Anthropology of Food
Midsemester Exam, Spring 2009, Page 1
Anthropology 3688: Anthropology of Food
Midsemester Exam
Spring 2009
26 February 2009
You may have the entire class period for the exam.
Your exam must be turned in or uploaded to your WebDrop file
no later than 3:15 p.m.
This exam is available in electronic form
from the General Purpose Course WebDrop Folder at
<https://webdrop.d.umn.edu>
If you are uploading a file to WebDrop call it something like
your emailname_AF_midterm
do not use the characters
"
' # :
Upload all four of your questions in one file.
Do not upload them separately in four files.
This is an open-book exam. You may bring and use your texts, dictionary, thesaurus, a writing
handbook, class handouts, notes, outlines, drafts, memos, and a Ouija board. You may also
use references and materials from your other classes and the web, with the caveat, of course,
that you properly cite any sources you use.
You may bring and use your laptop but you must upload your exam to your WebDrop folder at
the end of the exam period <https://webdrop.d.umn.edu>. Please upload the entire exam as
one file, including the optional take-home question if you choose to do that question.
NOTE: If you normally generate a .wps file (from the Microsoft Works word processor) please turn in your
paper as a .rtf (Rich Text Format) document. ( It does not work simply to type in the .rtf extension
on an existing .wps file. You must load the original document and then resave it as a .rtf file type.)
Answer FOUR (only 4) of the following questions. Keep in mind that there is more than one
approach you can take in answering these questions.
Follow these guidelines:
 Organize your answer before you begin.
Anthropology of Food
Midsemester Exam, Spring 2009, Page 2
 Be sure to state:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What or who something is
Where it occurred or is located (if appropriate)
How it is important
When it occurred
Why it is important
 State YOUR position or approach clearly.
 Cite specific examples or references to support your statements.
 Mention problem areas or other relevant materials which you would like to
consider further in a more thorough statement. That is, when you're finished
with your answer, what major questions are still left unanswered?
 Summarize your argument or discussion.
 Wherever appropriate use materials from more than one region of the world.
 Remember that each of your responses should have a beginning, middle, and
an end.
Note: Do not discuss any topic at length in more than one question.
1.
From the AFforum:
Part A: What is meant by the terms lactose intolerance and lactose deficiency?
Part B: How do these conditions play into the anthropology of food?
2.
From the AFforum:
Background: The film We Feed the World served as the introduction to the general
topic of "Food Technologies: How People Get Their Food in Industrialized
Societies," the subject of Chapter 6 of The Cultural Feast: An Introduction
to Food and Society, 2nd Edition. The film brings food production and
economics together.
Question:
From what you learned from Chapter 6 of the text and from the film …
(A) How is economics affecting the food industry currently?
(B) What could the effects mean for the future of agriculture globally?
Anthropology of Food
3.
Midsemester Exam, Spring 2009, Page 3
Part A:
How does the video The Desert People best illustrate the principles discussed
in Chapters 2 and 5 of The Cultural Feast (“Diet and Human Evolution?” and
“Food Technologies: How People Get Their Food in Nonindustrialized
Societies”)?
Part B:
In what ways does the video The Desert People fall short of illustrating the
principles discussed in Chapters 5 and 6 of The Cultural Feast?
4.
Chapter 1 of The Cultural Feast: An Introduction to Food and Society, 2nd Edition, is
entitled “Setting the Table for a Cultural Feast?” From your readings of Chapter 1, and
from class presentations, what is the “main course” of “The Cultural Feast?” Why?
5.
After introducing New World “Staples” and “Produce” in Chapters 2-3 of America's First
Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe discusses the Aztecs in Chapters 4-6—the people who were
the last of a series of cultures living in the areas of the Mexican Central Highland areas
first populated by the peoples discussed in The Cultural Feast in the section
“Development of Agriculture in the Tehuacán Valley” (pp. 49-52).
In America's First Cuisines Coe goes on to discuss the Maya in Chapters 7-11, the Inca
in Chapters 12-13, and the coming of the Spanish and Portuguese in Chapters 11-17.
Question:
6.
How would you rewrite the section of The Cultural Feast currently focusing
on the “Development of Agriculture in the Tehuacán Valley” (pp. 49-52) for
the next edition of The Cultural Feast using Coe’s Maya or Inca materials
rather than materials from the Mexican Central Highlands?
Optional Take-Home Question:
NOTE: Essentially you may make up ONE question total. You may either do that as a take-home and
bring it to class with you, or you may do that in class the day of the exam. If you elect to do the optional
take-home exam and bring it with you to class, then you must choose three (3) additional of the remaining
questions presented on the actual exam, as they are presented on the exam.
If you do not like these questions, make up and answer a question of your own choice
relating to a topic which you have not considered in your other answers. Answers should
contain specific information supporting your position. Both your question and your
answer will be evaluated. If you like these questions but simply prefer to make one of
your own, go ahead.
If you elect to make up and answer a question, you may prepare your question and
answer in advance and bring them with you to the exam. If you prepare your question
and answer in advance you only need to answer three (3) midterm exam questions in
class.
Anthropology of Food
7.
Midsemester Exam, Spring 2009, Page 4
On Current Affairs:
In Tuesday’s State of the Union Address President Obama mentioned only one item
relating to food: Under the general topic of “Health Reform” he said, “In this budget, we
will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large
agribusinesses that don't need them” (<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7909271.stm>).
In the first e-mail for this class and on every Anthropology of Food web page there has
been a reference to Michael Pollan’s article from The New York Times Magazine, "The
Food Issue—An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief" (from 9 October 2008)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?sq=food%20issue&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all>.
The President’s State of the Union Speech probably didn’t surprise Michael Pollan—who
many wanted Obama to pick as Secretary of Agriculture, and the author of The
Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals which will be “featured” on the final
exam. Pollan probably wasn’t surprised by the speech at all as the first sentence of his
“Open Letter” to the President reads, “It may surprise you to learn that among the issues
that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned
during the campaign: food.”
In his speech President Obama, on the other hand, mentioned health care, health costs,
health reform and the like at least twenty-four times
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7909271.stm>.
But most observers would include food-related issues among the biggest health issues
Americans face today:

hunger
(“35.5 million people in the United States are at risk of hunger”)
<http://www.sodexofoundation.org/hunger_us/hunger/america/america.asp>

malnutrition / undernutrition
(“580,000 people—mainly children and the elderly—who cannot afford to eat, and therefore go hungry [in
America]”)
<http://www.fit4free.org/hunger.htm>

obesity
(it is often reported that about a third or more of Americans are clinically overweight [BMI≥30])
<http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/index.htm>

anorexia/bulimia
(“In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle
with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Millions more are struggling with binge eating
disorder”)
<http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/information-resources/general-information.php#health-concerns>

food security
(“More than 11% of the United States' population suffers from food insecurity”)
<http://www.sodexofoundation.org/hunger_us/hunger/america/america.asp>

possible ill effects from industrial food chemicals and the like—not to mention
Anthropology of Food
Midsemester Exam, Spring 2009, Page 5
the ecological and other damage caused by industrial farming of commodity
crop monocultures and CAFOs that might be inflicting long-term health
damage on the population

and others
Obesity alone relates to almost a dozen serious health issues.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/index.htm>
“This rate of obesity raises concern because of its implications for the health of Americans.
Obesity increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions. These include–
* Coronary heart disease
* Type 2 diabetes
* Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
* Hypertension (high blood pressure)
* Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
* Stroke
* Liver and Gallbladder disease
* Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
* Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
* Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)”
Pollan goes on to suggest to the President, “…you…will find yourself confronting the
fact—so easy to overlook these past few years—that the health of a nation’s food system
is a critical issue of national security.”
And more to the point, Pollan pointed out, “…the deeper reason you will need not simply
to address food prices but to make the reform of the entire food system one of the
highest priorities of your administration: unless you do, you will not be able to make
significant progress on the health care crisis, energy independence or climate change.
Unlike food, these are issues you did campaign on—but as you try to address them you
will quickly discover that the way we currently grow, process and eat food in America
goes to the heart of all three problems and will have to change if we hope to solve them.”
Question: A. How could Obama, who mentioned health issues at least twenty-four
times in his speech, have missed what Pollan considers the obvious—viz.
that food issues are at the heart of health care issues—mentioning only in
passing “direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them” as
a health care issue?
B. If you were advising the President on future actions and policy as an
applied anthropologist, what would you tell him, based on what you have
learned so far in Anthropology of Food? Why?