12 Mar 2026 MST Sample Class - Cheap Foods and Expensive Lies: Our Food Choices and Their Sustainability Impact
Speaker, , Dr Qian Forrest Zhang
Associate Professor of Sociology
School of Social Sciences, SMU
Associate Professor Forrest Zhang’s research focuses on agrarian political economy, sustainable agrifood practices, and rural development, with a focus on China. In the past 15 years, he has conducted research in over 20 provinces in China and collected data on over 200 rural villages. His recent works have investigated alternative food networks, agricultural cooperatives, industrial pig farming, and land politics. He received his PhD in sociology from Yale University in 2004.
RSVP: . Reserve a seat: https://smumst.smu.edu.sg/acton/fs/blocks/showLandingPage/a/45772/p/p-007d/t/page/fm/0. Event Details: “Cheap Foods and Expensive Lies” unpacks the core trick of the global industrial agri-food system: prices fall while real costs explode. We trace how “cheap” calories are engineered through monocultures, chemical- and fossil-fuel dependence, streamlined supply chains, and labour precarity—yielding overproduction, overconsumption, and ecological overdraw.
See the connection between everyday food choices and hidden externalities: diet-related disease burdens, degraded soils and waters, exploited workers, h… Contact: mst@smu.edu.sg. Type: Information Sessions. Lectures. Subject: Social Sciences & Humanities. Urban Management & Sustainability. Audience: Alumni. Current Student. Incoming PG Students. Professionals. Prospective Student. Public. SMU Faculty & Staff.
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 7:10 PM – 8:30 PM.
In-person Session:
Seminar Room 3-1, Level 3,
SMU School of Social Sciences & College of Integrative Studies,
10 Canning Rise, Singapore 179873
Virtual Session:
The virtual session will be conducted on Zoom. For security reasons, the login details.