Soft food as violence cover-up: militarised foods as foods of the everyday

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this essay, the food texture of softness is analysed through the lens of food and culture studies as a boundary crossing and connecting texture that conjoins the US military and civilian realms. The consistent back-and-forth circulation of foods between the two spaces results in a pervasive, engrained military presence with food unsuspectingly carrying militarism beyond the sphere of explicit conflict or the military food development lab. The foods that circulate between the homefront and the warfront can be defined by their textural softness, a pleasurable consistency that is familiar and expected. When the food softness loses its expected quality in either realm, with softness as a camouflage for the militarism in the circulated foods, then the militarism is exposed. These are the points of rupture, of the unmasking of militarism that reveals glimpses of violence in the break of anticipated food textures. Food texture fissures will be examined through studies of various foods including chocolate, pizza, boneless meats, the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) and related civilian focused compartmentalised food products, including the doorstep delivered meal kit.