If Ever Wondered About Food? has made you curious about food and science, you can take your interest further by learning with the Open University.

Beginning to study

If you have no experience of higher education, deciding to become an undergraduate student can be a big step. We have specifically designed our Openings programme of short introductory courses to give you the chance to test the water before committing yourself. Other short courses, such as Understanding Human Nutrition, are for people who may already have study experience, but who don’t want to commit to a full undergraduate course straight away.

Understanding Human Nutrition (SK183)
Are we really what we eat? What is the link between food and our health and wellbeing? This course will provide you with information about the components of the human diet, and how food is processed in the body.

Understanding Health (Y158)
What is health? What influences our health and illness? How is health maintained and who is responsible for maintaining it? This course focuses on the health of individuals, families, localities and societies.

Taking your interest further

If you want to take your interest in science and technology further, other Open University courses on offer include:

Working with our Environment: Technology for a Sustainable Future (T172)
If you are interested in exploring what impact your choice of food may have on the environment, take a look at this course.

Discovering Science (S103)
This course introduces a range of topics from global warming to the origins of life; ecology and genetics to earthquakes and volcanoes; chemical reactions and the structure of atoms to the origin of the universe. Why not download a taster for this course and try out some of the open educational resources that go with it?

Biology: Uniformity and Diversity (S204)
This course provides a broad foundation in biology at the levels of molecules, the cell and the whole organism, as well as looking at interactions of organisms with the wider environment.

The Molecular World (S205)
This course will give you a broad foundation in chemistry. It introduces the fundamental ideas, principles and techniques of the discipline and also demonstrates the central role of chemistry in science and the importance of a molecular approach in biology. Try a taster for this course.

Signals and Perception: The Science of the Senses (SD329)
This interdisciplinary course uses fundamental concepts from biology, chemistry, physics and psychology to explain how we interact with our environment through our senses – sight, hearing, balance, smell, taste, and the somatic sensory system, which includes touch and pain.

An Introduction to the Humanities (A103)
This introductory course looks at history, religious studies, philosophy, literature, and the history of science, art and music.

Professional Development

If you are looking for courses that will contribute to your professional development, a suite of recently launched modules in food science might be of interest.

Food: From Farm to Fork (An Overview of Food Production) (GST004) gives a general introduction to systems of food, food production and the supply chain known as "farm to fork".

Food: Preservation and Packaging (GST006) describes the purposes and methods of processing, preserving and packaging food, including newer technologies and which techniques to use for specific foods.