Food Politics in Asia

This course on food politics will take place in Singapore and includes fieldwork and site visits throughout the City State.

This course will introduce you to the contemporary politics of sustainability through the lens of food. Food is fundamentally essential to our physical existence, but it is also intensely cultural, with socially constructed behaviour and preferences that are change-resistant even in the presence of new knowledge, policies, and practices. In recent decades, sustainability has emerged as a key issue for the very survival of the human race, with food taking centre stage in sustainability debates.

Singapore is an especially interesting site for examining the politics of food and sustainability. As a highly multicultural society with four official languages (English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil) and multiple dialects, food is the lingua franca in Singapore used to communicate similarities and reconcile differences. At the same time, Singapore is also a country with limited natural resources: More than 90% of the food supply in the City State is imported. Food security is a salient issue, and the Singapore Government has set out to achieve the “30 by 30” goal: To sustainably produce food by 2030 to satisfy 30% of domestic nutritional needs. By taking this course, you will learn how food is a powerful lens to understand the contemporary politics of sustainability beyond consumption and nutrition.

Course Objective

By taking this course, you should be able to achieve the following learning objectives:

• Describe and explain the roles of identity in shaping food politics and determining policy outcomes.
• Describe and explain how globalisation and localisation forces interact to shape food politics and policies.
• Describe and explain the politics of food scandals, especially how issues are framed and contested.
• Synthesise knowledge on food politics and policies, and articulate them in a cogent and accessible way, both orally and in writing.

Course Content

Politics of Food Identity

• Introduce the analytical framework for studying food politics in Asia.
• Apply the concept of gastronationalism to the case of Singapore: monocultural or multicultural?

Food Journey Fieldwork (I): Heritage Foods

• Compare and contrast Heritage Foods in Singapore.

Food Journey Fieldwork (II): Hawker Centres

• Compare and contrast dishes at Singapore’s hawker centres: Origin and evolution.

Globalisation or Glocalisation?

• Unpack globalisation and localisation dynamics through the case of fast food.
• Debate authenticity.

Politics of Food Scandals

• Identify varieties of food scandals.
• Discuss responses to food scandals: From food safety and labelling to debates about animal rights and human rights.

Politics of Food Sustainability

• Introduce Singapore’s approach to the challenges and opportunities of food sovereignty and sustainability.

Food Politics in Asia: Presentations

• Students to present their food journeys in the final session of this course.

Course Structure

The course on Food Politics in Asia will take place at the St Gallen Institute of Management in Asia, Singapore. Over one intensive week, students will be introduced to a range of topics, from the politics of food identity to food scandals and sustainability challenges and approaches. Most days will consist of seminar activities (e.g., lectures, case studies, blind food tastings) and team exercises outside of the classroom to acquire further insights from real life. Students will have opportunities to conduct site visits to Singapore’s Hawker Centres and learn about the City State’s heritage foods. On the last day of this course, students will present their Food Journey assignment, discuss what they have learned through fieldwork exercises, compare their tasting experiences, and receive feedback.

Application Procedure

Contextual Studies offers a brand new course in Singapore on the contemporary politics of sustainability through the lens of food. This course is open to all master’s students. Prof. Meng-Hsuan Chou from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will be teaching this course between March 30 and April 5 , 2025, in Singapore at the St. Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI-HSG). 

To apply for the course please send an email including a CV and a half-page motivation letter to hsuan@cantab.net.

The application window is between January 13, 6:00pm CET and January 31, 2025, 11:59pm CET. Applications are considered on a “first come, first served” basis. Results will be communicated prior to February 2. Please refer to the attached promotional flyer for more information. Any queries or questions can be sent to Prof. Meng-Hsuan Chou (hsuan@cantab.net).