Food Systems and Supply Chains
Examines the structure of supply chains for food and agriculture and key business decisions in the broader context of food systems.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.16 GPA, 64.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.38 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.52 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
Describe food supply chain (network) components, processes, objectives, drivers and performance metrics, and the main differences in characteristics and management practices for food and agricultural supply chains compared to supply chains for non-food manufactured products.
Analyze sourcing and purchasing decisions for raw materials or finished goods, use business process analyses for food supply chain improvement and determine appropriate production or service capacity strategic decisions for food supply chains.
Apply basic inventory management decision methods, such as the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Re-Order Point (ROP), decision models for logistics including transportation modes and distribution network configurations, and Sales & Operations Plans (Aggregate Plans) for a food manufacturer.
Describe the metrics and processes that food businesses use to monitor and improve sustainability, in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Define the basic characteristics of a food system and its linkages to food and agricultural supply chains, and use basic systems modeling concepts for the development of qualitative assessment of food systems and understand their use in quantitative models of food systems.
Use systems modeling approaches to assess key food supply chain and food system issues such as the impacts of food supply chains on human nutrition, programs for farmers, agriculture research and development and localization of food systems.
Undertake a review of a subset of relevant literature on a topic or issue related to food supply chains or food systems (with pre-approval of the instructor), and relate the content of that review to the concepts covered in this course.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapA A E 101(215 prior to Fall 2024),ECON 101, 111, or graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
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Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.16 GPA, 64.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.38 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.52 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Food and agricultural supply chain structure, components, processes, objectives, drivers, and performance metrics.
- Key business decisions including sourcing, purchasing, business process analysis, and capacity strategy in food systems.
- Inventory management methods (EOQ, ROP), logistics decision models, transportation modes, distribution networks, and aggregate planning.
- Sustainability metrics and processes for food businesses in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility.
- Food system characteristics, linkages to supply chains, and systems modeling for qualitative and quantitative assessment of food system issues.
Skills
- Describe food supply chain components, processes, objectives, drivers, performance metrics, and management practices specific to food and agriculture.
- Analyze sourcing and purchasing decisions, apply business process analyses for improvement, and determine production or service capacity strategic decisions.
- Apply inventory management methods like EOQ and ROP, logistics decision models for transportation and distribution, and Sales & Operations Plans for food manufacturers.
- Describe metrics and processes for monitoring and improving sustainability in food businesses within the context of Corporate Social Responsibility.
- Define food system characteristics and linkages, and use systems modeling concepts for qualitative and quantitative assessment of food systems and supply chain issues.
- Review relevant literature on food supply chains or food systems and relate findings to course concepts.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
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Catalog & offerings
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
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Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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