the food sector.

The aim is to enable you to see and understand the whole picture surrounding food systems, and to use this knowledge to make decisions in your field that can have a far-reaching and positive impact.

Your lecturers will introduce case studies throughout the course, giving you real-world examples of food and public policy that you can learn from.

The course content includes:

• Food systems and how they’re affected by food policies
• The most significant global public policy issues surrounding food policy
• What institutions are involved in food policy and the development of multi-level institutions at local, national and international level
• How food policy is created
• How to work collaboratively to create food policy in a more connected way.

You’ll also develop a range of important skills, including the ability to:

• Think critically about food policy and food systems
• Grasp complex information and make it easily understandable
• Make your case in a team setting, using presentation, writing and listening skills
• Understand complicated situations and use this knowledge to help you make decisions in your area of work.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Work collaboratively to solve a problem in your field and know who best to speak to and work with to achieve this
• Take a new approach to problem solving, identifying solutions to the problems you encounter that you wouldn’t have thought of before.

Teaching

This course is taught over one academic term, lasting for 11 weeks. You’ll attend 33 hours of lectures and carry out self-directed study during this time.

All the sessions are run in the evenings, from 4-7pm, to allow you to fit your studies around your other commitments.

Teaching will include lectures from our highly experienced team in the Centre for Food Policy, as well as external experts. Your sessions will also involve classroom discussions and presentations, either from you or your fellow students.

Professor Corinna Hawkes has first-hand experience of policy development and advocacy in this area. She brings all her experience of translating research into food policy to the classroom after 20 years of working with governements, UN agencies, NGOs and Think Tanks.

Assessment

There are two assessments for this course:

• A 2,500-word written essay. This accounts for 40% of your final mark, with a pass mark of 50%
• A 4,000-word policy brief. This is the kind of document you’ll be producing when you start work in this field. This accounts for 60% of your final mark, with a pass mark of 50%.

Award

This course will give you 30 academic credits, which count towards your CPD. It’s also one of the core modules on our MSc Food Policy.

You don’t need any specific qualifications for this course, but you do need a keen interest in the food sector .

English requirements

You will need a good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.