Po(sey) Sessions

It is difficult to determine which aspect of food research is the most important. Whether you are looking inside or outside the field of sociology food represents such a complex set of concerns, social stratification, and history. Food trends represent changes in norms, cultures, and understanding of nutrition. For this study while trying to consider a wide breadth of food issues I tried to focus on the contemporary American food issues. Food security, understanding the impact of gender roles in food preparation and consumption, and sustainability were the three main issues that seemed to emerge as a contemporary American focus for this research. Chef Tom Colicchio sees a disparity between the production of food and the distribution of food in the American agricultural system. How is that in a land of plenty there are people, especially children, without a secure food supply. There are many reasons why this is the case, but food actress and social stratification can be an is...

Umami is the new black. In the culinary world funk is foodie gold. Those interested in the lifestyle of food desire the most intense version of any substance. Stephanie Danler talks about this experience in foodservice as an adrenalized lifestyle. Since I have started studying food I have heard these sentiments reflected in foodies, chefs, and waitstaff. Danler writes in her novel, Sweetbitter : “You will encounter a fifth taste. Umami: uni, or sea urchin, anchovies, Parmesan, dry-aged beef with a casing of mold. It’s glutamate. Nothing is a mystery anymore. They make MSG to mimic it. It’s the taste of ripeness that’s about to ferment. Initially, it serves as a warning. But after a familiarity develops, after you learn its name, that precipice of rot becomes the only flavor worth pursuing, the only line worth testing” (44). Umami, fermentation, and funk are about the intensity of food experiences. You may be wondering why I am bringing this up now, and I am not going to answer...

Individual, Community, and School Influences on Childhood Nutrition in Iron County, Utah. The world is evolving. Through the globalization of society combined with broader access to information, people encounter difficulty with data overload . Certain cooking practices, health techniques, and ideas about nature and agriculture are being overlooked, lost, or outright forgotten. As our access to information increases, our desire to maintain knowledge decreases. Skills are rarely mastered and often left to a Google search on demand. The availability of technology is inspiring for some, a hurdle for others. One of the greatest casualties of the technological age is the decentralization of local communities. Technology provides humans with so much, as individuals find more connections online than they do in real life; where people stare at their phones and look for their next pleasure fix, it still can’t solve many of the world’s problems. In some cases it is making them worse. Hung...

The desire to seek out and identify the authentic is a primary motivator behind many aspects of American life. Perhaps it is the focus on the individuality that is key to the American spirit that pushes us to celebrate the purity of creation by a single individual. Many studies have examined (1) the desire for the authentic, (2) the definition of authenticity, and (3) who is the ultimate judge. Every time we interact with food we have an opportunity for culinary tourism. Eating food can transport us to different places and expose us to different cultures. Culinary tourism is also the experience of traveling to another country or region and partaking in their food culture. Whether the food is a framework for the tourism experience or not is up to the eater, but there is no denying the way in which the two aspects of eating and travel are often linked. Authenticity, at it’s core, is essential to the sensation of transportation. But is authenticity a true marker of ethnic and reg...

When I was in preschool I went to a private school taught by nuns. In the cafeteria we could not leave until we were dismissed. Sometimes but not always it was required that all the food on the plate was eaten. This food was not high cuisine, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and on one day tuna fish. I was three or four and at this time in my life it was already very clear I was a picky eater. Usually I could eat around the foods I didn't like and clear my plate without much issue. But how does a child, age four, eat around a tuna fish sandwich when one does not eat tuna? I sat quietly and peaceably staring at my plate. I was concerned slightly about the events that may follow. My fellow preschoolers began to leave and, the crowd thinned and thinned until there was only one child left in the room. One child looking at a tuna fish sandwich on a plastic plate a color directly between blue and green but not fully qualifying as either. Canned tuna between slices of white bread mo...

June was another lackluster reading month for me. I finished two books and started many more. I fluctuate in out of reading slumps, even in the middle of books lately. Very little holds my interests. It always feels almost like I will never read again, but it has happened often enough that I know better. Here are the two books I finished in June: 22. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson 23. Year of the Dog by Grace Lin Year of the Dog was one of the best books I have read in a while. I loved the way that it talked about food even though it was a particularly brief book. Chasing Lincoln's Killer was a straightforward book on a subject matter that doesn't particularly interest me. As I have been working on my Gullah research, I have decided to pursue more information about the Civil War era, especially for slaves. In part, I have been curious when Gullah developed out of other slave culture and what are the defining factors of the culture? I think the language ...