The Political Relevance of Food Media
Beyond Reviews and Recipes
- Available for pre-order. Item will ship after January 31, 2023
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Book Description
Interrogating the intersections of food, journalism, and politics, this book offers a critical examination of food media and journalism, and its political potential against the backdrop of contemporary social challenges.
Contributors analyse current and historic examples such as Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, the environment, Brexit, and gender politics, highlighting how food media and journalism reach beyond the commercial imperatives of lifestyle journalism to negotiate nationalism, globalization, and social inequalities. The volume challenges the idea that food media/journalism are trivial and apolitical by drawing attention to the complex ways through which storytelling about food has engaged public discourse in the past, and the innovative ways it is doing so today.
Bringing together international scholars from a variety of disciplines, the book will be of great interest to scholars and students of Journalism, Communication, Media Studies, Food Studies, Sociology and Anthropology.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
From the Racist Sandwich to Civil Eats: How Food Journalism Is Engaging with Politics
Elizabeth Fakazis and Elfriede Fürsich
Part I: Engaging with Systems of Injustice and Disparity
1. Influencer Activism: Visibility, Strategy, and #BlackLivesMatter Discourse on Food Instagram
Tish Dejmanee
2. Super Bowl Food Politics: On the Menu, On the Screen, and On the Field
Emily Contois
3. Agribusiness, Environmental Conflict, and Food in Travel Journalism: Image Work for The Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick
Lynette McGaurr
4. Who Speaks and Are We Listening? Food Sovereign Voices in a Changing Climate
Alana Mann
Part II: Raising Questions of Legitimacy, Power, and Good Citizenship
5. From Bad Boys to Heroes: Culinary Philanthropy and Good Citizenship in the Age of COVID-19
Kathleen LeBesco and Peter Naccarato
6. Cooking in the Time of Corona: The Politicized Domesticity of Food Journalism in The New York Times
Elfriede Fürsich
7. Paleo and Pain Free: Reporting on Scandals of Food Celebrities
Katherine Kirkwood
Part III: Negotiating Regional, National, and Global Identities
8. Of Clay Stoves and Cooking Pots: “Village Food” Videos and Gastro-Politics in Contemporary India
Sumana Kasturi
9. How the Bendy Banana Became a Symbol of Anti-EU Sentiment: British Media, Political Mythology, and Populism
Mary Irwin and Ana Tominc
10. Heritage, Belonging, and Promotion: Food Journalism Reconsidered
Unni From Andreasen and Alberte Borne Asmusse
Part IV: Recovering History and (Re)producing Memory
11. Patriotic Hens, Tomato Turbans, and Mock Fish: The Daily Mail Food Bureau and National Identity During the First World War
Sarah Lonsdale
12. Influencer Before the Internet: The Extraordinary Career of Chef, Editor, and Food Entrepreneur Alma Lach
Kimberly Voss
13. Chef’s Table and a Collective Past: Netflix, Food Media, and Cultural Memories
Diana Willis
Index
Editor(s)
Biography
Elizabeth Fakazis is Professor of Media Studies in the School of Design & Communication at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, USA.
Elfriede Fürsich is Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Reviews
"Food cultures and practices can be political, but often in covert ways. Thoughtful and impassioned journalism uncovers these politics, bringing issues such as food insecurity, environmental degradation, racism, classism, sexism, the cult of celebrity and nationalism to the attention of the world. This wonderful book provides many examples of how food journalism and digital media content creators can challenge inequities, create controversy, and call for change."
Professor Deborah Lupton, Vitalities Lab and Australian Research Centre for Automated Decision-Making and Society, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney