FOODWAYS

how we eatSpring 2015Frey 102MWF 9:00-9:53 AM

Professor K. C. TwissTA Ryan Gardener-CookKatheryn.twiss@stonybrook.edu Ryan.Gardner-Cook@stonybrook.edu OH: Mon. 1-3:30, Wed. 12:30-1; SBS S-533OH: W 11-12 &2:30-3:30, F 10-11; SBS S-526

This course explores how peoples food habits are shaped not only by their biological needs, but also by the economic, political, ecological, and social worlds in which they live. The breadth of anthropology (biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and archaeology) is brought to bear on issues including the economic and political underpinnings of American as well as other food cultures; the relationship between food habits and health (both over-and under-eating); the environmental impacts of various methods of food production; the relationship between food and social status; gendered food production as well as food consumption; foods role in religion; ethical eating; the limits of current knowledge (e.g., changing dietary recommendations); and the socioeconomic pressures that keep individuals eating according to cultural norms. The class discusses foodways in a variety of present and past cultures, but the emphasis is on modern American food culture and the cultural, economic, ecological, and political realities that shape it. Students will explore how these realities affect their own lives and eating habits.

Course Requirements

Participation(3x 3%): 9%Students will be expected to participate in 3 class discussions. For each discussion, the class will be broken up into smaller discussion groups; each group will keep notes which they will hand in at the end of class.

Food diaries (2 x 8%): 16%Students will be required to keep a weeklong food diary at two different points in the course. The first diary will be used in an in-class activity exploring your personal identities (gender, place of birth, ethnicity, residence) shape your eating habits. The second will again be used in-class, as a basis for discussing a) how and why eating habits change over the course of a semester, and b) and the ethics of various consumption practices.

Quizzes SBS, USA Learning Outcomes below15% Students will take 3 online quizzes (via Blackboard). Each quiz is worth 5% of your grade.

Midterm Exam SBS, USA Learning Outcomes below20% Final Exam SBS, USA Learning Outcomes below40% note: the final is a ONE HOUR examSBS: Understand the major concepts and phenomena that form the basis of knowledge in the social sciences; Understand methods of inquiry into the social world and the methods social and behavioral scientists use to explore social phenomena including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, and the evaluation and application of evidence; Understand various types of theory (e.g., behavioral, political, economic, linguistic) that organize predictions and evidence in the social sciences; Skillfully interpret and form educated opinions on social science issues.USA: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and the workings of federal, state, and municipal governments in the United States. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and society.Demonstrate knowledge of a subculture or relationships among subcultures within U.S. society.

Class Rules Cell phones must be turned off.

Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty are required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary. ... For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/. Faculty who suspect a student of academic dishonesty must report the instance to the appropriate academic judiciary committee and not make an independent judgement about guilt or a penalty. It is Stony Brook University policy that [a]ssigning additional work to individual students who wish to improve their grades, during or after the semester, is prohibited. http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/bulletin/current/policiesandregulations/policies_expectations/min_instructional_student_resp.php Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn.

If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational Communications Center) Building, room 128, at (631) 632-6748 or http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/dss/. They will determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential. Students who require assistance during emergency evacuation are encouraged to discuss their needs with their professors and Disability Support Services. For procedures and information go to http://www.sunysb.edu/ehs/fire/disabilities.shtml.

Make-Up TestsIf you can provide evidence that you missed a test (or activity) due to illness or to a death in the immediate family, you may weight the value of your other exams to compensate. There will be no makeup tests. Prof. Twiss reserves the right to reject excuses. Submitting a fraudulent excuse is academic dishonesty and will be reported to the Academic Judiciary.**IF YOU ARE ILL, GO TO STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES AND GET A NOTE. WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION THERE CAN BE NO ACCOMMODATION.**

Advisory prerequisitesOne or more introductory Anthropology courses: ANT 102, ANT 104, or ANP 120.

TEXTSRequired text: Schlosser, E. 2005. Fast Food Nation. Harper Perennial.

Book excerpts and articles: Articles are available in pdf form on the class Blackboard site unless otherwise noted. Articles marked ** = available online through the SBU library system. Add the prefix http://libproxy.cc.stonybrook.edu/login?url= to the stable URL to access the article from off-campus. ## = on reserve at the Main Library.

Copyright NoticeUnless otherwise noted all materials in this course [ANT 260 Spring 2015] are the intellectual property of Katheryn C. Twiss and you may not reuse and/or duplicate the material in printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the owner. The University requires all members of the University Community to familiarize themselves and to follow copyright and fair use requirements. YOU ARE INDIVIDUALLY AND SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VIOLATIONS OF COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE LAWS. THE UNIVERSITY WILL NEITHER PROTECT NOR DEFEND YOU NOR ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR EMPLOYEE OR STUDENT VIOLATIONS OF COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE LAWS. Violations of copyright laws could subject you to federal and state civil penalties and criminal liability as well as disciplinary action under University policies.

To help you familiarize yourself with copyright and fair use policies, the University encourages you to visit its copyright web page at:http://guides.library.stonybrook.edu/copyright.

ANT 260 2013 syllabus 4

Class schedule and assignments

WeekTopicsReadings

1. Jan. 26-30IntroductionI. greetings, syllabusII. Film: King cornIII. What is food? (Definitions of food)IV. The Story of Milk

Kingsolver, B., C. Kingsolver & S.L. Hopp. 2007. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Harper Collins. pp. 1-22 (Ch. 1); 332-333.

Fast Food Nation. Part I, pp. 1-110.

2. Feb. 2-6

3. Feb. 9-13Food and the BodyI. Nutrition 1. Universally needed nutrition componentsi. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, etc.2. Differentially appropriate nutrition i. Male vs. female; different ethnic groups 3. The variety of perceptions/definitions of healthy nutritioni. Scientificii. Cultural/traditional II. Food in Evolution 1. The primate dieti. Guest lecturer: Prof. A. C. Markham (feb. 16)2. Human evolution and dieti. Guest lecturer: Prof. F. GrineIII. The Omnivores dilemma: 1. Paul Rozin & neophobia2. How we learn what to eat (socialization into cooking and eating traditions) ** Rapaport, L.G., Brown, G.R., 2008. Social influences on foraging behavior in young nonhuman primates: Learning what, where, and how to eat. Evolutionary Anthropology 17, 189-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evan.20180.

** Hockett, B., Haws, J., 2003. Nutritional ecology and diachronic trends in Paleolithic diet and health. Evolutionary Anthropology 12, 211-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evan.10116.

4. Feb. 16-20KEEP food diary #1 Feb. 16-22 (i.e. 1 week; actual dates may be different)

QUIZ 1 Feb. 20

5. Feb. 23-27food and identitya. In-class exercise & discussion: you are what you eat*** Bring complete food diariesb. Social pressure/realitiesconforming Fast Food Nation. Part II: pp. 111-254

Harris, Jessica B. 2011. We shall not be moved. From High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America. Pp. 197-219. Bloomsbury.

HAND IN food diary #2 Monday, Feb. 23

6. March 2-6food and health ii. Problems of scarcity: malnutrition1. The physical effects/symptoms of malnutrition2. Malnutrition in America, historical and current-dayiii. Problems of abundance: diabetes and obesity1. The physical effects/symptoms of overeating2. Overeating in America, historical and current-dayiv. Social relations and health1. Who is malnourished? Who is overweight? The social distribution of these problems2. Globalization and the spread of American food and food habits v. Alternative definitions of health/medicine1. Revisit nutrition and its definitionsa. Eating for health: scientific/holistic/traditional approaches 2. How healthy a food is depends on where/who it came from Anderson, E. 1997. Traditional medical values of food, pp. 80-91 in Counihan, C. & P. Van Esterik (eds.), Food And Culture: A Reader. Routledge, New York. Hewitt, B. (2011). Making Supper Safe: One Man's Quest To Learn the Truth About Food Safety, Rodale, New York. Chapter 5, pp. 73-93.

Mar. 16-22SPRING BREAK!!

7. March 9-13food and economics (1.5 weeks)vi. Subsistence strategies: foragers, agriculturalists, and industrial food1. The variety of strategies that historically characterized America2. The variety of strategies that are currently present in Americavii. Labor mobilizationviii. Immigration brings new foodsix. Who makes your food? x. Economic underpinnings of the American industrial food culture Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals: Ch. 3 Industrial: Garden City, Kansas (pp. 72-84) and Ch. 6 A Republic of Fat (pp. 100-108).

Food Pantries on rise at colleges(AP Story ran in multiple publications/outlets) ABC Network March 15, 2014 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/food-pantries-rise-us-college-campuses-22924910

QUIZ 2 Mar. 13

8. March 23-27

food and the environment (1 week)xi. Environmental limits on food optionsxii. What can we grow where, and why?1. Where our food comes fromxiii. Environmental impacts of food productionxiv. Environmental modification and sustainability1. Native American farming (G. P. Nabhan)xv. Eating industrial, eating organic, eating locally: monocultures, methane, and carbon footprints1. European-American industrial production Nabhan, G. P., A. M. Rea, K.L. Reichardt, E. Mellink, and C. F. Hutchinson. (2000). Papago (Oodham) influences on habitat and biotic diversity: Quitovac Oasis ethnoecology. Ethnobotany: A Reader. P. Minnis. Norman, OK, University of Oklahoma Press: 41-64.

9. Mar. 30-Apr.3 food and politics (2 weeks)xvi. Politics of surplus, politics of scarcityxvii. Politics shapes the food supplyxviii. Making friends (?) by feeding them: U.S. foreign aid xix. Conflict causes hunger; hunger causes conflictxx. Food nationalismxxi. As American as apple pie: our food symbolsxxii. Rice as a Japanese national symbolxxiii. Corporations and food politicsxxiv. The American food lobby Moss. M., 2012. Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. University of California Press, Berkeley. Ch. 1.

Nestle, M., 2011. 2010 Dietary Guidelines, deconstructed. http://www.foodpolitics.com/2011/02/2010-dietary-guidelines-deconstructed/

MIDTERM April 8

April 10: In-Class project.BRING Fast food nation!!!

10. Apr. 6-10

11. Apr. 13-17food and status (1 week) xxv. The status of particular foods: luxury foods vs. everyday foodsxxvi. Wealth vs. social statusxxvii. Feasting: competition and/or egalitarianismxxviii. Assertions of status: food strategies for climbing the social ladder Fitchen, J.M., 1988. Hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in the contemporary United States: some observations on their social and cultural context. Food and Foodways: 309-333.

12. Apr. 20-24food and gender; Food and Sexuality (1 week) xxix. Food and the division of laborxxx. Gendered eating1. Gender and body shape (weight issues)xxxi. Gendered manners and behaviorxxxii. Food and sexuality Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. 1988. The appetite as voice. In Fasting Girls: the Emergence of Anorexia Nervosa as a Modern Disease, J. J. Blumberg, ed., pp. 164-188. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Hughes, M.H., 1997. Soul, Black women, and food. In Counihan, C., van Esterik, P. (Ed.), Food And Culture: A Reader. Routledge, New York, pp. 272-280.

13. Apr. 27-May 1

food and belief

i. Food in art and iconographyii. Foods roles in ritual: sacrifices, offerings, Communioniii. Prohibitions and prescriptions: Judaism & IslamKEEP food diary #2 Apr. 27-May 3

Feeley-Harnik, G., 1981. Excerpts from Chapters 3 (segment Gluttony) and 4 (segments Blessing, Judgment, Acceptance and rejection, and Doubt), pp. 63-82 in The Lord's Table: The Meaning of Food in Early Judaism and Christianity (paperback edition). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

QUIZ 3 MAY 1

14.

THANKS-GIVING Thurs.Finish Food and Belief

HAND IN food diary #2 MONDAY

No new readings

15. May 4-8Conclusion : Ethical eating: 1 lecture, 2 discussion periods

iv. Locavoresv. Vegetarians/vegans

Important themes to be discussed: A. What is an ethical diet?B. Who (what segments of the American population) has the opportunity to follow that diet? a. (Wealth; geographical locations; access to information)C. What (if any) is your ethical obligationnot just with regards to how you personally eat, but with regards to how your fellow citizens do? Kingsolver, B., C. Kingsolver & S.L. Hopp. 2007. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Harper Collins. pp. 220-237 Hesterman, Oran B. 2011. Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System For All. New York: PublicAffairs, Chapter 2, pp. 21-45; Engaging College Students, pp. 163-168; Sourcing Food With Public Funds pp. 191-194. McKinley, Jesse. A California Ballot Measure Offers Rights for Farm Animals. New York Times (Oct. 24, 2008). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/us/24egg.html?th&emc=th Pollan, Michael. An Animals Place. New York Times (Nov. 10, 2002). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500EFD7153EF933A25752C1A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

FINAL EXAM: Wed., May 13th, 8:30-9:30 PM