Food Processing, Distribution, and Retail

Course Description

Developed in partnership with The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

How can food companies drive sustainability while balancing business goals? This course explores the Middle of the Food System—the manufacturers, packagers, distributors, and retailers that shape what we eat and how it gets to us. You'll examine the history of food business, the role of innovation, and the challenges of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand how companies can shrink their environmental footprint and promote a healthier food system. Through engaging lessons, you'll analyze key issues like climate change, plastic pollution, and food waste while uncovering the tensions and shared interests between corporate profit and CSR. The course concludes by reviewing a systems thinking approach that helps business leaders and policymakers understand the food system’s volatile and unpredictable behavior and develop effective solutions for a more sustainable future.

Food Processing, Distribution, and Retail is one of three related courses comprising a series of skills related to Food Sustainability. These courses are part of a portfolio of Nutrition related micro-credentials.

Course Learning Objectives:

• Explain how the Middle of the Food System (manufacturers, packagers, distributors, retailers, and service providers) determines how food products are made and sold. 
• Recognize the sustainability drivers and goals for food businesses and describe ways to assess a food company’s level of commitment to sustainability. 
• Describe the environmental and health benefits and challenges of food manufacturing, packaging, transportation, and retailing. 
• Practice employing a Systems Thinking approach to explain food system complexity, behavior, and change. 

Basic Enrollment Requirements:

None

Completion Requirements:

This course is online and self-paced. Learners who enroll for the course ahead of the course start date will be given access to the course on the listed start date. For learners who enroll after the listed start date, access to the course will be given within 72 hours of enrollment, please lookout for an email invite to the course content. Learners will receive 8 weeks to complete the course and upon successful completion receive a digital badge.

This course awards 5.0 CPEUs in accordance with the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s CPEU Prior Approval Program.