Week 3: Race and class in the imaginaries and practices of alternative food

Food Revolution?

Week 3 February 14-16

Race and class in the imaginaries and practices of alternative food

Slocum, Rachel, Jerry Shannon, Valentine Cadieux, and Matthew Beckman. 2011. ‘Properly, with love, from scratch’: Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Radical History Review. 110: 178-191.

Guthman J (2008b) Bringing good food to others: investigating the subjects of alternative food practice. Cultural Geographies 15(4): 431-447. 

What are the methods that food change advocates use to bring about changes to the food system? According to these authors, what's wrong with these approaches and what do food change advocates need to think about? Julie Guthman is writing about her students' passions and research--how are your views similar or different from the ones her students voiced? Incorporate what you've seen on the list serv comfood-l into your discussion. Add points that relate from the earlier readings, especially Agrarian Dreams and Foodies. The paper on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution proposes aspects that a food revolution would need to address while critiquing Oliver's emphases on Huntington West Virginia, obesity and school food. Discuss the relationship between the two papers and your reaction to the arguments.