We recently received the CFP below for an intriguing looking conference in Rome in September, 2021. This should be of interest to SAFN members. Full details are here: https://icrefh2021.confnow.eu/.
International Commission for Research into European Food History
Call for Papers
EATING ON THE MOVE (nineteenth to twenty-first centuries)
7-10 September 2021, Rome
Roma Tre University
Deadline for application: November 30th, 2020
Since the mid-nineteenth century revolution in transportation, the fall in the cost and duration of travels has favoured the movement of people and goods on a global scale. Numerous and distant destinations have become accessible to a growing number of people from across the social scale. This rapid growth throughout the twentieth century is illustrated by a statistic from the air travel sector where in 2017 more than four billion passengers travelled through airports around the world.
The introduction of new forms of transport (trains, ships, cars, airplanes) has not only affected the way people travel, it has also led to a transformation in the way they eat. The evolution achieved in little more than a century by on-board and motorway dining services has meant that they are able to cater to a wide range of travellers’ needs, from the meals offered during the nineteenth century on board the first transatlantic passenger ships transporting migrants from Europe to the Americas, to those provided from the second half of the twentieth century in flight and at motorway service areas. Eating on board a train is different from eating on a ship, which in turn is different from eating on an airplane, and the same is true for any other form of transport. Such differences are not simply a question of quality or variations of menu, a unique history has defined each of these different situations, a history which is still largely to be studied.
Food consumed during travel is more than just a means of satisfying the appetite in an uncommon setting, since it is also a transmitter of culture, identity, and emotions. Consider, for example, the food that migrants carried with them in their suitcases which fed their nostalgia as much as their body, or the ‘international’ menus offered to airplane passengers in the midst of the economic boom when the evocative or nostalgic aspect of food was less appealing, or the return, in the 1980s, to menus based on traditional recipes as a response to the preference for healthy eating of an advanced consumer society.
Naturally, the combination of food and travel has made possible every kind of gastronomic métissage, leading to combinations of different tastes, flavours, and scents. It has changed the way people eat, and affected the food itself and the way that it is distributed.
In recent decades food is no longer just a means of sustenance and has been placed at the centre of the experience of travelling, with traditional dishes specific to particular territories acting as a means with which to explore the culture and traditions of that territory. The unprecedented growth in tourism that has been made possible by low-cost transport has contributed to the appearance of a wide range of new reasons to travel. Along with cultural and artistic tourisms which are experienced as something more than a holiday, wine and food are a fast growing sector in international tourism, as revealed by recent studies. This rediscovery of local cultures is also, in part, inspired by a renewed interest in ‘slow travel’, involving journeys taken on foot for religious and other motivations and bicycle trips.
Finally, it is worth exploring whether the relationship between food and travel can be seen from a non-western point of view. What is this relationship in underdeveloped and developing countries? What similarities and differences can be found from Europe?
This project develops findings from the 7th ICREFH Symposium Eating and Drinking Out in Europe since the late Eighteenth Century held in 2001 at Alden Biesen (Belgium), published in Eating Out in Europe. Picnics, Gourmet Dining and Snacks since the Late Eighteenth Century, edited by Marc Jacobs and Peter Scholliers, and published by Berg in 2003.
The relationship between food and travel from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first century, can be seen in various ways for their interdependence with numerous aspects of social and economic life. The following suggested research areas, to which other proposals may be added, will be covered:
- The evolution of dining services offered during travel (19th-21st centuries): dining on board trains, ships, and airplanes and along motorways (from the makers of packed meals for train passengers to companies created to serve travellers like Autogrill and Chef Express in Italy)
- Influences on the development of food preparation technologies and industries specialized in preserved, precooked, and packaged foods
- The appearance of new professions: the on-board chef, stewards, hostesses, etc.
- Food as a vehicle for cultural heritage – Social divisions on board new forms of transport
- Travelling in search of food: the development of wine and food tourism
- Travelling at home: appearance of ethnic restaurants and cuisine
- Food and “slow travel”: the trails of ancient pilgrims (like the Via Francigena or the Camino de Santiago), mountain trails, cycling paths
- Through the eyes of others: travel and food in developing and industrialised countries
- Food safety on the move
- Supply-side standards: the evolution of the notions “proper meal” and “snack” in the context of “food on the move”
- Service personnel: what was the provisioning of the people who prepared and served “food on the move” but also those who piloted and maintained ships, trains, cars and airplanes?
- Food and uncommon forms of travel: from the supply of armies (particularly from the second world war) to that of astronauts in space
Paper proposals must be sent at the latest by November 30th, 2020 by registering through the conference website: icrefh2021.confnow.eu. The proposal must be accompanied by an abstract (max 2000 characters) and a short cv (max 1000 characters).
Registration Fee: 300 euros for each speaker; 250 euro for young scholars (persons currently enrolled in a PhD/postgraduate doctoral students/persons who have been awarded a PhD/postdoctoral students, without paid posts).
The fee includes 3 nights hotel accommodation with meals. Travel expenses to Rome and extra nights are not included.
Please note that in case of cancellation or no-show, the fee will not be refunded.
The ICREFH (https://icrefh.hypotheses.org) has a tradition of short presentations (20’) and a long discussion. Participants are invited to stay for the full three days of the conference.
A maximum of 25 proposals will be accepted. The proposals will also be selected taking into account the need of ensuring the widest participation of scholars from different countries.
The best papers at the conference will be published by ICREFH
Official Language: English.
Timetable
- November 30th 2020: deadline for on line proposals submission through the conference website
- December 31st 2020: notification of acceptance
- June 30th 2021: deadline for registration (fee payment) through the conference website
- July 31st 2021 deadline for extended abstract submission through the conference website
- September 7th – 10th 2021: Conference
- Registration and all exchange of information and documents will take place through the website: icrefh2021.confnow.eu
The symposium is organized by Rita d’Errico (Rome Tre University), Claudio Besana (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan), Silvia A. Conca Messina (University of Milan La Statale), Stefano Magagnoli (University of Parma).
Scientific Committee
Atkins Peter, Durham University (Durham-U.K)
Berrino Annunziata, Federico II University (Naples – Italy)
Bianquis Isabelle, François Rabelais University (Tours – France)
Bruegel Martin, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France)
de Ferrière Le Vayer Marc, François Rabelais University (Tours – France)
Fumi Gianpiero, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan – Italy)
Scholliers Peter, Vrije Universiteit (Brussel – Belgium)
Strangio Donatella, Sapienza University (Rome – Italy)
Travaglini Carlo Maria, Roma Tre University (Rome – Italy)
Vabre Sylvie, Toulouse University Jean Jaurès (Toulouse – France)
Williot Jean-Pierre, Sorbonne University (Paris – France)
