Conscious Grocery Shopping: Sustainability, Nutrition, Health and Law (edX)

Everyone needs food every day. It not only provides us with the energy we need, it also contextualizes many moments of our day. From the choice of our breakfast to our evening meal: studies estimate that we make more than 200 food and eating related decisions – every single day. These decisions have far-reaching implications: beyond human health, they also affect social, economic, and environmental dimensions. This is why conscious decisions in grocery stores are essential. This course will give you the necessary background in interdisciplinary food-related research areas (law, psychology, economics, social sciences, natural sciences) to enable you to make informed choices when standing in front of the food shelves.
"Conscious Grocery Shopping” consists of six modules that guide you and our fictional main characters Ben and Sophie through the different departments of a grocery store. Here, they will encounter numerous dilemmas that may be familiar also to you. But don't worry, our experts will guide you through these challenges with scientific knowledge. They will encounter, for example, the intention behavior gap, indoor farming directly in the supermarket, how our everyday food is genetically modified, and why insects as alternative proteins can be part of our future food.
The newfound interdisciplinary knowledge is deepened through entertaining scenes and in-video quizzes. By conveying highly up-to-date and application-oriented content, the professors of the newly founded faculty of life sciences of the University of Bayreuth help course participants to improve their practical and theoretical competences. You’ll leave this course (and the grocery store) with a conscious awareness of your decisions.

What you'll learn

• Diverse notions of food sustainability: specific labels, innovations in the field (indoor farming + alternative proteins?), animal welfare
• The role and composition of the major food nutrient groups, and how they are metabolized by humans
• The influence of different food ingredients on human health
• To recognize the impact of the environment on one´s choices and decisions, methods and strategies to positively influence one's own behavior
• Key aspects of the legal framework regulating food production, safety and market placement in the EU
• Natural sciences background to controversially discussed topics
• The complexity (and implications) of food quality and food supply chain management systems

Syllabus

Each chapter will take place in a different area/section of the grocery store, where Ben and Sophie will explore various food-related topics with the help of our professors.

• Chapter 1: Getting ready and first steps in the grocery store
• Chapter 2: A stop at the candy shelf
• Chapter 3: Strolling to the food shelves
• Chapter 4: Heading to the meat and fish counter
• Chapter 5: Milk products and drinks
• Chapter 6: Leaving the grocery store