Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ANT2023: Theory and Methods of Food Preservation

This module descriptor refers to the 2024/5 academic year.

Module Aims

A series of practical classes will not only demonstrate fundamental techniques of food preservation but also afford you with the opportunity to gain basic experience in their practice. Lectures and guided readings will provide historical and socio-economic context through which to better understand not only productive techniques, but also livelihoods and businesses associated with them. You may go on to produce the foods you have studied. You may also contribute in other capacities to small- and medium-scale enterprises making these foods, for example in management or marketing, or you may contribute to private or public initiatives to support the producers of these foods, for example working in regional economic development, in the promotion of gastro-tourism, or in food-focused media.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Understand how a range of preserved foods are produced, and practice basic techniques
2. Recognize the economic challenges and opportunities faced by small- and medium-scale artisan food makers
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Compare traditional food preservation techniques with contemporary artisan practices
4. Recognize the socio-economic drivers of changing food preservation technologies and their implications for practitioners
Personal and Key Skills5. Produce narrative accounts of various forms of food preservation, artisan practice or enterprise
6. Identify opportunities for new food preservation practices or enterprises, or for the promotion of existing ones