Food, Media, and Culture

Food is a global necessity to sustain life, and it is no surprise that for the majority of world populations there are many reasons for why we eat beyond the basic importance of daily sustenance. The concept of food includes not only what we eat but also how food is perceived, chosen, procured, produced, and consumed according to the complex interactions between individuals, cultures, and environments. Food depictions in media offer a perspective of the changing politics revolving around the food experience. This course analyzes food culture through representations including print, film, and traditional and new media. Food and food culture are evaluated as a consequence of social and political issues such as tradition/local rituals vs. globalization, the role of food in society, nutritional awareness, and food trends. Lectures, readings, class discussions, field learning activities, and food labs offer diverse points of reflection on food as well as the analysis of food through journalism, media, and communication studies. The food labs provide the hands-on component of this course in order to emphasize that while analyzing food representation in media, the most natural way to familiarize with food is to directly experience its preparation.