Have you heard the phrase, “you are what you eat?”  The consumption
and production of food is common to all peoples. Yet the ways that our
food is produced and consumed, and our choices of preferred food and
its preparation, are distinctive indicators of who we are, and our
relationships with the rest of the world.  By exploring dimensions of
food and culture, this course will explore questions and issues that
are central to sociocultural anthropology.  The course aims to provide
a window to the great diversity of world cultures as well as the
similarities that unite all humanity.  Central themes include  (1) the
meanings and importance of food as part of culture, identity, and
social status, (2) how changes in food production and consumption
relate to transformations in society, technology, and political
economy through time, (3) the ways in which food production systems
and consumer choices impact the environment and biodiversity, (4)
variations in  cultural conceptions of physical beauty with respect to
food availability and social organization, (5) how people deal with
potential threats to food quality, such as genetically modified
organisms (GMOs), (5) how individual lives and cultures are impacted
by unequal access to food and the means to produce it.  The class will
participate in exercises that explore what food means to us, the role
of food in special occasions (such as Thanksgiving and weddings), and
the implications of food choices for ourselves, our society, and the
planet.