Food Ethics
- Free
- No certificate
- Beginner
- 5 weeks
Food Ethics is Andrew Chignell's Princeton course on how concerns about animals, workers, the environment and community should inform what we eat. Rather than prescribing answers, it aims to give you the tools to reflect effectively: a knowledge of four leading ethical theories and a grasp of the key empirical issues in food production, distribution and consumption. The six modules are served as dishes: utilitarianism and animal agriculture, from utilitarianism to Kantianism with a side of alternative meat, God, virtue and some non-Western approaches, food justice, race and diet-related disease, a local food-systems model, and food politics with a closing look at making a difference.
Coursera labels the course beginner level with a flexible schedule and estimates five weeks at ten hours a week; the only stated prerequisite is an interest in food, philosophy or both. The page states that all features of the course are available for free and that, as per Princeton University policy, no certificates, credentials or reports are awarded.
What you’ll learn
- Apply utilitarian, Kantian, virtue and religious ethical theories to food choices
- Evaluate animal agriculture and alternative meat from an ethical standpoint
- Analyse food justice, race and diet-related disease in an industrial food system
- Compare models for local and regional foodways
- Reflect on food politics and how individual choices make a difference
Who it’s for
Anyone interested in food or ethics who wants a structured, non-preachy philosophy course with no prerequisites.
Syllabus
6 sections as listed on coursera.org, 47 h 27 min in total.
- First Dish: Utilitarianism and Animal Agriculture (and a Side of Beef!) 8 h 19 min
- Second Dish: From Utilitarianism to Kantianism (and a Side of Alternative Meat!) 7 h 42 min
- Third Dish: God, Virtue, and some Non-Western Approaches (and a Side of Food Psychology!) 10 h 34 min
- Fourth Dish: Food Justice, Race, and Diet-Related Disease (and a Side of Justice for Farmworkers!) 6 h 34 min
- Fifth Dish: The "Ithaca-Hopewell" Model (and a Side of New Jersey Choices!) 7 h 40 min
- Food Politics plus a Doggie Bag of Difference-Making (and a Side of Organic!) 6 h 38 min
Instructor
- Andrew Chignell Professor, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor at Princeton University with appointments in Religion, Philosophy, and the University Center for Human Values., Princeton University
Course details
- Skills covered
- Ethical Standards And Conduct
- Cultural Diversity
- Social Justice
- Health Disparities
- Environmental Issue
- Sustainable Systems
- Nutrition and Diet
- Includes
- 6 modules · 22 assignments
- Prerequisites
- Flexible schedule
On coursera.org
Rated 4.6 out of 5 by 110 learners; 9,129 enrolled, as shown on the course page on 20 Oct 2026. These are coursera.org’s own figures, not ours.
Source: Princeton Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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