Amy K. McLennan
amy.mclennan@anthro.ox.ac.uk
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF FOOD AND NUTRITION:
IMPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE
Global Collaborative Summer Programme (2 Credits)
Kyung Hee University
Seoul, Korea
July 6 to 17, 2015
Course overview
Food is central to global health. Obesity and non-communicable diseases related to poor nutrition are
the leading cause of death globally, and are of central concern to the World Health Organisation
(WHO). According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), hunger and food insecurity,
which are linked to a range of poor health outcomes, affect one in eight people worldwide every day.
While this figure is decreasing, climate change and increasing global inequality may push more
people into hunger in future. At the same time, the UN Environment Programme highlights how food
production, transport, storage, consumption and waste have significant environmental and economic
impacts.
Food is also an everyday part of life. In biomedical terms, nutrients in food fuel the body. But we
don’t eat nutrients, we eat food. From an anthropological perspective, food and eating – what we eat,
who we eat with, and what we consider to be good food, for example – are affected by our everyday
sociocultural, environmental, historical and political ecological context. Food is also interrelated with
identity, kinship, social relationships, and status. It is produced, given, sold, advertised and traded; it
is also sensed, tasted, and experienced. Anthropologists studying food and nutrition work at different
scales, from the home kitchen to the global food system; some work in different societies, while
others follow specific foods as they move from farm to fork. This course will explore some of this
research, and consider what it can contribute to global health governance.
Objectives
1. To introduce key concepts in the anthropology of food and nutrition.
2. To give an overview of the historical and political backgrounds of global health governance
structures, especially those which relate to food and nutrition.
3. To develop an understanding of anthropological methods and perspectives.
4. To cultivate an interdisciplinary perspective on current and future global health challenges
related to food and nutrition.
5. To apply research both critically and constructively to thinking about strategies used in global
health governance.
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Requirements
There will be one oral presentation by each group, and one individual food diary project by each
individual student. The final grade will be calculated on the basis of class participation (20%), the
group oral presentation (40%) and the food diary project (40%).
Class participation (20%)
Besides attendance, effective class participation includes: asking questions; making comments,
critiques and creative suggestions; listening to other members of the class and thinking about what
they have to say; contributing additional ideas based on your own experience and reading; and taking
risks with suggesting new ideas.
Group oral presentation (40%)
The class will be divided into teams of 3-4 students. Each team will work together to develop a 20
minute presentation on the theme: “What will we be eating in fifty years time and why?” Students are
encouraged to think about the main stakeholders and key issues introduced during classes, but may
also explore more widely. Teams are encouraged to be as creative as they wish; just remember to use
evidence to support any claims. Presentations will be held in the final class.
Food diary project (40%)
In this assignment you will generate your own research findings and offer an anthropological analysis
of them. The assignment is due in class on Monday of the second week of classes.
Keep a food diary over a period of 2 days. In it, note down as many aspects of your food and eating
practices as you can – something that seems uninteresting may turn out to be interesting when you
look back on it later! Records may be made in situ or you may wish to recall what happened after an
event (but be sure not to leave it too long). You may wish to think about recording all sorts of details:
E.g. What are you eating (or drinking) and how much? Why did you choose it? Why did you avoid
something else? What influenced your decisions about this? Where are you eating? What did it cost?
Who else around you is eating? What does it smell, look, taste or sound like? How is it presented?
How are you feeling? Do people talk about or notice the food? Are locals doing anything different
from how you would at home? What do you or others leave on your plates? How do you feel after
eating? Where might the food have come from? Who prepared it?...
After you have written your diary, re-read it and think about what interesting findings or patterns
emerge. Prepare a report including:
1. Title: A suitable title to reflect your main focus/finding/argument.
2. Introduction: A brief introduction to the focal place/practice/food and why you chose it.
3. Methods: A brief overview of the method you used to collect your data.
E.g. How did you record your notes? How frequently? Did note-taking change the way you
approached food?
4. Findings: A brief summary of your findings. This may be in the form of your notes or
relevant excerpts from them.
5. Discussion: A brief summary of what you think are the most important or interesting aspects
of your study.
E.g. Was it as you expected? Did anything surprise you? Why/why not? What have you
learned? What can this tell you about cross-cultural differences in food practices?
The report should be 2-3000 words long. Approximate section word lengths: Introduction (500-1000
words), Methods (250 words), Findings (500-1000 words), Discussion (500-1000 words).
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Books and resources
All core articles and chapters for the course will be distributed electronically. Students may wish to
explore additional literature referenced during classes, and/or in relation to their own key interests.
Additional resources
In addition to resources in class, additional material may be found by searching the following
websites:
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Google Scholar
https://scholar.google.com
Somatosphere: Science, Medicine and Anthropology
http://somatosphere.net/
Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition
http://foodanthro.com/
WHO: Nutrition
http://www.who.int/nutrition/en/
FAO: Food Security
http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-fs/en/
FAO: Food Safety and Quality
http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/home-page/en/
Oxford’s iTunesU (Nutritional Anthropology)
http://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/publications/podcasts/nutritional-anthropology/
Kally Brownell’s lectures on ‘The Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food’
http://oyc.yale.edu/psychology/psyc-123#sessions
Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity (Yale University)
http://www.uconnruddcenter.org/
Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity (University of Oxford)
http://www.oxfordobesity.org/
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Course outline
The course will meet for ten three-hour classes (30 hours in total). Classes will be formed of lectures,
interactive discussions and workshops, short films, and practical activities. Throughout the course,
students will be encouraged to think critically and creatively about food and the health problems
associated with it.
In the first week, classes trace developments in the global food landscape over time, and analyse how
these changes impact human health. Major health themes addressed are: vitamin deficiency;
undernutrition and infectious diseases; obesity and non-communicable diseases; and food safety and
sustainability.
In the second week, classes focus on key tensions which emerge at the level of anthropological
analysis; these reflect current debates in health governance.
In addition to the classes, students are encouraged to talk with those of other nationalities about food,
health and eating in their local context. They are also encouraged to pay careful attention to the local
food environment.
Class 1: Introduction and overview
What is food and why study it? What are anthropological approaches to studying food? Has nutrition
always been a global health concern? Which agencies are responsible for diet-related health
governance? This class explores the breadth of approaches used to study food in anthropology,
followed by a brief introduction to key global health governance bodies, their histories, and current
debates and concerns. An overview of the course and assessment criteria will also be provided.
Class 2: Trade routes, colonial histories, and the industrial revolution
How did the era of colonial expansion change the way food moved around the world? What is the
history of industrially-processed foods, and why were they taken up so readily in some parts of the
world? And why are pineapples and sugar so important in British colonial history? This class explores
these themes by focusing on early British trade in commodities such as sugar. Such commodities link
slave labour in the Caribbean islands, with vitamin deficiency in the Pacific islands.
Class 3: War, conflict and food insecurity
What is food insecurity and how is it being addressed around the world? What are the health impacts
of famine? Why was the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) established to eliminate hunger,
food insecurity and malnutrition? In this class, links between conflict, food insecurity and infectious
disease are explored, with examples from the Second World War and modern-day Africa.
Class 4: The global food industry, global markets and value creation
What is the global food system today? Why are there so many types of pasta sauce on the supermarket
shelves? How does branding affect what we buy? How are these markets associated with patterns of
obesity and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes? In this class, the origins of the modern
global food system are traced through processes such as Coca-colonisation in South America, which
has been linked to nutrition transition and diabetes emergence.
Class 5: Biotechnology, genetic engineering and ecological impacts
What are some of the latest technologies used to produce food? Is the food system sustainable? Why
are food safety and sustainability major concerns in global health governance? This class examines
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the ways in which food, health, technology and environmental sustainability intersect, with a key case
study of corn in the United States.
Class 6: Does food taste the same to everyone?
Food has taste, smell and texture. It can also inspire emotions like love, as well as collective and
individual memories. Food preferences and avoidances associated with the experience of food are
partly innate. But they are also shaped by our culture and social setting, as well as by modern
advertising and food engineering. This class involves a practical exploration of the sensory and
emotional experience of food.
Class 7: What is a ‘healthy diet’, and who decides?
From a nutritional perspective, food is comprised of macro and micronutrients; dietary
recommendations are based around these. But eating is also fundamentally social, and social
connection is important for good health. So what is a ‘healthy diet’ and who decides? This class
explores the social aspects of food and eating in the Pacific islands – from feasts and celebrations, to
trade and food sharing – and considers implications for health guidelines.
Class 8: Are diets becoming increasingly local or global?
The modern global food system means that some foods are now available all over the world. Yet food
is a key source of identity in different cultures, and even globally-available foods are adopted at the
local level in different ways. This class explores the tension between local and global foods in Asia,
and the implications for identity, social cohesion and health.
Class 9: Should interventions target individuals or their environment?
Health policies often target either individual food behaviour or the food environment. Is it possible to
do both at once? This class explores current approaches to addressing diet-related health in Australia,
and considers how an anthropological approach might inform obesity-related health governance in
future.
Class 10: The future of food?
What will we be eating in fifty years’ time, and why? Who are the stakeholders and what are the main
issues to consider? How is the future of food imagined in fictional accounts of the future? In this
class, students present their responses to these questions in small group presentations.
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