Practicing Food Studies - by Amy Bentley & Fabio Parasecoli & Krishnendu Ray

About the Book

"What is food studies? How did it come about as an academic field? Where is it going and what's its impact? Faculty members and former graduate students of the NYU Food Studies program answer by sharing their experiences, their research, and their ideas about what's next. This collection of essays contributes to the reflection about the ongoing dialogue between food studies, the humanities, social sciences, and hard sciences, while mapping paths for intellectual and social engagement with food systems and its most urgent issues"--

Book Synopsis

An introduction to the burgeoning field of food studies

Popular and intellectual interest in food is on the rise. The breadth of concerns surrounding food ranges from animal welfare and climate change's impact on food production to debates on the healthfulness of carbohydrates and fats, and fair compensation for restaurant and farm workers. Not only is there an expanding conversation about the ways in which we produce and consume our food, but there is growing attention being placed on the myriad ways in which food expresses and shapes shifting identities.

Practicing Food Studies details the turn of the twenty-first century development and flourishing of food studies as a multidisciplinary field, focusing on its establishment at New York University. Food studies scholars have come from various fields such as history, sociology, economics, political science, nutrition, or public policy, but often felt limited by the conventions of their traditional discipline. Many gravitated to food studies to be able to describe and critically examine their specific areas of interest beyond the borders of academic disciplines. This volume explores the history of knowledge in which NYU Food Studies emerged, providing the opportunity to reflect on how academic fields are created and evolve as a response to institutional constraints and opportunities, the landscape of ideas, social movements, and public conversations.

Practicing Food Studies is a compelling collection of essays compiling the research, ideas, and experiences of faculty members and graduates of the NYU Food Studies program--mapping the paths for intellectual and social engagement with food systems and its most urgent issues.

Review Quotes

"Practicing Food Studies provides a deep dive into the emergence of the field of food studies and how it has changed over time. New York University's Food Studies Professors share their experiences and insights, helping readers understand what food studies entails and its relevance today. This book offers insight into how academic fields evolve and the factors that shape them."-- "Food Tank"

"Food studies provides a home for deeply interdisciplinary scholars; Practicing Food Studies packages that intellectual belonging into a single book that you'll want to not just read but keep close. The editors, each a leading voice in the field, use NYU's program as a case study that delivers a must-read history of food studies itself. Critical reflections, warmth, and candor leap from each page, fascinating and endearing at every turn."-- "Emily J.H. Contois, The University of Tulsa"

"NYU's Food Studies department has a lot to teach: about pedagogy, art, library sciences, the limits of traditional disciplinary fields, and the world beyond the academy. With essays that blend biography with analysis, this anthology finds the universal in the particular. Anyone interested in how to address the urgent practical questions, while confronting the systemic ones, will find inspiration in this fine anthology."-- "Raj Patel, University of Texas at Austin"

About the Author

Amy Bentley (Editor)
Amy Bentley is Professor of Food Studies in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University and author of the award-winning Inventing Baby Food: Taste, Health, and the Industrialization of the American Diet.

Fabio Parasecoli (Editor)
Fabio Parasecoli is Professor of Food Studies in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University and author of most recently Gastronativism: Food, Identity, Politics.

Krishnendu Ray (Editor)
Krishnendu Ray is Professor of Food Studies in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University and author of The Ethnic Restaurateur.

Marion Nestle (Foreword by)
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, emerita, at New York University. She is the author of three prize-winning books, including Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, What to Eat, and most recently, Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics. She blogs almost daily at www.foodpolitics.com.