The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future is now offering an updated, on-demand version of our free, online Coursera course. In this short course, we provide a brief introduction to the U.S. food system and how food production practices and what we eat impacts the world in which we live. We discuss some key historical and political factors that have helped shape the current food system and consider alternative approaches from farm to fork.

The Primer offers short, easy-to-digest readings about topics from farm to fork, peppered with anecdotes and images that bring concepts to life. Directories of articles, reports, lesson plans, and other resources help food system scholars dig deeper into the issues. Developed by leading experts and educators at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, it is designed for educators, students, interested citizens, journalists, policymakers and researchers.