the food thing

an experiment in food, cooking, politics and conviviality in a time of austerity

 

some thought for food

 

 

about the food thing

 

The "food thing" is a collaborative art project developed by participants in GradCAM and by associate researchers connected to the School. The "food thing" refers to the pervasive culture of production and consumption of food that links the micro-processes of everyday subsistence with the macro-processes of global distribution and economy. The "food thing" moves across questions of "taste" and questions of "meaning" to questions of "agency" and questions of "polity"; from questions of "hospitality" to themes of "unhomeliness" in the world of plenty/scarcity. The "food thing" is a framework within which we make food, share food, discuss food and evolve debate on the politics and practices of food in the 21st century. (For an indication of how this project relates to the larger remit of GradCAM go here. For an update on progress go here.)

 

GradCAM Team [27/11/2010]

 

introductory bibliography

 

The following is a somewhat ad hoc sampling of recent publishing on themes of food and cooking. It is intended to serve as a useful entry point into current popular and academic debates on questions of food culture.

However, if you are very keen, there is an extensive bibliography of food and philosophy here.

 

essays and papers

 

Bennett, Jane (2007) "Edible Matter", New Left Review, May-June, No. 45. pp. 133-145.
Butler Flora, Cornelia (2011) "The social structure of food production", Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures Science review: SR 17. (pdf here.)
Cook, Ian et al (2004) "Follow the Thing: Papaya", Antipode Vol, 36, No. 4. pp. 642–664. (pdf here.)
Lawrence, Felicity (2011) "The global food crisis: ABCD of food – how the multinationals dominate trade", Guardian Poverty Matters Blog (online here.)
McMichael, Philip (2009) "The World Food Crisis in Historical Perspective", Monthly Review, Volume 61, Issue 03 (July-August) (online here.)
Rosset, Peter (2009) "Fixing our Global Food System: Food Sovereignty and Redistributive Land Reform", Monthly Review, Volume 61, Issue 03 (July-August) (online here.)

 

books/volumes

 

Appadurai, Arjun (1988) ‘How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India’, Comparative Studies of Society and History, 30:1.
Bottéro, Jean (2004) The oldest cuisine in the world: Cooking in Mesopotamia,, University of Chicago Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste,, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Dickie, John (2007) Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and their Food, Sceptre.
Douglas, Mary (1972) ‘Deciphering a Meal’, Daedalus, 101:1, pp.61-81.
Goody, Jack (1982) Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology, Cambridge University Press.
Goody, Jack (1998) Food and Love: A Cultural History of East and West, Verso.
Guthman, Julie (2006) "Neoliberalism and the making of food politics in California", in Geoforum, 39, 1171-1183.
Holt-Giménez, Eric and Raj Patel (2009) Food Rebellion: Crisis and Hunger for Justice, Pambazuka Press.
Kaufman, Jean-Claude (2010) The Meaning of Cooking, Polity.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1997)‘The Culinary Triangle’, in Food and Culture, A Reader, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik, New York: Routledge. p. 28-35.
Mintz, Sidney (1996) Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions into Eating, Power, and the Past Boston: Beacon Press.
Murcott, Anne (1993) "Anthropology (Sociology?) and Food: Diversity in Scope, Approach and Evidence", British Food Journal,, Vol. 94 Iss: 7, pp.14 - 19.
Nestle, Marion (2003) Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, University of California Press.
Nestle, Marion (2003) Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism, University of California Press.
[See review: http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/the-politics-of-food]
Paarlberg, Robert (2010) Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press.
Parkhurst Ferguson, Priscilla (2004) Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine, University of Chicago Press.
Patel, Raj (2007) Stuffed & starved: From farm to fork, the hidden battle for the world food system, Portobello Publishing.
Petrini, Carloi (2007) Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean and Fair, Rizzoli.
Pollan, Michael (2006) Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Penguin.
Pollan, Michael (2008) In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Penguin.
Revel, Jean-François (1982) Culture and Cuisine: a Journey Through the History of Food, New York: Double Day.
Steel, Carolyn (2009) Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives, London: Vintage.
URBANNOMICS (2011) Collapse Vol. VII: Culinary Materialism (Online here. )

 

some sites / blogs / lobby groups

 

food urbanism
slow food ireland
true food us lobby group
monsanto-watch
food safety authority ireland
contra-genetically modified food lobbyists ireland
pro-genetically modified food? (oecd)

 

GradCAM Team [27/11/2011]

For additional information on the collaborating institutions consult www.dit.ie, www.ncad.ie, www.iadt.ie and www.ulster.ac.uk.