Global Politics of food take home exam

by | Apr 17, 2018 | Literature

 

Each response should be up to 1500 words (max), and should refer to at least 6 course readings
or other course resources (including videos, reports posted to cuLearn or noted in the syllabus,
and lectures by guest speakers). Each response should take the form of a mini-essay, with an
introduction that includes an overarching thesis statement and an outline of your response.
Notes: It is acceptable to participate in group discussions as you prepare for the written
exam, but your exam must be written by you alone. As with an essay, sources cited must be
properly referenced (APA or Chicago style).
1) What does it mean to adopt a political-economy approach to analyzing food systems? How
have some of the authors you’ve read employed a political economy analysis? How are their
approaches similar or different? What does their work reveal about the dynamics of food
systems? What does political economy analysis bring to debates about public policies?
In your response, provide reference to specific examples from one or two of the following
topics studied in this course: Food aid, the 2007-08 food price crisis, the regulations governing
global food trade and transnational corporations, the development and regulation of
Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs), social movement engagement in food issues.
2) What do you see as the key opportunities and challenges associated with developing a Food
Policy for Canada (FPC)? Why is Canada developing a FPC? What are some of the key
challenges this policy will seek to address? What are the jurisdictional and sectoral tensions
that need to be worked through in order to have a FPC that has an impact? Do you think an
effective FPC is possible? Why or why not?
In your analysis, draw on examples from one specific policy topic implicated in a FPC, explaining
why policy change on this topic might be needed, the role that a FPC could play, and the
challenges and/or opportunities presented in terms of politics, policy and programming.
Examples of policy topics include: dietary guidelines, Indigenous food systems, migrant
agricultural labour, policies affecting farmers (e.g. supply management, risk management
programs), biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation, a proposed national school food
program, etc.

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


This question has been answered

God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.