Food Studies

Book excerpt: Traditional food studies textbooks tend to emphasize theoretical concepts and text-based approaches. Yet food is sensory, tactile, and experiential. Food Studies: A Hands-on Guide is the first book to provide a practical introduction to food studies. Offering a unique, innovative approach to learning and teaching, Willa Zhen presents creative hands-on activities that can easily be done in a traditional classroom – without the need for a student kitchen. Major theories and key concepts in food studies are covered in an engaging, tangible way, alongside topics such as food production, consumption, technology, identity and culture, and globalization. A fantastic resource for supporting student engagement and learning, the book features: - practical activities, such as grinding grains to learn about the importance of food technology; working with restaurant menus to understand changes in food trends, tastes, and ingredients; writing food poetry; and many more - pedagogical features such as learning objectives, discussion questions, suggested readings, and a glossary - a companion website offering lesson plans, worksheets, and links to additional resources. This is the perfect introduction for students of food studies, anthropology of food, food geography, food hospitality, sociology of food, food history, and gastronomy.