The annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association is nearly upon us. The conference program is huge and overwhelming, as usual. However, your trusted team at FoodAnthropology has found a way for those interested in food and nutrition to pare down the selections to what may be essential. You might, for instance, decide to only attend sessions that have been reviewed, sponsored, or invited by the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition. You could hardly go wrong doing that and, in case that is your desire, click here to see a list of those very sessions. You can review the sessions and the papers, although you must sign in as a registered participant to read the abstracts.
There are a few very important things to note.
SAFN will be holding its annual business meeting on Saturday, December 6, from 6:30-8:15. It will take place in Roosevelt Room 5 (Marriott Wardman Park) and includes presentations of the Christine Wilson Award recipients and the Thomas Marchione Food-as-a-Human-Right Award recipient. Instead of a distinguished lecture this year, we will have an open forum on the future of food and nutrition studies in anthropology…and a catered reception! All are welcome. This is your chance to get involved in the association. We need you.
SAFN is also the sponsor of a few invited sessions this year. These are especially worth noting, so here they are:
3-0265 CULTURING NUTRIENTS
Sponsored By: AAA Executive Program Committee and Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition
Thursday, December 4, 2014: 9:00 AM-10:45 AM
Organizers: Line Hillersdal (Copenhagen University) and Tenna Jensen (University of Oxford/University of Copenhagen)
Chairs: Tenna Jensen (University of Oxford/University of Copenhagen)
Food Allergy and Intolerance: Nutrition (re)Defined
Meghan Lee Cridland (Lund University)
Lemon Mousse for the Aging Body: Food Laboratories and the Making of Edible Solutions
Signe Dahl Skjoldborg (University of Copenhagen)
Food Security Among People with Disabilities in the U.S: the Role of Cultural Attitudes in Creating Barriers to Healthy Eating
Elaine G Gerber (Montclair State University)
Fats: Cultivating Cooking Engaging with Nutrition
Rebeca Ibañez-Martin (CCHS-CSIC)
Eating Ad Libitum – Scientific Meal Tests in Practice
Line Hillersdal (Copenhagen University)
Calculation or Nourishment? the ‘others’ of Nutrients in Obesity Interventions
Else Vogel (University of Amsterdam)
Changing Constituents of Food: Perceptions of the Macronutrients in Western Science 1900-1945
Tenna Jensen (University of Oxford/University of Copenhagen)
3-0290 THEORIZING LOCAL FOOD: FROM ENVISIONING NEW REALITIES TO MORAL ECONOMY
Sponsored By: Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and Culture and Agriculture
Thursday, December 4, 2014: 9:00 AM-10:45 AM
Organizers: John Brett (University of Colorado Denver)
Chairs: John Brett (University of Colorado Denver)
Discussants: Lisa B Markowitz (University of Louisville)
Urban Agriculture: Meaning, Form and Dialectics
John Brett (University of Colorado Denver)
Morally Entitled Producers: Farmers As Ambivalent and Ambiguous Heroes
Dorothy C Holland (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Jennifer Walker (Poiesis Design and Planning)
Constructing Local: Situated Knowledge in a Local Food Economy
Rebecca Kathryn Blystone (University of Colorado Denver)
Anthropological Reflections on a Fast Food Learning Garden in Orlando, Florida
Ty S Matejowsky (University of Central Florida)
Discussant
Lisa B Markowitz (University of Louisville)
Local Food As Antidote to What Ails Us
Susan D Blum (University of Notre Dame)
From “Lost” to Local: How Bolivian Quinoa Became “Good to Think” for North Atlantic Consumers
Clare Sammells (Bucknell University)
3-0940 RECONSIDERING VISUAL METHODS IN THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CHILD FEEDING
Sponsored By: Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and Society for Visual Anthropology
Thursday, December 4, 2014: 2:30 PM-4:15 PM
Organizers: Chelsea Wentworth (University of Pittsburgh) and Lisa R Garibaldi (University of California, Riverside)
Chairs: Chelsea Wentworth (University of Pittsburgh)
Discussants: Carole M Counihan (Millersville University)
“Mai! Kana!” Negotiating children’s Preferences and caregiver’s Values and Constraints in Feeding Children
Lisa R Garibaldi (University of California, Riverside)
“Good” and “Bad” Food Revealed: Understanding Categorizations in Child Feeding Via Visual Methods
Chelsea Wentworth (University of Pittsburgh)
The Politics and Polemics of Feeding Children in Santiago De Cuba
Hanna Garth (University of California Los Angeles)
Responsive Feeding By Immigrant Bangladeshi Mothers in Melbourne, Australia: A Child Feeding Observation Study
Bithika Das (The University of Melbourne) and Cathy Vaughan (The University of Melbourne)
Children in Transition: Photo Voice for Documenting Vulnerabilities in Food Security and Health Among Children Living in a Homeless Family Shelter in New York City
Preety Gadhoke (St. John’s University) and Barrett P Brenton (St. John’s University)
Discussant
Carole M Counihan (Millersville University)
4-0170 FOOD ACTIVISM IN EUROPE: NETWORKS, ALLIANCES, STRATEGIES
Sponsored By: Society for the Anthropology of Europe and Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition
Friday, December 5, 2014: 9:00 AM-10:45 AM
Organizers: Carole M Counihan (Millersville University) and Valeria Siniscalchi (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)
Chairs: Valeria Siniscalchi (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) and Carole M Counihan (Millersville University)
Activism without Mobilizing Power? Food Practices and Social Trust in Postsocialist Bulgaria
Yuson Jung (Wayne State University)
Sewing the Social Net through Food Activism in Sardinia
Carole M Counihan (Millersville University)
“Inclusive Agriculture”: Creating and Sustaining Transversal Alliances Among Urban Gardeners in Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Isabel Neto Antunes Afonso (FCSH – Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and Krista Harper (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
The Crisis from below: The Food Distribution “Solidarity Economy” in Greece
Theodoros Rakopoulos (Human Economy Program, University of Pretoria)
Pastoral Products on the Vips Table: Anti-Politics, Entrepreneurialism, and the Commoditization of Social Struggle in Sardinia
Filippo M Zerilli (University of Cagliari) and Marco Pitzalis (University of Cagliari)
Coping with Ambiguity. Changing Strategies and Networks of Slow Food in Italy and Europe
Valeria Siniscalchi (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)
Coalescing Struggles and Local Initiatives for Alternative Agri-Food Systems in Europe: From European farmers’ Unions Coordination to the “Nyéléni European Forum for Food Sovereignty”
Delphine Thivet (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)
4-0325 LESS PALATABLE, STILL VALUABLE: TASTE, AGROBIODIVERSITY, AND CULINARY HERITAGE
Sponsored By: Society for the Anthropology of Food and the National Association of Student Anthropologists
Friday, December 5, 2014: 11:00 AM-12:45 PM
Organizers: Greg de St. Maurice (University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh) and Theresa L Miller (University of Oxford)
Chairs: Theresa L Miller (University of Oxford)
Discussants: Richard R Wilk (Indiana University)
Eating “monte”: Nutrition, Food Security and Taste in El Salvador
Melissa Fuster (New York University)
Sago: A Disparaged but Essential Food
Richard Scaglion (University of Pittsburgh)
The Bad and the Ugly: Less Delicious Yams and Varietal Diversity in the Canela Indigenous Society
Theresa L Miller (University of Oxford)
Millet Madness: Health in Heritage or Food to Leave in the Past?
Madeline A Chera (Indiana University)
Diet, Food Preferences, Food Access and Agrobiodiversity Among Smallholder Conventional and Permaculture Farmers in Central Malawi
Abigail E Conrad (American University)
Everything but the Taste: Celebrating Kyoto’s Shishigatani Squash As Culinary Heritage
Greg de St. Maurice (University of Pittsburgh)
Discussant
Richard R Wilk (Indiana University)
4-0395THE “HIDDEN INTELLIGENCE” OF KITCHENS: TECHNIQUES AND TRADITIONS OF MAKING MEALS
Sponsored By: Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and Archaeology Division
Friday, December 5, 2014: 11:00 AM-12:45 PM
Organizers: Chantel E. White (University of Notre Dame) and Sheena A Ketchum (University of Notre Dame)
Chairs: Sheena A Ketchum (Indiana University) and Chantel E. White (University of Notre Dame)
Discussants: Christine A Hastorf (University of California Berkeley)
Cooking up a Storm: A Reconsideration of Cooks and Kitchens in Prehistory
Chantel E. White (University of Notre Dame) and Sheena A Ketchum (Indiana University)
Puebloan Vessels for Puebloan Foods: Cooking and Serving at the Scott County Pueblo, Western Kansas
Margaret E Beck (University of Iowa) and Matthew E Hill Jr. (University of Iowa)
Where Are the Female Chefs? Reproducing and Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Lyon’s Professional Kitchens
Rachel E Black (Collegium de Lyon – ENS)
Boil, Roast or Bake? Examining Pluralistic Cooking Practices at a Spanish Mission in Alta California
Emily Dylla (University of Texas at Austin)
Brewing Beer in Mesopotamia: Technology, Technique, and Tradition
Tate Paulette (University of Chicago) and Michael Fisher (University of Chicago)
Local Garnishing: Chefs’ Discourse and Display of Local Foods in Restaurants
Zachary Schrank (Indiana University South Bend)
Discussant
Christine A Hastorf (University of California Berkeley)