ANTH 164
Anthropology of Food
Fall 2010
Professor Analiese Richard
George Wilson Hall, 1st Floor
arichard@pacific.edu
(209) 946-2707
Class Meetings: TR 3:00-4:50
Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00 Wednesdays or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
What distinguishes the anthropological study of food from that of other disciplines is its focus
on food within a biocultural and often cross-cultural context. Anthropologists study humans
and human culture across space and evolutionary time; this includes the examination of their
own cultural patterns and social institutions. Food requires hunting, gathering, growing,
storage, distribution, preparation, display, serving, and disposal, all of which are social and
cultural activities.
This course will explore the important role of food production, preparation, and eating in
different cultures, as well as the symbolism and economic importance of food. We will focus on
the current transformations of the world food system, through processes of globalization, the
growth of new technologies, human migration and fast food. The counter-movement for
localization and ‘slow food’ will also be explored. You can expect to take part in some cooking
and eating as well!
This course satisfies upper division elective requirements for the Development and Cultural Change and
Global Studies Majors as well as Anthropology Minors.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this course students should be able to:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Distinguish among key concepts and theories used by anthropologists to study foodways and apply
them to specific ethnographic cases.
Explain the relationship between the common biocultural evolution of humans and the diversity of
human foodways.
Discuss the role of food as a social mediator and form of symbolic communication in various cultures.
Relate foodways to systems of social inequality and conditions of material production.
Grasp the global significance of contemporary changes to food systems.
Demonstrate progress in developing the following skills:
a) Critical reading: Moving beyond reading for information to critically evaluating the author’s
assumptions, evidence, and arguments and putting the reading in conversation with other course
material.
b) Oral Communication: Collaborating to develop effective oral presentations and lead group
discussions.
c) Written Communication: Learning to construct and articulate clear arguments by logically
marshalling evidence in support of a thesis.
d) Ethnographic Research: Using participant observation, interviewing, text analysis, and library
research to gather data; analyzing data and relating it to key concepts and theoretical models.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Anderson, E. N. 2005. Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture. New York: New York University Press.
Counihan, Carole and Penny Van Esterik. 2008. Food and Culture: A Reader (2nd Edition). New York:
Routledge.
Mintz, Sidney. 1985. Sweetness and Power. New York: Penguin.
***Additional required readings will be posted on the course Sakai site under “Resources.”***
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance and Participation:
Reading Comments:
Madeleine Paper:
Learning Experiments:
15%
15%
10%
3@20%
(I reserve the right to make changes to these assignments and their weights based on your pedagogical needs.)
Attendance and Participation: Participation includes attendance, active involvement in in-class
activities and discussions, and coming to class thoroughly prepared. Attendance is mandatory. You are
allowed two absences during the semester, no questions asked. Please budget them wisely. Additional
absences will result in a 5% reduction in the final course grade per instance. If you are a student
athlete or participate in other university-sponsored activities that may require additional absences,
please see me in office hours immediately.
Students’ participation grades will be assessed based on the following criteria:
 the student attends the entirety of each and every class;
 the student verbally contributes to general class discussions and activities;
 the student is an active participant in small group discussions and activities;
 the student contributes thoughtful comments that are relevant to the topics being addressed;
 the student’s participation indicates that they have read and thought about the assigned readings
as well as colleagues’ comments posted to the Sakai discussion forum;
 all electronic devices are turned off and stowed away during class time.
Reading Comments: In order to help you do the readings well and to facilitate class discussion, once
each week you will write a short (½ page single spaced) comment pertaining to the day’s assigned
readings.
This comment should be sent to the Sakai discussion forum 24 hours before class begins. Half the class
will be randomly assigned to provide comments for Tuesdays, and half the class will be assigned to
provide comments for Thursdays. These positions will be reversed halfway through the semester. These
comments should raise issues that you feel are worth discussing in class.
You might want to:
 grapple with things you don't understand in the reading(s);
 comment on all or part of the reading(s) that you agree or disagree with
 comment on parts of the reading(s) that you find especially enlightening or moving;
 explore how the reading(s) relates to your own personal experience;
 explore how the readings relate to each other;
 explore how the reading(s) relate to ideas and issues raised in this course.
The objective is to generate a set of points of departure for class discussion that come from your thoughts
and experience. All students should review the reading comments posted by their colleagues BEFORE
each class.
Learning Experiments: The major assignments for this course will require you to conduct “learning
experiments” incorporating one or more ethnographic research methods and then analyze and interpret
your data using the concepts and models presented in the course. Over the course of the semester you
will be responsible for turning in three 6-8 page papers based on different experiments. You are free to
choose which experiments to undertake and in what order to turn them in (due dates are 9/30, 10/21
and 12/02). You’ll want to begin longer-term projects early in the semester to give yourself time
to complete them, especially projects which require finding key informants or conducting
research in stages.
Suggested methods are noted for each experiment (please see handout). We will work on some
of these techniques in class over the course of the semester. I am also happy to conduct brief
one-on-one or group workshops and/or provide written instructions for any of these methodsplease just ask if you’d like to try something new.
You are strongly encouraged to use office hours to seek more detailed guidance for planning,
executing, and analyzing your research.
Honor Code:
The Pacific policy on academic honesty is detailed in Tiger Lore. Cheating and plagiarism are, of course,
academically dishonest. Please be advised that the university gives professors discretion to punish
academic dishonesty as we see fit. SIS has a zero-tolerance policy toward academic dishonesty. This
means that we will automatically fail you for the assignment and/or the entire course if we have evidence
that you have cheated. We will also report you to the Director of Judicial Affairs in the Office of Student
Life for whatever additional punishment they choose to mete out. See Tiger Lore for details about the
university’s proceedings and punishments.
You are encouraged to discuss your ideas with each other, but do your own work; turning in identical or
nearly identical assignments is a violation of the Honor Code.
It is plagiarism when:
1.
You use more than four words in a row that are taken directly from another text of any
sort without citing it as a direct quote. As a rule, direct quotes themselves should only
be used sparingly; papers full of properly cited quotes are entirely honest, but bad
writing.
2.
You very closely paraphrase the work of others. Paraphrasing is NOT the same as using
your own words.
3.
You fail to properly cite the source of any idea you’ve gotten from another text or website.
You must cite any idea, not just direct quotes, from other sources.
The easiest way to avoid all potential problems is to read the material, think about it, then close all of
your books and write. Keep track of where ideas are from by jotting notes to yourself (“I want to talk
about Smith’s idea that…”). Then go back and cite everything properly: great idea you’ve just talked about
(Smith 2002: 45). To do this properly, you have to think about time management. Read a couple of days
before you have to write (so you have time to think). Write notes to yourself about what you think is
important (or, if you are inclined, a real outline) and where you got the ideas. Often cheating takes place
because someone doesn’t organize their time properly, feels up against a deadline, and makes a bad
decision. We understand how this can happen, but we do not consider it an excuse. If you have any
questions about what to do or not do, just ask.
Please Note: This is a class about the social and cultural significance of food, so you are
welcome to eat and drink in class as long as you bring enough to share with your
colleagues. From time to time we will try different foods together as a way of exploring the
materiality of topics we are studying. Students are encouraged to stretch themselves by
trying unfamiliar items. However, if you suffer from food allergies or subscribe to
religious/ethical principles which prohibit the consumption of certain foods, please inform
your professor ASAP so that accommodations may be devised.
Resources for Students
If you are entitled to learning accommodations, please see Daniel Nuss, Coordinator of the Office
of Services for Students with Disabilities, in 101 Bannister Hall to obtain an Accommodations
Request Letter. Once you have obtained that letter, we can work together to make appropriate
arrangements. Please see your professor after class or in office hours.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by your academic coursework, please see your professor in office
hours for help with this course. Another important resource at your disposal is the Educational
Resources Center in Bannister Hall, which provides tutoring services in a variety of subjects.
You can contact them at 946-3218. If you’re having difficulty transitioning to college-level
writing standards or styles, please visit the Student Writing Center located on the second floor
of the Library. These tutors are specially trained to help you improve your performance and
efficiency at just about any kind of writing task a Pacific professor can throw at you! Email them
at erctutorial@pacific.edu or call 946-2437 to set up a private appointment.
If you are stressed out or experiencing personal problems, you should get in touch with the
Counseling Center, located in Cowell Wellness Center. Call them at 946-2225 for practical help
with stress management, personal relationships, and emotional health.
TOPICS
DATES
Week 1:
Introduction
Tuesday
8/24
Thursday
8/26
Week 2:
Biocultural
Foundations
Tuesday
8/31
Thursday
9/02
Week 3:
Structures of
Taste
Tuesday
9/07
Thursday
9/09
Week 4:
Human
Ecology and
Cultural
Materialism
Week 5:
Food as
Communication and
Classification
Tuesday
9/14
Thursday
9/16
Tuesday
9/21
Thursday
9/23
Week 6:
Commensality and
Cosmology
Tuesday
9/28
READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS DUE
No assignments due
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Introduction
Montanari, Massimo. 2004. “Creating One’s Own Food” in Food
is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 1-33.
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 1-3
AAA Statement on Ethics
Research Workshop: Ethics and Informed Consent
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 5
Food and Culture, Ch. 23
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 4 & 6
Goody, Jack. 2007. “The High and the Low: Culinary Culture in
Asia and Europe,” in The Taste Culture Reader. Carolyn
Korsmeyer, Ed. New York: Berg, pp. 57-71.
Guest Lecture: Dr. Ken Albala, History Department
Due in class: Madeleine Paper
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 9
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Harris, Marvin . 1974. “Mother Cow,” in Cows, Pigs, Wars, and
Witches. New York: Vintage, pp. 11-34.
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Lansing, Stephen. .2006. Perfect Order: Recognizing Complexity in
Bali. Princeton: Princeton University Press (excerpts)
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 7
Food and Culture, Ch. 2
Stoller and Oakes. 2007. “Thick Sauce: Remarks on the Social
Relations of the Songhay,” in The Taste Culture Reader.
Carolyn Korsmeyer, Ed. New York: Berg.
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Food and Culture, Ch. 3-4
Guest Lecture: Jean-Marie Stratigos, Université de Nanterre Paris X
« How to Eat Dinner in Madagascar »
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 10
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 1993. “Rice in Cosmology and
Cosmogeny,” in Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 44-62.
Thursday
9/30
Week 7:
Tuesday
10/05
Distinction
Thursday
10/07
Week 8:
Ethnic and
National
Identity
Tuesday
10/12
Thursday
10/14
Week 9:
Globalization
and Change
Tuesday
10/19
Thursday
10/21
Week 10:
Global Food
Regimes
Tuesday
10/26
Thursday
10/28
Due in Class: Exercise #1
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Food and Culture, Ch. 10
Tapper, Richard and Nancy Tapper (1986) “’Eat This, It’ll Do
You a Power of Good’: Commensality among Durrani
Pashtuns” American Ethnologist 13(1): 62-79.
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 10
Food and Culture, Ch. 14 and 21
Film: The Gleaners and I
Due in class: Film Discussion Worksheets
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 11
Food and Culture, Ch.18
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Food and Culture, Ch. 15 and 19
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 12
Food and Culture, Ch. 25 and 32
Due in Class: Exercise #2
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Everyone Eats, Ch. 13
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Sweetness and Power, Introduction and Ch. 1
Week 11:
Tuesday
11/02
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Rosset , Peter. “Introduction: Trade and Development” and
“Conclusion: Another Food System is Possible”, in Food Is
Different .London: Zed Books, pp. 1-16, 79-89.
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Sweetness and Power, Ch. 2.
Production
Thursday
11/04
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Food and Culture, Ch. 28 and 29
Week 12:
Tuesday
11/09
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Sweetness and Power, Ch. 3
Consumption
Thursday
11/11
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Roseberry, William. 2005. “The Rise of Yuppie Coffees and the
Reimagination of Class in the United States,” in The
Cultural Politics of Food and Eating,. Watson and Caldwell,
Eds. New York: Blackwell, pp. 122-143.
Jaffee, Daniel. 2007. “Preface” (pp. xi-xv) and
“Introduction” (pp. 1-10) in Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee,
Sustainability, and Survival, Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
Week 13:
Tuesday
11/16
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Sweetness and Power, Ch. 4
Power
Thursday
11/18
Week 14:
Feast or
Famine?
Tuesday
11/22
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 1)
Reading: Food and Culture, Ch. 34
Shiva, Vandana. 2000. “The Hijacking of the Global Food
Supply,” in Stolen Harvest. Cambridge, MA: South End
Press, pp. 5-20.
Kloppenburg, Jack, Jr. 2010 “Seeds and sovereignty: the promise
of open source biology.” Forthcoming in Food Sovereignty:
Theory, Praxis, and Power. Annette Desmarais and Hannah
K. Wittman, eds. Fernwood Publishing.
Film: The World According to Monsanto
Due in class: Film Discussion Worksheets
Due online: Reading Comments (Group 2)
Reading: Food and Culture, Ch. 35 and 36.
Week 15:
Thursday
11/24
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Tuesday
11/30
Due online: Reading Comments (Group s 1 and 2)
Reading: Sweetness and Power, Ch. 5
Canby, Peter. 2010. “Retreat to Subsistence” The Nation July 5,
2010, pp. 30-32, 34-36.
Holt-Jimenez , Eric and Raj Patel. 2009. “Introduction to the
Global Food Crisis” in Food Rebellions!: Crisis and the Hunger
for Justice. Cape Town: Pambazuka Press, pp. 1-4.
News Reports posted on Sakai
Due in class: Exercise #3
Due online: Discussion Questions
Reading: Panelist Websites (TBA)
San Joaquin Food Forum: Local Experts Panel
The Future of
Food
Thursday
12/02
LAST SUPPER: Tuesday December 7, 3:00-6:00 (final exam period), location TBA
ANTH 193A: Anthropology of Food
Fall 2010
“Madeleine” Paper Assignment
French novelist Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is famous for his incredibly detailed and
lengthy master-work, the semi-autobiographical Remembrance of Things Past. The
first part tells of his childhood in Combray, attempting to capture a sense of the
past through seemingly insignificant sensory impressions. While few people ever
read the work in its entirety, a small passage in which the narrator’s childhood
memories are unleashed by the taste of a madeleine (a small, shell-shaped butter
cookie) dipped in tea is now legendary. It has even become a global pop-culture
reference (recall the scene in the third season of The Sopranos when Tony eats a slice
of capicola, conjuring up images, sounds, smells, and feelings from his childhood).
Carefully read the translated excerpt from Proust posted on the course Sakai site.
What might be the equivalent of Proust’s madeleine in your own life experience?
Think of a food that strongly reminds you of a very specific time and place.
Write a 5-6 page essay that accomplishes the following:
 Describe your sensory experience of the food in detail (smell, sight, texture,
accompanying foods, time of day, setting, etc.) What is the first bite like?
What calls your attention most strongly? How does it make your body feel?
 Describe the memories this sensory experience triggers for you. How are
they related?
 Reflect upon the anthropological significance of your experience. What
links have been revealed between your individual experience and larger
patterns of social organization, behavior, practice, belief, meaning, etc.
Your essay will be due on Sakai on Thursday, September 9. Instead of a final exam,
we will have a “last supper” together on Tuesday, December 7. Each student will
cook and serve their “madeleine” dish. Participation in this event is required in
order to pass the class- students will vote on their favorite dishes and the winners
will receive extra points. Prep facilities and equipment will be made available to
dorm dwellers and others without kitchen access.
ANTH 193A: Anthropology of Food
Fall 2010
Learning Experiments
These entail doing some research or exploration on your own. You may choose three of the
experiments to pursue over the course of the semester. The order in which they are submitted is
up to you (due dates are 9/30, 10/21 and 12/02) so you might want to begin longer-term projects
early in the semester to give yourself time to complete them. The directions below are very
general and presume some prior ethnographic experience. Suggested methods are noted for each
experiment. We will work on some of these techniques in class over the course of the semester. I
am also happy to conduct brief one-on-one or group workshops and/or provide written
instructions for any of these methods- please just ask if you’d like to try something new.
You are strongly encouraged to use office hours to seek more detailed guidance for planning,
executing, and analyzing your research.
The results of each experiment will be reported in a 6-8 page (double spaced) essay, submitted
on Sakai and in hard copy. Ethnographic data (field notes, interviews, etc.) should be turned in
along with each essay. Essays should be well organized, thoughtful, and engage closely with at
least 3 class readings.
1)
Etiquette
Choose an eating or drinking technique from another culture which you are unfamiliar with (examples
might include sipping maté, eating with chopsticks/ hands/ tortillas/ injera, etc.). Observe the use of this
technique several times (direct observation) and then attempt to learn it (participant observation).
Investigate the explicit and implicit “dos and don’ts” associated with this technique. In what contexts are
they closely followed? More relaxed? Look for and note folk terms and concepts associated with the use of
this technique. Conduct an ethnographic interview with at least one informant to fill in gaps in your
knowledge and learn about the use and meaning of the technique from their point of view. Your paper
should describe your new-found knowledge of this technique and examine the underlying principles and
values that guide its use. The readings from Weeks 5, 6, and 8 are relevant.
2) Identity
Choose a food that is a traditional basic staple (matoke in Uganda) or a dish categorized as a “soul food”
which only cultural insiders are thought to appreciate (menudo in Mexico). Order and eat it in a
restaurant, paying close attention to ingredients, how it is served, how others eat it, and reactions of other
diners and servers to your consumption of the dish (direct observation). Ask an “insider” to teach you to
acquire the ingredients and cook it (participant observation). Note the variations in the homemade and
restaurant versions. Conduct an ethnographic interview with your key informant, focusing on the
attributes of a “proper” rendition of the dish. What makes the dish “authentic”? What marks some versions
as “inauthentic”? Talk with a few fellow “outsiders” about their perceptions of the food. Your paper should
explain the role this food (and its proper preparation and consumption) plays in the formation and
representation of cultural identity and examine how the boundaries of authenticity are marked. The
readings from Weeks 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12 are relevant.
3) Media, Health and Body Image
Choose a reality TV show that focuses on obesity as a health concern (Biggest Loser, Flab to Fab, Fat Actress,
Celebrity Fit Club, Honey We’re Killing the Kids, Losing it with Jillian, etc.) and watch at least five sequential
episodes. Take careful note of: language and visual symbols used to refer to “healthy” versus “unhealthy”
situations, lifestyles, persons, foods; contestants’ personal narratives in relation to these concepts;
trainers’/hosts’ narratives or statements regarding these concepts; how the show is marketed to audiences
(what does it promise to viewers?); how the narrative of each episode is constructed (visual
anthropology, narrative analysis, symbolic analysis). Next, watch the show with one or more regular
viewers. Take note of their comments and their verbal and nonverbal reactions to the show. What do they
respond to? How? (participant observation). Finally, conduct an ethnographic interview with one or
more of those viewers. Ask them to describe how they became interested in the show and what they relate
to or find compelling about it. What seems “real” to them? Not so “real”? If they use folk terms from the
show, how do they define them? Your paper should analyze how the show frames obesity as a health
concern (What is healthy? What kind of a problem is obesity? For whom? What does it mean to be obese?)
and how concerns regarding obesity are related to other cultural themes/concepts/values. The readings
from Weeks 2, 6, and 7 should be relevant, and you might also consider looking at Food and Culture Chs. 11,
12, 13, and 31.
4) Eating Situations
Select an occasion for eating and/or drinking that you consider to be unique to or characteristic of college
life. (An equivalent occasion for a professor might be a “working lunch.” For a Cajun housewife, “going
visiting” would be one such occasion.) Attend two or more such occasions as a participant observer.
Take note of when and where such occasions take place, who participates and what roles they play,
frequency/duration, what items are consumed (look for folk terms and categories!), and how. Note implicit
and explicit “do’s and don’ts.” Conduct ethnographic interviews with at least two participants who are
knowledgeable about such occasions. Have them describe what goes on in the eating situation you have
chosen. Take note of any folk terms or categories, and use the interviews to deepen your knowledge of the
underlying rules and principles of the situation. (To investigate an alcohol-related event you must be over
21. Participant observers in such situations should closely limit their own alcohol consumption to preserve
their ability to observe and take notes effectively.) Your paper should explain the cultural logic of the
eating situation and how it is related to the overall context of college life. The readings from Weeks 3, 5, 6,
9 and 12 should be helpful.
5) Working with Food
Select a food-related job (farmer, cook, server, factory worker, dishwasher, homemaker, butcher, etc.) and
research employment statistics and average salaries for this area (archival research). Visit a location
where you can observe people performing this job, and conduct direct observation for at least one hour.
Finally, conduct an oral history interview with someone who has performed this job for several years. Ask
them to describe their job, their experience working in it, and how they became a butcher (or whatever the
job is). What sort of training is involved? How did they find their current job? What are their working
hours? What do they do (look for folk terms!)?What makes a good butcher, etc? How does the work they
do affect the rest of their lives (schedule, income, place of residence, tastes, friends, etc.)? Your paper
should examine the most important aspects of the job from your informant’s point of view. The readings
from Weeks 8, 9, 11, and 12 should be helpful.
6) Food Policy
Using online and library sources (archival research), research the 2012 US Farm Bill. Find out the
legislative process involved in its creation, the impact of past Farm Bills, and the major interests involved.
Then, follow mainstream media and blog coverage of the upcoming Farm Bill, examining how two
differently positioned media outlets (NY Times vs. Kansas City Star or Sacramento Bee, Wall Street
Journal vs. The Nation, www.civileats.com vs. www.agbioworld.org, The Guardian vs. La Jornada, etc.)
produce a discourse around the Farm Bill. How are the key issues defined? What keywords/ concepts are
used frequently? How do they relate to one another (discourse analysis)? Your paper should identify the
worldviews underlying both discourses and examine how they relate both to the positions of the media
outlets (national vs. international, farmers vs. consumers, etc.) and to the overall context in which the
Farm Bill is negotiated. What is the significance of the US Farm Bill for the global food system? The
readings from Weeks 4 and 9-15 should be helpful.
7) Hunger Action
Using online and library sources (archival research), research a hunger-fighting organization or project.
Find out how, when, and why the organization was founded, its goals and target group, its philosophy and
(implicit or explicit) explanations for hunger, and its organizational structure. Next, research its funding
sources and spending patterns (How much is spent on overhead versus programs? How are funds
disbursed and to whom? What sorts of projects or programs are funded?). What kinds of impacts does the
organization claim to accomplish? Obtain and examine samples of the group’s promotional materials. How
is hunger represented? How is the group’s intervention represented (visual/text analysis)? Interview
someone who has worked with, donated to, or received help from the organization, and ask them to
describe their experience. Your paper should analyze how the organization frames hunger as a problem,
and how that framing informs the way the organization is run. What are the strengths and weaknesses of
the organization’s approach? The readings from Weeks 2, 9, 10 and 13-15 should be helpful.
8) Food Choices
Visit both the Saturday farmer’s market under the Crosstown Freeway and the Sunday Farmer’s Market at
either Trinity Parkway or behind Weberstown Mall(see www.stocktonfarmersmarket.org ). Give yourself
time to walk all around and survey the entire scene. Take careful notes of the layout of the space, the
shoppers, vendors, products, prices, and overall “feel” of the market (you may want to document using
photos- this counts both as direct observation and visual anthropology). Briefly interview at least 3
shoppers and one vendor at each location using a simple questionnaire. Find out how long the person has
been coming to the market and with what frequency, what attracts them to this particular market, and
what they typically buy or sell there. Find out if they also buy or sell food at other places. For vendors, ask
where the food is grown and by whom. Your paper should examine the similarities and differences
between these markets with regard to clientele, products, prices, layout, and “feel”. How are these factors
related to one another? What role do you think these markets play in the larger food system as experienced
by Stocktonians? The readings from Weeks 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, and 15 should be helpful.
9) Food Taboos
Choose a community of people who subscribe to a particular set of food taboos (vegan, vegetarian, kosher,
locavore, halal, low-carb/Atkins, raw diet, etc.). Using internet and library sources, research any formal
organizations or institutions associated with this community, and make note of how they frame the
purpose and principles of their food taboos (archival research). What constitutes “good” food versus
“bad” food or eating practices? How important are the ingredients themselves? How they are acquired? The
conditions under which they are produced? The context in which they are consumed? Conduct an oral
history interview with one member of this community regarding the significance of this food taboo for
them and the role it has played in their lives. Ask them to describe situations in which they have
encountered difficulty carrying out this taboo due to their surroundings. How did they cope? Conduct an
additional ethnographic interview with another member of the community. Ask them to describe their
daily food practices on a typical day as well as on important holidays. What factors influence their food
choices? With both interviews, note any folk terms or categories. Your paper should focus on the
relationship between the formal principles of the community and the experiences and practices of your
informants. The readings from Weeks 3 and 5-9 should be helpful.
10) Be Creative
Construct your own exercise. Check with me and have it approved by 9/09.