Food Ideologies Research Articles

A “Gendered Analysis” into the Latent Cultural and Social Determinants of Undernutrition and Malnutrition: A Study in Purulia District of West Bengal

While the issue of malnutrition, it is fully established, has a robust biomedical base, which calls forth action that intervenes at the nutritional (intake) level, experiences on field, backed by research underscore the structural determinants of malnutrition. Latent cultural and social forces which are less visible but nevertheless obdurate may also push people towards the condition of undernutrition, particularly intergenerational undernutrition, as these find expression in gendered food ideologies handed down effortlessly, in the ‘doing of family’ and kinship. These gendered food ideologies provide cultural sanction to existing dietary practices of young girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers and infants through preferences, prescriptions, proscriptions and food aversions, that may position women in a structurally disadvantageous location, with grave ramifications for them and their children. The period of pregnancy and lactation for the mother, and the first two years of the child’s life have been found to be a special nutritional challenge, with localized cultural perceptions often leading to inappropriate eating practices on account of biases and culturally entrenched belief systems. Food has social meanings and deep association with questions of identity such as caste, community, gender, age. Any nutritional intervention must therefore take into account not only local narratives built around food and the ‘substance,’ but the structural position and power dynamics of those who consume it.

Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless and the Imagination of ‘Authentic’ Mexican Food

This article studies the ways in which the idea of ‘authenticity’ is built and shaped through cultural discourse in Mexican food. The article engages with the intellectual origins of the concept of ‘authenticity’ and the ideologies it carries, in order to study the ways in which it operates in relation to Mexican food. To achieve this, the article focuses on two foreign cooks who have contributed to the naturalization of ‘authenticity’ as a value in Mexican food, both in Mexico and the United States: Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless. Through an analysis of their cookbooks, self-fashioning and food ideologies, the article contends that ‘authenticity’ is a problematic cultural construct that highlights the diversity of Mexican cuisine but also disparages Mexican-American communities.

Food, Meaning, and the Law: Confessions of a Vegan Semiotician

The essay that follows combines several genres along an unconventional path. It departs from the psycho-semiotic analysis of a personal turning point: the author’s ‘conversion’ to veganism. After exposing the rationale for this change in semiotic terms, however, the essay extends its theorization to the social level, inquiring about the intersection between vegan conviction and commensality. In a world where different food ideologies co-occur, converge, conflict, and sometimes clash, what is the role of the law in establishing value priorities and strike a balance among different sociocultural and political trends? The essay concludes with a synthetic definition, in semiotic terms, of the perspective on food, meaning, and law promoted by the author: a vegan liberalism that is tolerant of food pluralism but simultaneously militates for the evolution of culture and society toward the accomplishment of a utopia, that of a world immune from the exploitation of animal suffering.

The limits of intensive feeding: maternal foodwork at the intersections of race, class, and gender.

Despite experiencing numerous barriers, mothers today confront increasing social pressure to embody perfection through their foodwork. A growing body of social science research identifies how gender and class inequality shape women's perceptions of food and their feeding strategies, but this research is thus far limited in its understanding of the roles that race and ethnic identity play in a mother's food landscape. Drawing on 60 in-depth interviews with a racially and economically diverse group of mothers, this paper examines how feeding young children is intertwined with contemporary ideas about child health as well as women's efforts to negotiate race, class, and gender hierarchies. Extending Hays' concept of intensive mothering, rich descriptions of feeding children reveal how mothers in this study are discursively engaged with what I call an 'intensive feeding ideology' - the widespread belief that good mothering is synonymous with intensive food labour. Drawing on intersectional theory, this article discusses the limits of an intensive feeding ideology, particularly for poor and middle-class mothers of colour. The findings contribute to an understanding of how power relations are embedded within food ideologies and how mothers of young children attempt to negotiate them.

The SAGE encyclopedia of food issues

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues explores the topic of food across multiple disciplines within the social sciences and related areas including business, consumerism, marketing, and environmentalism. In contrast to the existing reference works on the topic of food that tend to fall into the categories of cultural perspectives, this carefully balanced academic encyclopedia focuses on social and policy aspects of food production, safety, regulation, labeling, marketing, distribution, and consumption. A sampling of general topic areas covered includes Agriculture, Labor, Food Processing, Marketing and Advertising, Trade and Distribution, Retail and Shopping, Consumption, Food Ideologies, Food in Popular Media, Food Safety, Environment, Health, Government Policy, and Hunger and Poverty. This encyclopedia introduces students to the fascinating, and at times contentious, and ever-so-vital field involving food issues. Key Features: *500 signed entries concluding with cross-references and suggestions for further readings *Organized A-to-Z with a thematic Reader's in the front matter groups related entries by general topic areas *Includes Acknowledgment Listing and alphabetical List of Entries *Provides Annotated Resource Guide Detailed and comprehensive Index This three-volume reference work serves as a general, non-technical resource for students and researchers who seek to better understand the topic of food and the issues surrounding it.

Aspects of Food Ideologies appearing in Sijo, and its Meanings

Aspects of Food Ideologies appearing in Sijo, and its Meanings

The Reproduction of ‘Cultural Taste’ Amongst the Ukrainian Diaspora in Bradford, England

This paper refers to research with Ukrainian families in Bradford that was conducted in an attempt to investigate the transmission of values, with particular reference to food. Here we report on how this research led us towards a better understanding of how cultural ‘taste’ evolves between generations. The paper thus draws upon three studies undertaken in the 1980s, 1990s and more recently between 2005 and 2008 with those who identify themselves with the Ukrainian communities in the city. The first two studies used oral history to collect life stories, while the more recent research used a range of anthropological methods. We have sought to draw in particular on, and combine theoretical insights from, Bourdieu and Passeron's work on ‘habitus’ (1979) and Mannheim's concept of ‘generational style’ (1997). By combining the earlier testimonies with more recent data, we conclude that each generation has developed its own distinctive projects and styles as it has negotiated its historical times. In arriving at this conclusion we want to suggest that while the influences of technology and media are influential in transforming ‘taste’, and foodways in particular, the generational projects and their food ideologies were the main determinant factor shaping the foodways of the Ukrainian diaspora.

“Beef. It's What's for Dinner”

While many scholars have explored the celebratory role of food traditions—how food is used to create communitas—few consider how food may also be used to punish, cajole, or reinforce hegemonic or patriarchal structures. Drawing on qualitative interviews with vegetarians, I explore the transformation to vegetarianism and the ensuing conflicts between the “homeostasis” of family meat-eating traditions and the “deviance” of refusing meat that are enacted via the family meal. By examining how the inversely related food ideologies of vegetarianism and meat-eating are expressed in this context, a theory arises as to how food behavior and ideology may function to negotiate power, belonging, and exclusion in familial relationships.

Institutional recipes as a source of information about food habits*

AbstractThe School of Home Science at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand was established in 1911 to enable women to obtain a university qualification in Home Science. Accommodation was provided for students in the Home Science Hostels. From 1940 until 1990 the hostels accommodated approximately 120 students each year. In 1943, a set of recipe cards was published for use in hostel kitchens. They were used continuously as a basis for hostel meals until 1993 and were revised four times during the period. It is suggested that an explanation of the original selection of the recipes together with an interpretation of additions and omission over the period would mirror and explain changing attitudes to food in New Zealand society. The content of the sets was examined, omissions and additions noted and a comparison made with recipes included in popular New Zealand and American household cookbooks. Overall, it was found that factors that influenced the make‐up of the recipe set and bought about change were: the background of the Foods Department staff, the hostel food supervisors, the requirements of the student residents, nutritional guidelines and food ideologies. The first recipe set revealed some American influence, but over the period, despite the institutional context, hostel meals, remained fairly traditional and mirrored the food practices of most New Zealand households.

Assessment of Magical Beliefs about Food and Health

The Magical Beliefs About Food and Health scale (MFH) was developed to assess individual differences in the tendency to adopt eating and health instructions that many magazines, health care books and food ideologies regard as valid but which obey universal laws of similarity and contagion. In a study of 216 individuals, the total MFH score showed good internal consistency and it was associated with various validity criteria as hypothesized (e.g. vegetarianism and other ideological commitments to food choice, female gender, increased neuroticism, experiential thinking, positive attitudes towards alternative medicine, low sensation seeking and endorsement of universalism values). Factor analysis yielded two factors: General Magical Beliefs and Animal Products as Food Contaminants. In addition, three other items (the Animal Products as Personality Contaminants scale) cross-loaded on the two factors. The factor structure and test-retest reliability were confirmed with separate samples. The results showed that the total MFH score is a reliable and valid measure of magical food and health beliefs, and that the subscales may prove useful when a multidimensional assessment of magical beliefs is needed.