Anthropology of Food

Anthropology of Food

Anth 486/586

Fall 2010 Office Hours: Wed 1:30-3:30

Nancy Rosenberger Waldo 210

Catalog description: The role of food in human cultures, both past and present. Includes discussion of different food procurement styles, social movements and the political economy of food. Looks at the symbolic aspects of food as well as its relationship with the environment.

Outcomes:

· Develop and apply critical thinking and critical writing competencies about food and culture

· To explain and illustrate the food system at the global level and its social and cultural effects on local populations around the world.

· To interpret the way food systems are shaped in cultural ways in a variety of national systems and populations.

· To compare and contrast effects of the global, industrial food system on life in the US and especially locally in the Willamette Valley.

· To understand social movements that are working to alter the global food system and establish more sustainable agriculture and consumption.

Grad Students:

· To interpret, contrast, and critique concepts used by social scientists in explaining the food system at global and local levels.

Required texts:

· Allen, Patricia 2004 Together at the Table: Sustainability and Sustenance in the American Agrifood System. Pennsylvania State University Press.

· Berg, Joel 2008 All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? Seven Stories Press.

· Jaffee, Daniel 2007 Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival. U of Cal Press.

· Watson, James and Melissa Caldwell, eds. 2005 The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: A Reader. Blackwell Publishing. (latest edition, paperback)

Readings and Assignments: Always bring your readings to class so we can use them in class exercises or in-class writings.

Week 1:

Sept 28, Tues: Lecture on the local food system, low-income problems, and the US food system. Relevant articles on line for reference.

Class exercise: interview classmate on his or her food life and report.

Sept 30, Thurs

Read Berg, All You Can Eat: Intro and Chapters 1-4

Week 2:

Oct 5, Tues:

Read Berg: Chapters 5-9

Oct 7, Thurs:

· Read Berg: Chapters 10-15

· Come to class with information from one non-profit working on food. Berg lists various in the appendix, but you are welcome to look up others. Find a strategy that they are using that you think is particularly effective. Just be ready to report; you don’t need to hand anything in.

Week 3:

Oct 12, Tues:

Read Allen, Together at the Table: Chapters 1-3

Oct 14, Thurs:

Read Allen: Chapters 4-6

Week 4:

Oct 19, Tues:

Interviews and observations due in class for reports to class or small group. Papers due to professor.

Oct 21, Thurs:

Read Allen: Chapters 7-9.

Week 5:

Oct 26, Tues:

· Read Watson and Caldwell, Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: Part I

· Everyone in the class will read two of the articles in Part I. We will divvy up and assign them in class. Come ready to report on your article along with a small group.

· Country report due

Oct 28, Thurs:

· Read Watson and Caldwell: Part II

· Everyone in the class will read two of the articles in Part I. We will divvy up and assign them in class. Come ready to report on your article along with a small group.

· Country report due

Week 6:

Nov 2, Tues:

· Read Watson and Caldwell: Part III

· Everyone in the class will read two of the articles in Part I. We will divvy up and assign them in class. Come ready to report on your article along with a small group.

· Country report due

Nov 4, Thurs:

· Read Jaffe, Brewing Justice: Intro, Chapters 1-2

· Country report due

Week 7:

Nov 9, Tues:

· Read Jaffe: Chapters 3-5

· Country report due

Nov 11, Thurs:

· Read Jaffe: Chapters 6-7

· Country report due

· Pass out take-home questions.

Week 8:

Nov 16, Tues:

· Read Jaffe: Chapters 8-9, and Conclusion

Nov 18, Thurs: No Class

Professor at American Anthropology Association Conference in New Orleans giving paper.

Week 9:

Nov 23, Tues:

· Take-home due on readings for class.

· Lecture on Japanese food system: consumption, agriculture, and the organic ag food system and its representatives. In-class writing.

Nov 25, Thurs: Thanksgiving, No Class

Week 10:

Nov 30, Tues:

· Class lecture on Seeking Food Rights in Uzbekistan.

Workshop on your papers: Plan to discuss your paper in depth with a small group.

· Bring typed list of articles, books, or interview/observations that you will be using for your final paper. Make it as complete as possible.

· Type the topic of your paper with the research question(s) that you propose to answer.

· Type one page, single-spaced on which you write the main findings that you have already gleaned from reading at least one new article for undergrads and two for grads. (Include the reference for this article(s).) You can also include points from other articles or interview/observations already done that are relevant.

· Discuss the plan for your paper with a small working group and hand in copies of your documents to professor.

Dec 2, Thurs:

· Class lecture on Seeking Food Rights in Uzbekistan. In-class writing.

· Expand the main findings page for your final paper handed in for Tues to two pages, adding material from one more new article, short or long. Report to your working group in class. Hand in copy of expanded findings.

Exam Week: Paper due on Tuesday, Dec 7 at 5 in my box in the Anthro office ( Waldo 238) or under my door (Waldo 210).

Take-home essay on readings:

A take-home essay that will cover the material in readings for class will be handed in on Nov 23. The exam will vary for undergrads and grads. Undergrads will answer shorter questions that test understanding of specific readings and contrast and comparison among them. Grads will have longer questions whose answers require linking a variety of different articles and employing explanatory or theoretical concepts in relation to them.

Participation:

This grade will be based on participation in in-class writings, exercises, and discussions. There may be extra-curricular activities that members of the class can participate in optionally and by which students can increase their participation grade or earn extra credit. Stay tuned.

Local Interview and Observation:

Observe and interview someone who is active in the local or regional food system. These places and people may be those who are involved in production, distribution, or serving of food as well as those involved in policy or planning around food. They preferably are someone helping to build the local or regional food system in some manner, but if, for example, you want to interview someone running a food bank but who is not directly tied in with local food, that is acceptable. Check with professor if you have doubts.

Observations and interviews should be done in pairs so as not to overload the community. The first result is a report in class with several pictures of the activity observed (if possible) to either the whole class or a small group. The second result is a jointly written report on the observation and interview. Decide together on the main points (around 4-8) that emerged and on the details that support these main points with examples and quotes. Each of you take several points to write up in paragraph form for the paper. Finally, discuss and write up the ways in which what you found out relates to readings or discussions in class. Make 2-3 links. Graduate students should use concepts learned in class of a more general, explanatory nature in order to interpret the observation/interview. The final paper will be double-spaced 4-8 pages.

Papers are due and reports will be shared in class on Oct 19. One grade will be given for the report and it will apply to the individual grades of both people who did the report. If you have problems with people not sharing work equally, tell me as soon as you can so that we can address them. Better yet, please take pains from the beginning to share the work as equally as possible.

Possible places and people to observe/ interview will be discussed in class.

Country Reports:

Gather articles and reports from newspapers, magazines , or scholarly journals/books in order to understand the food system in one country in the world. I prefer that we have a variety of countries represented with emphasis on the less powerful countries of the world in political and economic terms. We will confer as we choose countries. This assignment intends to help you to learn about global issues surrounding food through the lens of the experience in one country.

I would like you to again work in pairs, although in this case if you have a great preference to work alone, it is permissible; talk to me. The reports are done in class to small groups so everyone learns by reporting to others and learns from others about other places. Share material with your partner appropriately.

Each person is required to do three reports. The sources are flexible, but must have adequate information on food-related issues. Undergrads will report on three pithy, informative articles of around 250-500 words that are in non-scholarly newspapers or magazines. (They may use parts of longer articles or books if they like. Sometimes it is necessary also to paste together multiple smaller articles to equal one, depending on the country.) Grads will report on two similarly short but pithy articles and one longer, scholarly article. (See below.) Alternatively, you may find such reports as Food Security in Uzbekistan done by the World Food Program or by the UN Development Program. In this case, divide up the report and use it.

In all cases, in-class reports should be accompanied by a single-spaced one-page report with bulleted points from the article that can be used to give the report in class and handed in as proof for a grade. In the case of grads, when doing the longer, scholarly article, please write an extra one page, single-spaced narrative that evaluates the article in terms of the way the author has collected and written up the information. Thus, such things as methods, data, objectives, conclusions, and so on should be critiqued in terms of clarity and development. Is anything missing? This assignment is meant to help you to become more aware about what makes a good article.

Country reports will be given between the dates of October 26 and Nov 11. Each person has to do 3 reports. Assuming that most people will be working in pairs, each of you can choose three dates on which to make a report in class. Each will be graded only on his or her own report.

Key topics to address include although are not limited to: food consumption and distribution, food industries, agriculture, trade issues, cultural meanings of food, food access for different groups, food security, food sovereignty, political and economic issues related to food and agriculture. If you have doubtst, check with the prof.

Final paper:

Undergrads: The final paper is a 5-page paper (double-spaced with 12-font) that builds off of one of your projects in class. These must be done individually. The intent is that you will be able to use the data that you have already collected and build a research paper around this. If you have worked with a partner, all information from the partnership may be used by both parties in the final paper.

Whether taking off from issues raised in the local observation/interview or in the country reports, you must find two new outside scholarly articles, book chapters or agency reports that develop these issues more fully or in a different direction. Check with me if you have doubts as to whether something is scholarly. Start early in using databases and library books from both our library and the Summit library or Library Loan. Feel free to add small articles from the web, but be aware of the source of the data.

Write the paper with a clear research question that you can answer (to some extent anyway), using information from your in-class research, your new research, and bringing in material from class as it is useful (without depending too heavily on the latter). Intersperse the sources as you write so that you are bringing in information from a variety of articles (or interviews/observations) to develop your main points.

The body of the paper is 5 pages with a sixth page of bibliography. (It can be longer, but not shorter.)

· Have an intro with research question(s) and a conclusion that summarizes and evaluates what you have answered and what remains unanswered.

· Write clearly and organize your material. This is half the battle of writing a paper. Use enough paragraphs. Use subtitles as needed, but do not leave a lot of extra space around them.

· Proofread! (1) for grammar, spelling and clarity of expression and (2) for clarity of your argument. Read just your topic sentences. Are they clear and do they follow on each other? Have you supported them?

· Don’t be afraid of contradictions as well as agreement in your sources. Discuss them in relation to each other.

· Make main points and support them with evidence from your readings.

· Be careful to reference adequately in the body of the paper. Reference information at the end of the sentence or paragraph as (Berg 2008:36). You must use the page number if it is a quotation.

· Make a listing of all sources used in alphabetical order by author. If it is an edited book, list the author of the article, not the editor of the book. If there is no author as in some newspaper articles, list it by its title in the bibliography and use the first words of the title in the reference within the paper as (Food Threatened 2009:2).