The Handbook of Food Research

Description

The last 20 years have seen a burgeoning of social scientific and historical research on food. The field has drawn in experts to investigate topics such as: the way globalisation affects the food supply; what cookery books can (and cannot) tell us; changing understandings of famine; the social meanings of meals - and many more. Now sufficiently extensive to require a critical overview, this is the first handbook of specially commissioned essays to provide a tour d'horizon of this broad range of topics and disciplines. The editors have enlisted eminent researchers across the social sciences to illustrate the debates, concepts and analytic approaches of this widely diverse and dynamic field. This volume will be essential reading, a ready-to-hand reference book surveying the state of the art for anyone involved in, and actively concerned about research on the social, political, economic, psychological, geographic and historical aspects of food. It will cater for all who need to be informed of research that has been done and that is being done.

Anne Murcott is Professorial Research Associate, Food Studies Centre, Department of Anthropology, SOAS University of London and Honorary Professor, School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Nottingham, UK. Warren Belasco is Professor Emeritus of American Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA. Peter Jackson is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield, UK.

The Handbook of Food Research covers the whole spectrum of research related to food production, distribution and consumption -- Ellen J. Helsper * LSE Review of Books * This impressive compendium introduces readers to research in food history and sociology on diverse topics including food technologies, adulteration, marketing, and waste; nutrition, food security, and famine; farming, terroir, meals, and media; eating disorders, obesity, and food politics. It will be an invaluable resource for both beginning and established scholars seeking a comprehensive overview of foodways research. * Carole Counihan, Editor-in-Chief of 'Food and Foodways' and co-editor of 'Food and Culture: A Reader' and 'Taking Food Public: Redefining Foodways in a Changing World.' * An ambitious and judicious compilation of reviews of international research on the diverse topics constituting the fragmented field of food studies, this book amasses the evidence and theory from many disciplines needed for a coherent and relevant understanding of current issues of provision, consumption and policy. * Alan Warde, Professor of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK. * This Handbook is a comprehensive examination of food in its social, ecological, nutritional, cultural and political dimensions by a stellar line-up of research-scholars. Its organizing frameworks of history, provisioning, consumption, and current issues underscore food's centrality to all scales of social life. * Philip McMichael, Cornell University, USA. * These authoritative essays illuminate key analytical themes and future challenges confronting contemporary and historical research on food in the social sciences. This erudite collection will be an indispensable companion for researchers in the rapidly expanding, diverse field of food studies. * David Goodman, Visiting Professor, Department of Geography, King's College London, and Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA * Making an inventory of paradigms and methods, with an abundance of very relevant empirical data, the authors of this handbook show, in an exemplary manner, how forty years of multidisciplinary interest for food led to the emergence of the "food research"; a sector becoming one of the most dynamic fields of the contemporary science. * Jean Pierre Poulain, Sociologist and Anthropologist, Taylor's University, Malaysia and University of Toulouse 2, France. * This is an important collection of writings by an international group of scholars on the production, distribution and consumption of food, that is both firmly anchored in history and addresses contemporary social problems. It is a valuable guidebook to the rapidly growing and highly diverse field of food research. * Jukka Gronow, Professor Emeritus, Department of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland * A cross-disciplinary and historically rich review, a future research agenda and much provocation. This book will encourage food studies scholars to chart the continuities and changes, consensus and contest in the biological, environmental and social relations of food. * Jane Dixon, Senior Fellow, Australian National University, Australia *