Food Matters: U R What U Eat
Never before has there been as much interest in how we eat, where our food comes from, and how it affects us. From critiques of factory farming, to the diet industry, to the popularity of cooking shows and “ethnic” foods, we are fascinated by the problem of how to choose what to eat and what that choice means. The goal of this Common Hour will be to explore cross-disciplinary intersections of food production and consumption, with an eye toward showing the multiple perspectives necessary for the study of how we eat, and the consequences of that choice.
Mondays at noon in the Learning Commons - John Stewart Memorial Library
Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA
Spring Semester Events:
February 11
Quinoa: a 5,000-year History of a Superfood (and why you should eat it) - Maria C. Bruno
In the past 20 years, the Andean crop quinoa has risen in popularity in the global north as an exotic and healthy food. Through archaeological and historical data, I trace the shifting political and economic role of quinoa.
February 18
Food & Power: How Corporations Shape What We Eat and Drink - Phil Howard
This presentation focuses on two key qualitative strategies these firms use to influence consumption patterns and increase their share of food and beverage markets: deskilling and spatial colonization.
February 25
Why Does Food Need Philosophy? - Robert Valgenti
This talk aims to flip this idea and examine why food, and our relation with it, needs philosophy more than ever before.
March 4
The Immigrant Restaurateur and Hierarchy of Taste: Cuisine, Culture, and Power - Krishnendu Ray
Krishnendu Ray explores the history of how immigrants in the restaurant industry have shaped American notions of good taste ― even as they themselves occupy the lower echelons of the social hierarchy.
March 11
Dietary Restrictions: What Does This Mean? - Julie Beck
This presentation will explain dietary restrictions related to several health conditions as well as the cultural issues associated with them.
March 25
Food and the Senses: Sensory Science and the Evaluation of Food - Jacob Lahne
In this talk, I will give a brief introduction to the physiology and psychology of how humans perceive flavor and the methods and theories behind the sensory evaluation of food. I will then present some results of my current sensory research program, which focuses on the flavors of fermented and distilled products.
April 1
The Clue of the Five-Course Meal: Class, Consumption, and Epicurean Culture in Nancy Drew - Michael G. Cornelius
This talk will highlight why these books emphasized the consumption of food as they did, explore intersections of class, gender, and food culture in these series, and highlight some of the more extravagant meals found in these texts.
April 8
Irrigation Water and Food Safety: A Glimpse into How Research is Approaching This Issue - M. Dana Harriger
This presentation will discuss the significance of the research being conducted in the Conococheague watershed and at our USDA research plot located on the Wilson farm.