Why is learning about the history of food important?

1. “Food is not just what we eat. It is an expression of who we are, how we live and the world we inhabit” Mark Kurlansky (2007).

“Cultural traits, social institutions, national histories, and individual attitudes cannot be entirely understood without an understanding also of how these have meshed with our varied and particular modes of eating” (Farb and Amelagos, 1980, p. 4).

Food is used to strengthen the bonds between individuals, families and communities.

If future historians want to look at what life was like in the early 21st century – the technological and information revolutions, the blessings and dangers of globalization, the challenges to the survival of the healthy planet – they would do well to look at our food” (Kurlansky, p. 43)

• Stories and recipes of pioneers and homesteaders

• Community cookbooks

Every Recipe is a Story• Colleen Cotter (1997) argues that recipes in cookbooks are stories and

cultural narratives:

• In analyzing recipes, Cotter looks at the linguistic components, and then examines versions of the same recipe from different cookbooks.

• The title of the recipe functions as the abstract, indicating in shorthand what lies ahead.

• The action is guided by imperative verbs (stir, mix, add, etc.).

• The orientation clauses inform the cook about the underlying aim of the recipe (such as low fat or suitability for a particular occasion).

• The evaluative clause includes the instructions given in addition to the imperative verbs. These instructional guide actions and provide the openings into social and historical contexts.

Deconstructing a Recipe

TITLE is the abstract or shorthand for what lies ahead

ACTION is guided by imperative verbs (stir, mix, add, etc.).

EVALUATIVE CLAUSES are the instructions that provide the openings into social and historical contexts. They combine the reader’s background and assumptions with the narrative of the recipe.

UNCONSCIOUS JUDGMENTS may thus be formed – about the cook, her community, and her place in the world (Cotter, p. 63)

References:

Cotter, C. (1997). Claiming a piece of the pie: How the language of recipes defines community. In A. Bower (Ed.). Recipes for reading: Community cookbooks, stories, histories (pp. 51-71). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

Farb, Peter & Armelagos, G. (1980). Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Eating. Boston: Houghton MifflinBloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Kurlansky, M. “The Food Chains That Link Us All,” Time[Canadian Edition], July 30–August 6, 2007, 41–43.

Lyall, V. (1980). Community Potpourri: Food and Culture. Athabasca, AB: Gregorach Printing Ltd.