Food as Radical Empathy | Alison Alkon | TEDxEmory

Alison Hope Alkon is a professor of sociology and food studies at University of the Pacific, where she teaches and writes about the relationship between food, environmental sustainability and social inequalities. Her work seeks to understand the ways that inequalities constrain our abilities to imagine and create sustainable futures, and to work with communities as they pursue their visions for social change. She is the author of Black White and Green: Farmers Markets, Race and the Green Economy and co-editor of The New Food Activism and Cultivating Food Justice. I approach teaching with the assumption that students’ situated knowledges are valuable material through which we can understand sociological ideas. In the tradition of C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination, I encourage students to delve into the “public issues“ that have shaped their “private troubles.“ My courses emphasize student-centered learning, and require active participation. To this end, I use a variety of strategies including small groups, activities, projects, current events and the deconstruction of popular media. Students may find this approach more demanding than a traditional lecture model, but are rewarded with strengthened reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Additionally, I hope students emerge from my classes with a thoughtful, engaged and articulate perspective on current affairs and social interaction. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at