Food Matters

Photo of variety of food with "Food Matters" in text.

Food Matters

HNRS 401H3-001

Jennie Popp, Margaret McCabe, Curt Rom

Fall 2025

TTh 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

GEAR 258

Course Application due March 13, 2025 at 5 p.m. 

Apply for Honors College Courses

Food Matters—Shouldn’t It?

The U.S. Farm Bill governs agricultural and food policy, playing a central role in food security, public health, and agricultural sustainability. One critical area it addresses is the need for healthy, sustainable diets.

Traditionally, U.S. residents source protein from livestock and legumes. However, growing populations and expanding food deserts call for innovative solutions to meet nutritional demands. Two emerging alternatives are insects and cultured meat—protein produced by cultivating animal cells in controlled environments. Both options promise lower environmental footprints compared to conventional agriculture and could be scaled to improve local access to protein, particularly in urban food deserts.

Yet significant hurdles remain. Cultured meat costs far more than traditional protein, and insects face cultural resistance in the U.S., where they are often perceived as unappetizing or unclean. Globally, governments are still developing frameworks for regulating the safety, labeling, and sale of these products, which further slows their market growth.

The U.S. typically enacts a new Farm Bill every five years, but the most recent bill expired in September 2024. As America awaits its replacement, we are left with critical questions:

  • Are insects and cultured meat viable protein sources?
  • Should highly processed products even be labeled as "food"?
  • Does it matter what we name our food?
  • Is industry-sponsored research truly reliable?
  • Is industrial food better than local?
  • Is organic food safer and healthier?
  • Can food be medicine, and should medicine be in our food?

This course explores the legal, economic, social, and environmental dimensions of the modern food system. Together, we’ll generate insights to guide regulators, industry leaders, and consumers in managing our evolving food landscape. It’s a conversation about why—and how—food matters.

Course Credit:

  • Coming Soon

About Margaret Sova McCabe, Jennie Popp and Curt Rom:

Headshot of McCabeMargaret Sova McCabe is currently serving as the Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation (VCRI). Prior to that, McCabe served as the law school's 13th dean from 2018 to 2021. She was the third consecutive woman to serve in this role.

As vice chancellor for research and innovation, McCabe strives to support the university's growth and success in research and innovation. Her office focuses on aligning the University's pursuit of research excellence across campus including working closely with the Division of Economic Development to promote the university's research enterprise in the region, state and nation.

 

 

Headshot of PoppJennie Popp is an associate dean of the Honors College. She is also a professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness who has research responsibility for identifying sustainable best practices for agricultural production. She is currently co-leading a multi-year effort to increase both the quantity and quality of fruit and vegetable production in NW Arkansas.

 

 

 

 

 

Headshot of RomCurt Rom is a University Professor of horticulture with research and teaching in fruit crops, sustainable and organic production and food systems. 

Both Popp and Rom have served as co-directors for the Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability. Both are members of the UA Teaching Academy and have received the John W. White Teaching, Honors College Distinguished Faculty, and the Gold Medal faculty awards. Rom has also been recognized by the American Society for Horticultural Sciences as the Outstanding Educator at both the regional and national levels.