Critical Perspectives in Food Studies. Edited by Mustafa Koc

Abstract

Critical Perspectives in Food Studies. Edited by M. Koc, J. Sumner, & A. Winson. Don Mills, ON: Oxford, 2012. 402 pp. ISBN 97801905446418For students of agro-food systems, Critical Perspectives in Food Studies is the kind of book that will spend little time collecting dust on the bookshelf. This reader, intentionally designed to serve as a "formal text to represent the depth and breadth" (Koc et al., 2012, p. x) of Food Studies, will more likely be found in use, open, pages marked, highlighted and interspersed with small crumbs of food. This invaluable 400-page book features wellwritten, well-researched chapters penned by leading figures in the Canadian Food Studies field. This volume is a credit to the depth and diversity of the Canadian Association of Food Studies (CAFS) in which it was incubated, to its editors, contributors, and to all the institutions, organizations, and individuals that drive the food movement in Canada, from field to table.The Food Studies movement is progressively interdisciplinary and this text demonstrates the value of bringing multiple perspectives to bear on a complex problem through critical inquiry. Contemporary Food Studies is giving rise to community engaged scholarship from its critical pedagogy, creating a new breed of activism amongst scholars and students in this field. Action research and community-university alliances are becoming commonplace as many of the chapters in this volume attest, offering a welcome dose of collaborative inspiration within the sea of silo'd academia. Ultimately, however, it is the "Emancipatory Question" (Constance, 2008) what many feel to be the leading edge in Food Studies scholarship that is at the core of this text, and the focus on interdisciplinary and organizational forms bringing social value that will be of particular interest to those interested in the Social Economy.Smartly spliced into five parts, plus an introduction and conclusion, the 22 chapters of Critical Perspectives in Food Studies bring readers through a logical progression from the what, to the why, to the how of Food Studies. Through the Introduction and Chapter 1, co-editors Mustafa Koc et al. situate the emergence of Food Studies' interdisciplinarity and mixed-methods as primarily a great strength, but note that this leaves the field open to boundary, methodology, and overall clarity issues which will need to be resolved through collective engagement at the intersections within the broader Food Systems framework.The remainder of Parts One and Two, including works by prominent scholars such as Freidmann, Albritton, and Cooke, showcase the diversity of analytical perspectives in Food Studies as well as the multiple levels of inquiry in scope and scale. What begins to come through in this work is the magnitude of the Food System's impacts on our socio-ecological systems. From systems of production and distribution, to evolving cultures of consumption, and linkages to health, art, education, gender, social justice, and environment, the prominence and prevalence of food as a lens through which to critically situate oneself within society and environment, becomes clearer.Parts Three and Four of the text offer further proof of the abundant analytical fodder for Food scholars across our troubled Food System. From the "Farm Crisis" (Wiebe) to the "Crisis in the Fishery" (Sundar), to the root causes of the diet-related health epidemic at the grocery counter (Winson), among Aboriginal peoples (Martin), and food bank users (Suschnigg), critical analyses by leading Canadian scholars offer stark assessments of the challenges in reforming the Food System. Food pricing, food labelling, and food governance are also covered herein, using a combination of theoretical analysis and case study perspectives to bring clarity to each of these critical debates. …