American Pie: The Politics of Food in the 21st Century In light of the increasing interest in food studies at Penn and in Philadelphia, Penn Libraries is sponsoring the Muriel Pfaelzer Bodek Public Affairs Lecture Series focusing on food policy in the 21st century. The speakers, experts in their fields, address issues relating to global food security, sustainable agriculture, and food waste in America. Wednesday, April 11, 2012: Jonathan Bloom, "The Food Not Eaten": Jonathan Bloom, journalist and author of American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It) (2010), speaks on how much food we waste, where and why we squander so much, the ethical, environmental, and economic impact of our actions, and, most importantly, how we can minimize waste. Thursday, April 19, 2012: Alan M. Kelly, "Global Food Security: A 21st Century Challenge" Dr. Alan M. Kelly, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, speaks on the challenges faced by agriculture as it expands production to meet society's growing needs while conserving the environment, controlling the spread of infectious diseases, and accommodating to the vagaries of climate change. Tuesday, April 24, 2012: John E. Ikerd, "The Future of Food: Sustainable Agriculture is not Optional" Dr. John E. Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri, and author of Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense and Small Farms are Real Farms: Sustaining People Through Agriculture, will speak on the need for sustainable agriculture, the challenges facing the movement, and the development of a new and better paradigm. To download podcasts of these lectures, choose one of the additional files below. Lectures by Jonathan Bloom and Alan Kelly are available for download in audio-only (.mp3) and as audio with image (.m4v) versions. To view the event announcement, select Download button at upper right.