The Anthropology of Food and Eating

Author(s): Sidney W. Mintz and Christine M. Du Bois

Source: Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 31 (2002), pp. 99-119
Published by: Annual Reviews
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 Annu. Rev. Anthropol.2002. 31:99-119
doi: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.032702.131011
Copyright? 2002 by AnnualReviews. All rightsreserved
Firstpublishedonline as a Review in Advance on May 10, 2002

OF FOOD AND EATING

THE ANTHROPOLOGY

SidneyW. Mintz' and ChristineM. Du Bois2

'AnthropologyDepartment,Emeritus,TheJohns Hopkins University,Baltimore,
Maryland21218; email: SWMintz@aol.com
2Departmentof lnternationalHealth, School of Hygiene and Public Health,
TheJohns Hopkins University,Baltimore,Maryland21205;
email: cmdubois@alumni.princeton.edu

Key Words commensality,meals,cooking,cuisine,food insecurity

0 Abstract The studyof food andeatinghas a longhistoryin anthropology, begin-
ningin thenineteenthcenturywithGarrickMalleryandWilliamRobertsonSmith.This
reviewnoteslandmarkstudiespriorto the 1980s,sketchingthehistoryof the subfield.
Weconcentrateprimarily,however,on workspublishedafter1984.Wecontendthatthe
studyof foodandeatingis important bothforits ownsakesincefoodis utterlyessential
to humanexistence(andoften insufficientlyavailable)and becausethe subfieldhas
provedvaluablefordebatingandadvancinganthropological theoryandresearchmeth-
ods. Foodstudieshaveilluminatedbroadsocietalprocessessuchas political-economic
value-creation,symbolicvalue-creation,andthe social constructionof memory.Such
studieshave also provedan importantarenafor debatingthe relativemeritsof cul-
turalandhistoricalmaterialismvs. structuralist or symbolicexplanationsfor human
behavior,andfor refiningourunderstanding of variationin informants'responsesto
ethnographicquestions.Seven subsectionsexamineclassic food ethnographies:sin-
gle commoditiesand substances;food and social change;food insecurity;eatingand
ritual;eating and identities;and instructionalmaterials.The richest,most extensive
anthropologicalwork amongthese subtopicshas focused on food insecurity,eating
and ritual,and eatingand identities.For topics whose anthropologicalcoveragehas
notbeenextensive(e.g.,book-lengthstudiesof singlecommodities,orworkson thein-
dustrializationof food systems),usefulpublicationsfromsisterdisciplines-primarily
sociologyandhistory-are discussed.

INTRODUCTION

Writingmore thantwenty years ago, ProfessorJosephEpsteintells us:

[T]enyearsago I shouldhave said thatany fuss aboutfood was too great,butI
grow olderandfood has become moreimportantto me. ... [J]udgingfromthe
space given to it in the media, the greatnumberof cookbooks and restaurant
guides publishedannually,the conversationsof friends-it is very nearlytopic
numberone. Restaurantstoday are talked about with the kind of excitement
that ten years ago was expended on movies. Kitchen technology-blenders,

0084-6570/02/1021-0099$14.00 99
100 MINTZN DU BOIS

grinders,vegetable steamers,microwaveovens, and the rest-arouses some-

thing akin to the interestonce reservedfor cars.... The time may be exactly
right to hit the best-seller lists with a killer who disposes of his victims in a
Cuisinart(Aristides 1978, pp. 157-58).
But whatProfessorEpsteinwas witnessing turnedout to be only the firstswallow,
so to speak. Since then, food has become even more importantto everybody,
anthropologistsincluded.
Of course anthropologistshave been interestedin food for a long time. Garrick
Mallery'spaper,"Mannersandmeals"(1888), appearedin Volume 1, No. 3, of the
AmericanAnthropologist.William RobertsonSmith's Lectures on the Religion
of the Semites (1889) contains an importantchapter on food. Frank Hamilton
Cushing'slittlemonographon Zufiibreadstuffs(1920) andFranzBoas's exhaustive
treatmentof Kwakiutlsalmon recipes (1921) are other examples of early work.
(Thoughthese last two seemed like mere fact collecting to some, Helen Codere's
paper on Boas's salmon recipes (1957) showed just how much could be learned
about social organizationand hierarchyby carefullyreadingabouthow to cook a
salmon.)
In a more recent era, ClaudeLMvi-Strauss (e.g., 1965) and, in his wake, Mary
Douglas (1966) made importantcontributionsto a structuralistvision of food and
eating. But JackGoody's book Cooking,Cuisine,and Class: A Studyin Compara-
tive Sociology (1982) seemed to marka turningpoint. Since then, as the worldthat
anthropologistschose to study became different, so has their work on food and
eating. The anthropologicalstudy of food todayhas maturedenough to serve as a
vehicle for examininglarge and variedproblemsof theory and researchmethods.
In theory building, food systems have been used to illuminatebroad societal
processessuchas political-economicvalue-creation(Mintz1985), symbolicvalue-
creation(Munn 1986), andthe social constructionof memory(Sutton2001). Food
studies have been a vital arena in which to debate the relative merits of cul-
tural materialismvs. structuralistor symbolic explanationsfor humanbehavior
(M. Harris 1998 [1985]; Simoons 1994, 1998; Gade 1999). In addition, food
avoidanceresearchhas continuedto refinetheoriesaboutthe relationshipbetween
culturaland biological evolution (Aunger 1994b).
Examinationsof the relationshipsbetween food supplies and seasonal rituals
of conflict (Dirks 1988), food suppliesand the frequencyof war (Ember& Ember
1994), and food resourceperiodicityand cooperativeness(Poggie 1995)-while
by no means devoid of methodological problems-suggest the utility of the
HumanRelationsArea Files for comparativecross-culturalresearch.The reasons
for intraculturalvariationin informants'responses,andtheirimplicationsfor data
interpretation,have been examinedwith referenceboth to hot-cold classifications
of foods (Boster & Weller 1990) and to food avoidances (Aunger 1994a). Food
systems have also been used to examinetensionsbetweenelicited taxonomiesand
the categoriespeople use in everydaylife (Nichter 1986, Wassmann1993).
Our work here had to take into account nearly two decades of researchsince
Messer'sARAreview (1984). Seriouscoverageof the whole field was impractical.
 FOODANDEATING 101

We decided to use just seven headings to define our scope. This coverage omits
many worthy sources, even within those headings: classic food ethnographies;
single commoditiesandsubstances;food andsocial change;food insecurity;eating
and ritual;eating and identities; and instructionalmaterials.We had to neglect
closely related topics, such as food in prehistory;biological aspects of eating
(nutritionalanthropologyand food in medical anthropology);infant feeding and
weaning (see VanEsterikin this volume); cannibalism(on kuru,see Lindenbaum
2001); and substancescausing majorpsychoactivechanges.
Except in our food insecurity section, we set aside works dealing only with
food productionand not with its consumption.On the one hand, the literatureon
agriculturein developing countriesis extensive and requiresseparatereview; on
the other,the social science of food productionin industrializedcontexts is scant
(Murcott 1999a). Our focus on works that postdate Messer's review of similar
themes heavily favors anthropology,but unity of theme matteredmore in some
instancesthandid disciplinaryboundaries.
In additionto the specific sources discussed below, scholarsbenefit from gen-
eral referenceworks includingtheoreticalanalyses of social scientific approaches
to eating (Murcott 1988, Wood 1995), literaturereviews (Messer 1984), compi-
lations of syllabi and bibliographies(Lieberman& Sorensen 1997; Dirks 2002),
encyclopedias of food (Davidson 1999, Katz 2002, Kiple & Ornelas2000), and
generalhistoriesof food habits(e.g., Toussaint-Samat1992, Flandrin& Montanari
1999; for surveys of the historicalliteratureon specific Europeancountries, see
Teuteberg1992). Journalsorientedto the social life of food include: Gastronom-
ica, PetitsPropos Culinaires,Food & Foodways,andDigest: An Interdisciplinary
Studyof Food and Foodways;they arecomplementedby numerousjournalsin the
subfieldof nutritionalanthropology(see Messer 1984, p. 207 for a partiallisting).
Internetsources on agricultureand food (e.g., AgriculturalNetwork Information
Center2000, U.N. Food and AgricultureOrganization2001, U.S. Departmentof
Agriculture2001), which often yield farmoreinformationthanfirstmeets the eye,
offer statisticaldata,details of policies and programs,bibliographies,and links to
otherwebsites. Among relevantconferences,the OxfordSymposiapublishuseful
proceedings(see R. Harris1996).

CLASSICETHNOGRAPHIES

Comprehensive,anthropologicalmonographson food systemsarelamentablyrare.

Audrey Richards's(1939) Land, Labourand Diet in NorthernRhodesia still re-
mains the model for the field; she and an interdisciplinaryteam examined food
production,preparation,exchange,preferences,symbolism,consumption,andnu-
tritionalconsequences.Moore & Vaughanhave restudiedfood systems in the re-
gion where Richardsworked (1994), combining history with ethnographyin an
analysis that is both broadand richly detailed-a worthy successor to Richards's
work.Takenas a pair,Ikpe'shistoryof food systemsin Nigeria(1994) andAnigbo's
ethnographyof commensality among the Igbo (1987) provide similar breadth.
102 MINTZE DU BOIS

Trankell'sculinaryethnographyof the Thai Yong of Thailand(1995) lacks histor-

ical depth,yet still combinesexaminationof food production,local categorization,
preparation,genderdynamics,consumptionpatterns,and rituals.
More specificallyfocused ethnographiesinclude:Weismantel'sexaminationof
genderandpolitical economy as expressedthroughfood in the EcuadorianAndes
(1988); Kahn's analysis of food, gender identities, and social values in Papua
New Guinea (1986); Whitehead's study of gender hierarchyand food sharing
rules, also in PapuaNew Guinea (2000); Mahias's work on culinarybeliefs and
practicesamongthe Jainsof Delhi (1985); Kanafani'sfinely texturedstudy of the
visual, olfactory, and gustatoryaesthetics of food preparationand consumption
in the United Arab Emirates (1983); and Sutton's extended meditationon how
culinarymemories help define the identities and social lives of Greeks living on
the island of Kalymnos(2001).
These monographsare complementedby severalcollections of essays dealing
with foodways in specific regions:Peru (Weston 1992), the United States (Brown
& Mussell 1984, Humphrey& Humphrey 1988), Africa (Devisch et al. 1995;
Fromentet al. 1996), the Middle East (Zubaida& Tapper1994), Britain(Murcott
1983, 1998), South Asia (Khare & Rao 1986), Oceania and Southeast Asia
(Manderson1986), and Oceania alone (Kahn & Sexton 1988, N. Pollock 1992).
All except Pollock's book on Oceania are anthologies;all cover multiple topics,
includingfood in regionalhistory;food preparation,taboos,andpreferences;food
and identities;and culinarysymbolism.
Scatteredamong a wide variety of social-scientificjournals and anthologies
dealing primarilywith issues other than food are many valuable ethnographic
essays on food systems; we cannot begin to mention them all. We should note,
however, the debates among those who study hunter-gatherersover optimal for-
aging theory,a behavioral-ecologicalmodel which posits that people adopt food
strategiesmaximizingtheir caloric intakeper unit of time, with the caloric costs
of those food strategiestakeninto account.The theoryitself has been propounded
(Kaplan& Hill 1985) and contested (Thomas 1992), as have its implicationsfor
the study of hunters'motivationsfor food-sharing(Hawkes 1991, Bliege Bird &
Bird 1997, Wood & Hill 2000).
In-depth studies of food systems remind us of the pervasive role of food in
human life. Next to breathing,eating is perhapsthe most essential of all human
activities, and one with which much of social life is entwined. It is hoped that
more anthropologistswill accordfood the centralplace in theirethnographiesthat
it occupies in humanexistence.

SINGLECOMMODITIESAND SUBSTANCES

Anthropologistshave been writingpapersaboutsingle substances-food sources,

plants, animals, and foods made from them-for a long time. Probablythe first
substantialwork in English devotedto a single such theme was R. N. Salaman's
Historyand Social Influenceof the Potato (1949). His book dealt with the potato's
 FOODANDEATING 103

origins, domestication,worldwide diffusion, and political fate in Europeanlife.

Since that time many other such books have appeared-on drugs hard and soft,
sugar,rhubarb,salt, codfish, capsicums,etc. Many arehistories, generalor botan-
ical, otherseconomic; it is strikingthat so few are by anthropologists.
Such works generally incline towardtreatingthe subject mostly in terms of
itself; using it to illuminatebroaderprocesses;or developingthe theme in specific
relationto cuisine. Smithon the tomato(1994), Willardon saffron(2001), Jenkins
on bananas(2000), and Kurlanskyon salt (2002) focus principallyon their sub-
ject; all make use of history.Anthropologistssuch as Warmanon maize (1988),
Ohnuki-Tierneyon rice (1993), and Mintz on sucrose (1985) are historicalin ori-
entationbut try to relate each subject to wider fields of explanation.Two books
by anthropologistson a food animal,the guineapig (Morales 1995, Archetti1997
[1992]), are quite similar in content. Though perhapsless detailed ethnograph-
ically, Archetti's is theoreticallyricher.Both authorstake globalization and the
worldmarketinto account;bothnote the spreadof the cuy as a food sourceoutside
the Andes; both treatthe guinea pig as a device throughwhich to discuss cultural
and social change. Long-Solis's (1986) study of capsicumin Mexico comes early
in the succession of such studies. Rare enough to merit mention is Malag6n's
edited volume on marzipan(1990), which includes anthropologicalcontributions.
S. Coe & M. Coe's study of chocolate (1996) successfully combines archaeology
and ethnography.
The Quincentenarystimulated much interest in foods that travel. Viola &
Margolis(1991), Foster& Cordell(1992), and Long (1996), amongmany others,
producedrich collections on food and diffusion that included work by many an-
thropologists.The late Sophie Coe's fine book on New Worldcuisine (1994) also
standsout. Thoughnot linkedto 1492, the volume editedby Plotnicov & Scaglion
(1999) contains, among others, papers on New World capsicums, cassava, the
potato and tomato,and sweet potatoes,as well as sugarand coffee, and it stresses
plant diffusion.
Fiddes's (1991) approachto meat reopeneda subjectthat had previouslyheld
the attentionof Sahlins (1976), Ross (1980), and M. Harris(1998 [1985]), among
others. Orlove (1997) eloquently addressesthe issue of universalvs. contingent
meanings for meat by looking at a food riot.
Anthropologicalarticleson single substancesare so copious thatonly a few can
be noted here. Messer's nuanced study of potato use in Europe(1997) considers
obstacles to and benefits of the spreadand assimilationof new food items. Gade,
a geographer,raises useful questions with his study of broad beans in Quebec
(1994) about how foods gain a foothold in specific settings. Y. Lockwood &
W. Lockwood (2000a) considerFinnish-Americandairyfoods in an Oxfordfood
symposium dedicated entirely to milk; Bestor (1999, 2001) reveals the links of
Tokyo's wholesale tunamarketto the world outside.
Murcott (1999b) argues for a redefinitionof the social constructionof food
by looking at the history of milk and poultryregulation/definitionin the United
Kingdom. Gade's examination (1999) of the absence of milking in the Andes
104 MINTTZ DU BOIS

recalls Simoons's treatmentof the fava bean and favism (1998)--cases of foods
people eat sparingly,with unease, or not at all. Somewhatdifferentis McIntosh
(2000), who links a temporarydecline in U.S. egg consumptionto a food scare.
Takinga longerhistoricalview, Brandes(1992) looks at maize avoidanceandfear
of pellagrain Europe,while Leach (2001) explains how a good herb can acquire
a bad reputation.Neither"taboo"nor "prohibition"covers these papers;each is a
differentview of the perceptionof food.

FOOD AND SOCIALCHANGE

The effects of broad societal changes on eating patterns,and vice versa, are of
growing interestto ethnographers.In-depthfood ethnographiesthat include dis-
cussion of social changearecoveredin our"ClassicEthnographies"section above.
In addition, the relevant literatureincludes both general collections of essays
(Harris & Ross 1987, Pelto & Vargas 1992, Macbeth 1997, Lentz 1999, Wu &
Tan 2001, Cwiertka& Walraven2002) and otherresearchexploringthe culinary
effects of the Soviet collapse; other changes in intergrouprelations within soci-
eties; mass productionof foods; biotechnology;movementsof peoples;increasing
globalizationof foods themselves;and war.These themes are dealt with in turn.
Ethnographicliteratureon post-Sovietdietarypatternsis limitedbutpromising.
(aglar addresseschanges in the marketingof Turkishfast-food in Germanyafter
the fall of the BerlinWall (Caglar1999), whereasZikerdiscusses food sharingand
the moralcode of aboriginalpeoples in post-SovietSiberia(Ziker 1998). Chatwin
explores extensively the transformationof foodways in the Republic of Georgia,
detailing the social, political, and economic context (Chatwin1997).
Otherfood shiftsareassociatedwith a varietyof economicandpoliticalchanges,
such as male out-migration,interclassrivalryand imitation,and marketintegra-
tion. Lentz'seditedcollection of essays exploresseveralsuchthemes(Lentz 1999).
Mayer similarly delineates how changing caste relations are reflected in Indian
village foodways (Mayer 1996). Jing's edited volume explores how government
policies and social transformationsin Chinahave affecteddietaryhabits,particu-
larlyof children(2000). Historians,too, haveexaminedhow broadsocial processes
have led to culinarychange(Mennell 1985, Levenstein1993), andconversely,how
food processing problems, such as massive, naturalfood poisonings (Matossian
1989), may have fosteredsocial change.
Anthropologicalworkon how the industrializationof food productionanddis-
tributionhas affecteddietarypatternsis scant.Mintz pioneeredin this areawith a
historical study of sugarproductionand consumption(Mintz 1985). Anthropolo-
gists have also exploredthe interplaybetween the requirementsof capitalistsand
consumersin Trinidad'ssweet drinkindustry(D. Miller 1997) and the reactionto
industrializedconsumptionpatternsamongadherentsof Italy's"slowfood"move-
ment (Leitch 2000). Historians,ruralsociologists, and communicationstheorists
have also taken up the challenge of studying dietary patternsunder industrial-
ized capitalism,examiningthe relationshipbetween food industriesand the U.S.
 FOODANDEATING 105

counterculture(Belasco 1989), contestation in the organic foods movement

(Campbell& Liepins2001), food industriesandtheincorporationof ethniccuisines
(Belasco 1987), the refinementof packagingto entice consumption(Hine 1995),
the role of modem advertisingand marketingin dietarychange (Cwiertka2000),
andthe "madcow" crisis (Ratzan1998; for an anthropologicalreview of literature
on this crisis, see Lindenbaum2001).
The interactionsamong the technologies of food productionand processing,
the physical characteristicsof new foods, and consumerresponses to new foods
are criticaldeterminantsof dietarychange, as Leach illustrateswith historicalex-
amples (Leach 1999). In the contemporaryperiod,capitalizedagriculturehas pro-
duced genetically engineeredfoods, provokingconsumerreactions-particularly
in Europe-that sorely merit further social-scientific examination (Murcott
1999a, 2001). For histories of agriculturalbiotechnology's social contexts, see
Kloppenburg1988 and Purdue2000; for contrastingperspectiveson the global-
ization of such technology, see Levidow 2001 and Buctuanon2001.
Anthropologists have more commonly recognized peoples on the move-
migrants,refugees, and colonizers-as agentsof dietarychange.Thus,Lockwood
& Lockwoodexplorechangesin the foodways of Detroit'sArabcommunity,where
not only the foods of the larger society, but also the cuisines of differentethnic
groupswithinthe communityhaveinspireddietaryshifts (Lockwood& Lockwood
2000b). By contrast,Goody's examinationof Chinese migrantfood focuses not
on theirdiets, but ratheron theirinfluenceson diets in the countriesto which they
move (Goody 1998; see also Caglar 1999). Wilk examines the complex culinary
reactions of Belizeans to colonialism, class differentiation,and modernity(Wilk
1999). Tacklingcolonialism from a differentangle, Dennett & Connell and their
commentatorshave stirredup debateover the effects of acculturationon the diets
of aboriginalpeoples (Dennett& Connell 1988).
Not only do peoples move acrossthe globe, so also do foods (see D. Miller 1997,
Long 1996, and our section "Single Commoditiesand Substances"above). Sobal
provides a useful review of the globalization of food productionand transport,
drawingon the workof sociologists, politicaleconomists,demographers,andother
theorists (Sobal 1999; see also McMichael 1995). Focusing by contraston con-
sumption,Tamexplainshow the eclectic, internationaleating style of the residents
of Hong Konghelps themconstructtheirparadoxicallylocal identities(Tam2001).
Also studyingAsia, Watsonhas produceda fine edited volume about the varied
reactionsto McDonald'sof consumersin five differentsocieties (Watson1997).
Finally,the role of warin dietarychangemustnot be overlooked.The following
section notes the relationshipbetween war and food insecurity.Waras an agent
of dietarychange has also been researchedby anthropologistsVargas(with physi-
cian Casillas) (1992), Mintz (1996), and Du Bois (2001), and by food historians
Cwiertka(2002), Bentley (1998), Tanner(1999), and Ikpe (1994), among others.
In general, however,we argue that the role of war-and the roles of many kinds
of social changes-has been relativelyneglected in food studies. These are areas
ripe for research.
106 MINTZ0 DU BOIS

FOOD INSECURITY

JohanPottierarguesthatanthropologyis threatenednot by "a crisis of representa-

tion, but by a problemof relevance"(1999, p. 7; emphasis in original). Anthro-
pologists can move beyond sometimes sterile metatheoreticaldebates either by
contributingculturalunderstandingto nutritionalinterventions(e.g., Corteset al.
2001) or by addressingthe aching, urgentproblem of food insecurity (or both).
Those interestedin worldhungerwill findarea-studiesjournalsuseful, along with
the IDS Bulletin, WorldDevelopment,Developmentand Change, the Journal of
Peasant Studies,Food Policy, andDisasters, among many others.
Pottierhas writtena masterful,extendedreview of anthropologicalworkon the
problemof food insecurity(1999). He focuses on the social backgroundsbehind
food insecurity and the projectsmeant to alleviate it, richly exploring such var-
ied topics as intrahouseholdallocation of resources,gender inequality,peasants'
risk management,effects of the Green Revolution,ruralclass polarization,local
agriculturalknowledgeandmeanings,constraintson small food marketers,loss of
genetic diversity,and effective famine intervention.Pottierrepeatedlyquestions
conventionalwisdom, suggestingavenuesfor detailedresearchin specific locales:
Are intrahouseholdallocations actually skewed?Is gender-separatedfarmingal-
ways in the best interestsof women? To what extent have capitalisticrelationsof
agricultureevolved? Has the introductionof modern,scientific crops actuallyre-
duced genetic diversity?When shouldlocal famine-reliefinitiativesbe prioritized
over state initiatives?And so on.
Pottier's book is complementedby developmentanalyst Stephen Devereux's
Theoriesof Famine(1993), which exploresboth the weaknessesandcontributions
of severalmajortheoriesaboutthe causes of famine (see also de Waal 1989, which
offers an ethnographiccritiqueof standardWesterndefinitionsof famine).
Studies dealing with malnutritionamong older childrenand adults (for young
children'snutritionalissues, see Van Esterikin this volume) identify a variety of
reasonsfor food insecurity.Scheper-Hughes'swrenchingethnographyof hungerin
northeastBrazil lays the blame squarelyon political-economicinequality(1992).
Othersources explore powerfullinks between hungerand war, or ethnic conflict
(e.g., Macrae& Zwi 1994, Chatwin 1997, Messer et al. 1998, Ogden 2000, Ikpe
1994), noting that "at the close of the 20th century,greatly enhanced capacity
to anticipateand addressnaturaldisastersmeans that serious [acute, mass] food
emergencies are almost always due to violent conflict and other humanactions"
(Pinstrup-Anderson, quotedin Messeret al. 1998, p. v). Still otherstudiesfindthat
infectious epidemics can lead to food insecuritybecause the most economically
active individuals fall ill and networks of social exchange break down (Mtika
2001)---or the converse,that severe food shortagescan lead to overcrowdingand
unsanitaryconditions, exposing vast numbersto death from infectious diseases
(de Waal 1989).
Many anthropologicalworks on food insecurityfocus on Africa. Shiptonpro-
vides a valuablereview for the pre-1990literature(Shipton1990). Notable studies
 FOODANDEATING 107

have examined the difficulties in feeding African cities (Guyer 1987), African
food systems in times of crisis (ecological and land tenure problems, coping
mechanisms,and strategiesfor increasingfood security-Huss-Ashmore & Katz
1989/1990), the effects of economic structuraladjustmentprogramson African
women farmers(Gladwin 1991; see also Ikpe 1994), and the value of symbolic
analyses in understandingthe dynamics of food insecurity(Devisch et al. 1995).
Studies examiningfood insecurityand disease in Africa have alreadybeen noted
(de Waal 1989, Mtika2001).
More general collections of essays, covering not only Africa but also other
regions,likewise addressnumeroustopics, includingfood policy anddevelopment
strategies(McMillan& Harlow1991), indigenousresponsesto fluctuationsin food
supplies (including case studies in Afghanistan--de Garine & Harrison 1988),
and the relationshipsof women farmersto agriculturalcommercialization(Spring
2000). Nutritionalanthropologistshave undertakenresearchon food insecurityin
the United States (see Himmelgreenet al. 2000). Literatureon the hotly debated
issue of whether and when food is unequally distributedwithin households in
South Asia (to the detrimentof females) is ably reviewedby B. Miller (1997).

EATINGAND RITUAL

Ethnographershave found multiple entry points for the study of how humans
connect food to rituals,symbols, and belief systems. Food is used to commenton
the sacredand to reenactveneratedstories (e.g., see the francophoneresearchon
Islamicritualsacrifice-Brisebarre 1998, Bonteet al. 1999, Kanafani-Zahar1999).
In consecratedcontexts,food "binds"people to theirfaithsthrough"powerfullinks
betweenfood andmemory"(Feeley-Harnik1995;see Sutton2001). Sometimesthe
food itself is sacredthroughits associationwith supernaturalbeings andprocesses
(Bloch 1985, Feeley-Harnik1994); the researchon Hinduismis particularlyrich
in this regard(Singer 1984, Khare 1992, Toomey 1994).
Not only do ritualmeals connect participantsto invisible beings (e.g., Brown
1995), but they also performcriticalsocial functions.Eatingin ritualcontexts can
reaffirmor transformrelationshipswith visible others(Munn 1986, Murphy1986,
Buitelaar 1993, Feeley-Harnik1994, Brown 1995)--even when participantsin a
ritualmeal bringvery differentreligiousunderstandingsto the event (Beatty 1999).
Rituals and beliefs surroundingfood can also powerfullyreinforcereligious and
ethnic boundaries(see, e.g., Mahias 1985, Bahloul 1989, Fabre-Vassas1997).
Among the fundamentalquestionsscholarscan ask in this areaarehow human
beliefs and rituals delineate what counts as food, and conversely, how humans
use food in delineatingwhat counts as ritualor properbelief. Addressingthe first
question, geographerFrederickSimoons has producedextensive studies of food
taboos (1994, 1998). Simoons argues(againstculturalmaterialistinterpretations,
such as M. Harris1987, Katz 1987) thatbelief systems and their attendantrituals
arethe causalfactorsbehindfood taboos.Forexample,he conteststhe view of Katz
(1987) and others that the ban againstfava bean consumptionamong the ancient
108 MINTZ0 DU BOIS

followers of Pythagorascan appropriatelybe invoked to supporta "biocultural

evolutionary"theory (Katz 1987, p. 134) of food choice. Rather than evolving
as a response to any medical dangers of fava bean consumption,according to
Simoons the ban on favabeans sprangfrom "powerfulmagico-religiousmotives"
(1998, p. 215). In a related vein, Vialles's structuralistethnographyof French
slaughterhouses(1994) examines how ritualand beliefs work to transformtaboo
items (carcasses)into food (meat) (see also Whitehead2000 for a cogent social-
relationsinterpretationof taboos).
The second question-how people use the act of eating as a vehicle for ritual-
includes the study of food etiquette (Cooper 1986) and how such etiquette is
implementedto expressandcreatespirituality.J. Anderson'sstudyof the religious
dimensions of the Japanesetea ceremony (1991), and Curran'sstudy of bodily
discipline in the food ritualsof Americannuns (1989) exemplify this approach.
The invocationof deeply held values and beliefs throughritualfoods has been
analyzed in a variety of settings. Feeley-Harnikdetails the profound-and in
its era, shocking-transformation of biblical symbolism among early Israelite
Christians,particularlyin the celebrationof the Eucharist(1994). Brandesexam-
ines the relationshipbetween sugarand Mexican ritualsfor the Day of the Dead,
questioningthe extent of these rituals'historicalcontinuitieswith Aztec practices
(1997). By contrast,WeismantelarguesthatAndeanIndianpracticesof eating and
drinkingduringreligious fiestas do have indigenousroots, reflectingInca beliefs
about feasting as a way of nourishingthe dead (1991; on food continuities and
theirtransformations,see also Bahloul 1989, Khan 1994).
Ironically,the relationshipbetween eating and the sacredalso providesfodder
for carnivalesque,ritualizedanti-ritual.Kugelmass'sessay on an ethnicallyJewish
restaurantin ManhattanthatintentionallysubvertstheJewishdietarylaws, to comic
effect, offers a fascinatingexample of such a process (1990).
The humorin the restaurantKugelmassdescribesdepends on a rich symbolic
contexteven as it pokes fun at it. But one can arguethatsometimesfood ritualsare
not ladenwith symbolicmeaning.Charsleycontendsthatto his Britishinformants,
wedding cakes symbolize little more than weddings themselves (1992). He adds
thatwhat little evolutiontherehas been in the meaningof the cake has been driven
by technicalchanges in the cake's materiality.
Less extreme materialistshave posited that primaryfunctions of food rituals
are material, even as symbolism surroundingthem abounds. Following in the
footsteps of Rappaport,more recent works have examinedritualas a mechanism
for maintainingecological balancein local environmentsand/orfor redistributing
food (M. Harris 1987, Voss 1987). Similarly,many scholarspoint out that food
rituals and taboos that practitionersunderstandat least partly in symbolic terms
often serve either to reinforce (Tapper& Tapper1986, M. Harris 1987, Aunger
1994b, Fabre-Vassas1997, Whitehead2000) or to question (Lindenbaum1986)
hierarchicalpower relations or access to materialgoods. Rituals and taboos can
also create divisions of labor and economic niches-sometimes even to the ben-
efit of groupsdespised because of theircontaminationwith "polluted"foodstuffs
(M. Harris1987). In all such analyses,symbolismsurroundingfood is evaluatedas
 FOODANDEATING 109

fundamentallyin the service of ecological, nutritive,or political-economicends.

Such approachescan contrastwith the view that meaning is a powerful human
need in and of itself (Giobellina Brumana1988)-an importanceit shares with
food, with which it is constantlyintertwined.

EATINGAND IDENTITIES

Like all culturallydefined materialsubstancesused in the creation and mainte-

nance of social relationships,food serves both to solidify groupmembershipand
to set groups apart.The works noted here deal with how food functions in social
allocation, in terms of ethnicity,race, nationality,class, and (less precisely) indi-
viduality and gender.Caplan(1997, pp. 1-31) offers a useful introductionto this
broadtheme.
Ethnicityis bornof acknowledgeddifferenceandworksthroughcontrast.Hence
an ethnic cuisine is associated with a geographicallyand/orhistorically defined
eating community (e.g., Lockwood & Lockwood 2000a). But ethnicity,like na-
tionhood,is also imagined(Murcott1996)-and associatedcuisines may be imag-
ined, too. Once imagined, such cuisines provide added concreteness to the idea
of national or ethnic identity.Talkingand writing about ethnic or national food
can then add to a cuisine's conceptual solidity and coherence. Thus, Ferguson
(1998) uses Bourdieu's"culturalfield"to claimthatdiscoursereallydefinedFrench
cuisine. This argumentfits well, as does Cwiertka's"metacuisine"(1999), with
Trubek'sstudy (2000) of how Frenchcuisine was created,and it brings to mind
Appadurai'sclassic paper(1988) on how to createa nationalcuisine;Pilcher(1998)
providesa fine example of how it happens.
Genderdoes not differfromthese otherdevices of social allocation:its relation-
ship to food and eating is at least as real as food's relationshipto the construction
of nationhood,ethnicity,andrace. Complicatingthese otherdistinctionsis the part
played by class or social position. Weismantel(1989) provides an excellent case
in which nationality,ethnicity,class, and gender all intermeshin food habits.
James (1994) counterposeslocal identityto globalization,suggesting how the
globalmay actuallyreestablishthe local, ratherthansupplantit. Tuchman& Levine
(1993) analyzethe urbanU.S. Jewishlove affairwith Chinesefood, throwinglight
on both groups.Two rarelittle volumes on Vietnamesefood and identity (Poulain
1997, Vol. I & II) provide a brief overview of thatnationalcuisine. Kwon & Lee
(1995) do a bit of the same for Korea.Finally,Noguchi (1994), Allison (1991), and
Fieldhouse(1995, pp. 215-33) togetherprovidea nice exampleof how lunch-and
lunch boxes--can become partof nationalidentity.
So swiftly has the literatureon food and gender grown that it could properly
meritan articleof its own. Relevantworkpublishedsince 1984 touches on intrafa-
milial food allocation,familial division of labor,obesity, ethnicity,fasting, sexual
identity, and many other subjects. The Counihan-Kaplananthology (1998) pro-
vides an introductionto gender as a basis of social allocationin foodways. Kahn
(1986) madea valuableearlycontributionto ourunderstandingof institutionalized
genderdifferencesandtheirconnectionsto food (see also Munn 1986, Whitehead
110 MINTZN DU BOIS

2000); Counihan'scollected papers(1999) are also useful. Julier'sview thatfood

and gender is a subjecttackled primarilyby female authors(Julier 1999) is con-
vincing. Van Esterik(1999) discusses gender and the right to food; McIntosh&
Zey (1989) discuss woman'srole as gatekeeper.D. Pollock (1985), Jansen(1997),
and Flynn (1999) providethree contrastivecases of the relationof food to sexual
identity.

INSTRUCTIONALMATERIALS

The torrentof new courseson the anthropologyof food has been accompaniedby a
flood of books, syllabi, andfilms aboutfood. We can documentonly some of those
resources, beginning with works dealing with the foods of one (very populous)
society thathas been betterresearchedthanmost others.
When the late K.C. Chang edited the volume Food in China (1977), it was a
trend-settingachievementin two ways:a seriousanalyticalandhistoricalcollection
on Chinese cuisine by scholars,the first of its kind in English; and a joint effort,
which helped to establish a precedentin food studies. Soon more Chinese food
books, as opposed to cook books, appeared,by anthropologistEugene Anderson
(1988) and geographerFrederickSimoons (1991). Additionalrecent collections
relevantto the study of Asian cuisine include: Jun Jing's Feeding China's Little
Emperors(2000), David Wu & TanChee-beng'sChangingChineseFoodwaysin
Asia (2001), and KatarzynaCwiertka& BoudewijnWalraven'sAsian Food: The
Global and the Local (2002). A course on Chinese cuisine could make good use
of these sources.
The multiplicationof food anthologieswithouta regionalfocus is striking.In-
cluded are sociologist Anne Murcott'sThe Sociology of Food and Eating (1983);
BarbaraHarriss-White& Sir Raymond Hoffenberg'sFood (1994); and Arien
Mack's Food: Nature and Culture (1998). Volumes by anthropologistsinclude
Carola Lentz's Changing Food Habits (1999); Harris & Ross's (1987) rich
anthology-24 contributionson food and evolution;Carole Counihan& Steven
Kaplan'sFood and Gender(1998); LeonardPlotnicov & RichardScaglion's Con-
sequences of CultivarDiffusion (1999); and Marie-ClaireBataille-Benguigui&
Frangoise Cousin's Cuisines: reflet des societes (1996). Helen Macbeth'sFood
Preferencesand Taste(1997) andMartinSchaffner'sBrot,breiundwas dazugehort
(1992) aretwo othernonanthropologicalanthologies,the firstmostly sociological,
the second mostly historical;both containsome contributionsby anthropologists.
The same is trueof Wiessner& Schiefenh6vel'sFood and the StatusQuest(1996)
andHladiket al.'s TropicalForests,People and Food (1993); bothcontainsocially,
culturally,and biologically orientedessays.
We askeda studentof anthropologyto examinetheplace of food in anthropology
textbooksfromthe 1920s to the 1990s. Her findingssuggest thatfood hadbecome
a much more concrete and importantsubject by the late 1950s. In post-1955
texts, one or more chaptersmight be devotedto food, especially food production,
often in connectionwith subsistencelevels, and some slanttowardan evolutionary
 FOODANDEATING 111

treatmentof society. By the 1980s, however, textbooks on the anthropologyof

food as such begin to appear(Farb& Armelagos 1980, MacClancy 1992). The
textbookby Bryantet al. (1985) links nutritionand anthropologyclosely, as does
the anthology edited by Sharmanet al. (1991). The readersby Counihan& van
Esterik (1997) and by Goodmanet al. (2000) are entitled Food and Culture,and
NutritionalAnthropology;theircontentsoverlap.
Lieberman& Sorensen(1997) haveeditedan invaluablecollection of syllabifor
courses in nutritionalanthropology,includinga list of useful films, now available
in PDF formatfromthe Councilon NutritionalAnthropologyof the AmericanAn-
thropologicalAssociation. The welter of food-relatedmaterialsprovidesprospec-
tive course plannerswith ample material,but the courses themselves appearto be
more clearly organizedwithin nutritionalanthropologythanotherwise.
It appears,though,thatsociologists have done even more thananthropologists.
Among the manytextbookson the sociology of food, we shouldmentionMennell
et al. (1992), Fieldhouse(1995), Whit (1995), McIntosh(1996), Fine et al. (1996),
and Beardsworth& Keil (1997). It seems likely thatthere will be more textbooks
and readersyet to come.

CONCLUDINGREMARKS

The staggering increase in the scale of food literature-inside and outside

anthropology-makes bibliographic coverage challenging, a challenge com-
poundedby the close intertwiningof food andeating with so many othersubjects.
We posit that three major trends this last quartercentury or so have influenced
this growth: globalization;the general affluence of Western societies and their
growing cosmopolitanism;and the inclusivist tendencies of U.S. society, which
spurs even disciplines (and professions, such as journalism and business) with-
out anthropology'sstronginclusivist ethic to considercross-culturalvariationsin
foodways. A vast literatureon food and globalizationhas appeared.Philosophers
ponderwhetherthey are exploiting the ThirdWorldby eating its foods. Culinary
competencein the West declines at almost the same rate as discriminationin taste
rises. Social scientists have examinedthe eating habits of Westernersin terms of
ethnic group, region, religion, and much else-though relatively little, it seems,
in terms of class (but see Roseberry 1996). Much remainsto be done in explor-
ing foodways in other areas of the world. In this setting, anthropologistsare in a
good position to make useful contributionsto the developmentof policy in regard
to health and nutrition,food inspection, the relationof food to specific cultures,
world hunger,and other subjects. By and large, though, they have not taken full
advantageof this opportunity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Althoughwe are quite appreciative,we areunableto thankhere all the colleagues

who sent us suggestions, vitas, syllabi, and copies of their work. We do wish,
however,to thanktwo students:Amy Delamaideand Jomo Smith.
112 MINTZ 0 DU BOIS

The Annual Review of Anthropology is online at http://anthro.annualreviews.org

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