The history of food is one of the fastest growing areas of historical investigation, incorporating methods and theories from cultural, social, and women’s history while forging a unique perspective on the past. The Routledge History of Food takes a global approach to this topic, focusing on the period from 1500 to the present day.
Arranged chronologically, this title contains 17 originally commissioned chapters by experts in food history or related topics. Each chapter focuses on a particular theme, idea or issue in the history of food. The case studies discussed in these essays illuminate the more general trends of the period, providing the reader with insight into the large-scale and dramatic changes in food history through an understanding of how these developments sprang from a specific geographic and historical context.
Examining the history of economic, technological, and cultural interactions between cultures and charting the corresponding developments in food history, The Routledge History of Food challenges readers' assumptions about what and how people have eaten, bringing fresh perspectives to well-known historical developments. It is the perfect guide for all students of social and cultural history.
'Whether motivated by an interest in history or food, all readers will find much to stimulate their thinking in this book. Carol Helstosky has assembled a collection of essays that reflects how diverse and rich the field of food history has become and establishes it as a research specialisation in its own right that contributes much to the discipline. Focussed on the last 500 years, the collection provides a synthesis of research that charts the direction of the field and reflects the transformation of the world food system within the broader historical context; a valuable resource that will introduce food history to a broad audience and inspire historians to recognise the significance of food for understanding the past and the everyday.'
Adele Wessell, Southern Cross University, Australia
Introduction. 1500-1700 1. The Magic of Japanese Rice Cakes Eric C. Rath 2. Food Production, Consumption and Identity Politics in Tahuantinsuyu and Colonial Perú Alison Krögel 3. Stimulants and Intoxicants in Europe, 1500-1700 Ken Albala 4. Science, Food and Health in Chosŏn Korea Michael J. Pettid 1700-1900 5. Food Shortage in New Spain: Maize, Food Policies and the Construction of a Patriotic Identity, 1785-1807 Sarah Bak-Gellar Corona 6. "If the King had really been a father to us": Failed Food Diplomacy in Eighteenth-Century Sierra Leone Rachel Herrmann 7. Stolen Bodies, Edible Memories: The Influence and Function of West African Foodways in the Early British Atlantic Kelley Fanto Deetz 8. Spreading the Word: Using Cookbooks and Colonial Memoirs to Examine the Foodways of British Colonials in Asia, 1850-1900 Cecilia Leong-Salobir 9. The Globalization of Alcohol and Temperance from the Gin Craze to Prohibition Jeffrey M. Pilcher 10. "Peace on earth among the orders of creation": Vegetarian Ethics in the United States Before World War I Bernard Unti 11. Food, Medicine and Institutional Life in the British Isles, c.1790-1900 Ian Miller 12. Industrializing Diet, Industrializing Ourselves: Technology, Energy, and Food, 1750-2000 Chris Otter 1990-present 13. The Evolution of a Fast Food Phenomenon: The Case of American Pizza Bonnie M. Miller 14. Cooking Class: The Rise of the "Foodie" and the Role of Mass Media Kathleen Collins 15. Tourism, Cuisine, and the Consumption of Culture in the Caribbean Carla Guerrón Montero 16. Food and Migration in the Twentieth Century Laresh Jayasanker 17. Quick Rice: International Development and the Green Revolution in Sierra Leone, 1960-1976 Zachary D. Poppel
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