In this class, food serves as both the subject and the object of historical analysis. As a subject, food has been transformed over the last 100 years, largely as a result of ever more elaborate scientific and technological innovations. From a need to preserve surplus foods for leaner times grew an elaborate array of techniques – drying, freezing, canning, salting, etc – that changed not only what people ate, but how far they could/had to travel, the space in which they lived, their relations with neighbors and relatives, and most of all, their place in the economic order of things. The role of capitalism in supporting and extending food preservation and development was fundamental. As an object, food offers us a way into cultural, political, economic, and techno-scientific history. Long ignored by historians of science and technology, food offers a rich source for exploring, e.g., the creation and maintenance of mass-production techniques, industrial farming initiatives, the politics of consumption, vertical integration of business firms, globalization, changing race and gender identities, labor movements, and so forth. How is food different in these contexts, from other sorts of industrial goods? What does the trip from farm to table tell us about American culture and history?

This course will explore food in modern American history as a story of industrialization and globalization. Lectures, readings, and discussions will emphasize the historical dimensions of—and debates about—slave plantations and factory farm labor; industrial processing and technologies of food preservation; the political economy and ecology of global commodity chains; the vagaries of nutritional science; food restrictions and reform movements; food surpluses and famines; cooking traditions and innovations; the emergence of restaurants, supermarkets, fast food, and slow food. The core concern of the course will be to understand the increasingly pervasive influence of the American model of food production and consumption patterns.

This example is an in-class market simulation conducted with paper cards assigning each student a buyer or seller role and a reservation price. This example is appropriate for both upper and lower division courses. Open Outcry Market was developed by Barry P. Keating at the University of Notre Dame.

This video is 3 minutes long and will enforce the understanding of the role government plays in a command economy. This video will enforce the standards EPF. 1 (e)

This 9 minute video will explain the example of how price floors create a surplus using minimum wage as the example. This video will aid in the mastery of EPF. 3 (d)

Principles of Macroeconomics 2e covers the scope and sequence of most introductory economics courses. The text includes many current examples, which are handled in a politically equitable way. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of economics concepts. The second edition has been thoroughly revised to increase clarity, update data and current event impacts, and incorporate the feedback from many reviewers and adopters.Changes made in Principles of Macroeconomics 2e are described in the preface and the transition guide to help instructors transition to the second edition.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain demand, quantity demanded, and the law of demand
Identify a demand curve and a supply curve
Explain supply, quantity supplied, and the law of supply
Explain equilibrium, equilibrium price, and equilibrium quantity

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the national saving and investment identity in terms of demand and supply
Evaluate the role of budget surpluses and trade surpluses in national saving and investment identity

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain merchandise trade balance, current account balance, and unilateral transfers
Identify components of the U.S. current account balance
Calculate the merchandise trade balance and current account balance using import and export data for a country