Food Studies Commons^™

The Diasporic Cookbook As Chronotope. [Review Of The Book Kitchens Of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories Of Resilience And Recipes From Home, By I. S. Svitak, C. J. Eaton, And I. S. Dean (Eds)], Marcella Prokop

English Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Edited by Linda S. Svitak and Christin Jaye Eaton, with Lee Svitak Dean, and published by the University of Minnesota Press, Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home (2025) fits neatly into the popular genre network of cookbooks that blend essay with recipe, mixing memoir with meals perfected over generations. But this book doesn't simply share the legacy of Liberian rice bread or summer beat soup. It explores the migration of these dishes and their cooks, contextualizing stories of displacement and development. Because of the breadth of this book, Mikhail Bakhtin might describe this …

From Elmhurst To Astoria, Indonesia’S Thousand Islands Find A Home In Food Bazaars, Adrian O'Farrill

Capstones

In Elmhurst and Astoria, three different bazaars focused on Indonesian food pop up once a month, all within two miles of each other, dubbed by the vendors as the unofficial “Little Indonesia” of New York. While there’s a handful of Indonesian restaurants in Elmhurst, for those Indonesians who don't have the necessary funds or even paperwork to start a brick and mortar establishment, or who don’t want to cook at a restaurant scale, the three bazaars in Queens present an opportunity to emphasize authentic Indonesian food and to make a profit for the culinary inclined of the tight-knit community.

https://adrianofarrill.com/cuny-capstone

Book Review: Georgia's Historical Recipes: Seeking Our State's Oldest Written Foodways And The Stories Behind Them, Autumn Johnson

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Understanding Rice Production Stagnation In The Philippines: Regional Evidence And Development Implications, Henry Bartelet, Alenn Jhulia D. Prodigalidad, Janelle S. Dy, Jan Gabriel N. Manzano

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

Despite decades of investment in agricultural research and rice development, the Philippines continues to face stagnation in domestic rice production. This persistent trend, occurring despite a sizable arable land base and large rural workforce, has contributed to the country’s growing reliance on rice imports to meet national food needs. In response, the government has implemented a tariff-based import system designed to fund domestic productivity improvements. While previous studies have explored the technical and environmental constraints affecting rice production, such as irrigation shortfalls, land degradation, and climate variability, few have examined recent national trends using regionally disaggregated data alongside qualitative insights. …

Nursing Students’ Sociodemographic Characteristics And Consumer Preferences’ Prediction Level Of Perceived Food Literacy, Sinan Duru

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Food literacy, which is a critical competency for nursing students, plays a pivotal role in promoting evidence-based nutrition behaviors and contributes effectively to public health. This study aimed to determine the level of perceived food literacy among nursing students.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 488 nursing students from two universities in the south of Turkey. The research data were collected face to face via the Personal Information Form, the Consumer Preferences Form, and Self Perceived Food Literacy. The data was analyzed using the Independent Sample t Test, One Way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression.

Results: The …

Land Access As Liberation: A Qualitative Study On Faith, Food, And Farming Of Urban And Rural Black Land Stewards In The United States, Dominique Edwards

Dissertations

Since 1920, Black farmers in the United States have held less than 2% of the nation's farmland, a direct result of race-based discriminatory policies embedded within federal, state, local, and county-level institutions (Daniel, 2013). Structural barriers—ranging from exclusionary lending practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the systematic dispossession of land through legal loopholes, heirs’ property laws, and violent racial terror—have contributed to this staggering decline in Black land ownership (Gilbert et al., 2002). The erosion of Black agrarian landholdings intensified in the latter half of the 20th century, as government programs, civil rights legislation, and technological advancements, …

Cooking For A Cause: Food Insecurity In Lafayette County, Ms, Anna K. Richie

Honors Theses

Many people in Lafayette County, MS, experience ongoing difficulties with consistent access to healthy food options. According to the Mississippi Health & Hunger Atlas, “food insecurity rates in Mississippi are consistently and statistically higher than national averages—having been ranked as #1 or #2 for highest food insecurity rate every year for the past 15 years” (Haggard, Cafer & Green, 2017). This capstone project examines how a Little Free Pantry (LFP) initiative can contribute to local food security efforts and evaluates cooking demonstration outcomes using ingredients found in LFPs. The approach combines quantitative and qualitative methods by tracking pantry inventory data …

Making An Online Kitchen, Two Southern Women, Foodways, And Social Media, Olivia B. Merrell

Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to understand the ways in which social media has shaped southern women, specifically the ways it has shaped southern women in the kitchen. While exploring this topic, I spoke with both a Black and white southern woman from the south, both of which have grown a social media following based off the southern food they share online. This thesis aims to explore how social media has played a role in reshaping the southern kitchen for women across the south.

Exploring The Right To Food Advocacy Landscape In The United States, Andrew Indomenico, Peppi Delliquadri, Chelsea Marshall, Alison Cohen, Josh Lohnes

CRC Research Symposium

The National Right to Food (RtF) Community of Practice (CoP) is a membership-based national coalition of advocates and organizations working to advance the RtF in our cities, towns, and states. This research project sought to understand (1) how a membership based organization like the CoP grows into a social movement defined by the visions and needs of its participants, and (2) what the added value is of weaving together existing local and state efforts into a national movement. Through surveys (n= 54) and interviews (n=20) of CoP members, this research sought to understand individual perceptions of RtF principles, and food …

What You See Is Not What You Get: Food Advertising Amidst The Global Overweight And Obesity Pandemic, Marija Ocokoljic

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

The tandem issue of obesity and overweight is a serious global issue that has attained pandemic scale. Media, particularly advertising, plays an active role in shaping perceptions and behavioural patterns, influencing both how and what people eat. This paper analyses food advertising in Serbia in 2023 in the context of promoting dietary habits. Content analysis of commercials aired on a selection of television stations during the year showed the overwhelming prevalence of ads for food high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS), with confectionary products in lead positions. Commercial narratives centre on framing them as sources or catalysts for joyful, …

Navigating Food Justice: Addressing Student Food Insecurity Challenges And Successes, Jayden F. Beed

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Food insecurity is a huge and often ignored wicked problem affecting college students across the United States. This capstone project explores the issue through the lens of food justice, which focuses on equitable access to nutritious food regardless of socioeconomic status or cultural background. Using the University of Montana Davidson Honors College as a case study, the project investigates student food insecurity, identifies systemic barriers, and outlines actionable strategies for addressing the issue on college campuses. At the center of this project is the creation of the UM Honors Food Pantry, developed by Jayden Beed in collaboration with the Davidson …

Feeding Jersey: A Fresh Look At Food In The Garden State, Zachary E. Zawila

Capstones

New Jersey is the Garden State. The food business is in its nature. But how the state's foodways work, and particularly how they shape the cities of North Jersey, brings vitality to some neighborhoods while leaving others behind. The cities of Orange, Elizabeth, and Paterson have especially interesting food pasts, and particularly promising food futures.

https://sites.google.com/view/feeding-jersey/home

On Food And Restaurants, Liya Cui

Capstones

This portfolio contains a collection of stories about New York City restaurants and broader food culture, including reported features, a profile and criticism. Food is literally inescapable; even if you believe you don’t care about what you eat, every bite is a choice. This subject deserves critical thought and exploration as it influences our lives in myriad ways and reveals cultural trends that can tell us so much about who we are right now.

https://medium.com/@LiyaC/capstone-portfolio-on-food-and-restaurants-bc4c18c7f2a9

The Ongoing Manipulation Game Of The Culinary World, Evelyn Graham

Undergraduate Scholarly Works

Consumers are rarely aware of how much work actually goes into the enjoyment of their food. It is common knowledge that restaurant owners put a lot of work into their art, we can see this in the food they put forth, but so much is missed behind the scenes in the manipulation of the consumers' senses. Flavor perception is often confused for the simplicity of taste, however, I argue flavor perception is a complex construct of multisensory interactions, intentionally placed to influence consumers' purchasing behaviors. The combination of sights, scents, textures, sounds, and tastes work together to create the brain's …

Book Review: Appalachia On The Table: Representing Mountain Food And People, Jillian Speck

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Faunal Use And Distribution At The Site Of Nixtun-Ch'ich', Petén, Guatemala, Jemima Georges

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation delves into the pre-Columbian Preclassic Maya civilization, examining the societal dynamics, subsistence strategies, and cultural practices at Nixtun-Ch’ich’, Guatemala through the analysis of animal bones. Animal bones are used as indicators of dietary habits, social structures, and ideological beliefs. The findings highlight a diet that evolved from favoring a complex array of strategies in the Middle Preclassic period to one that concentrated on a few mammals and freshwater resources. These decisions were influenced by sociopolitical changes from the Middle to Late Preclassic periods. Excavations of three residences (J1, C2/1, R2/1, and R1/2) and four public spaces (Mound ZZ1, …

Book Review: From Biscuits To Lane Cake: Emma Rylander Lane's "Some Good Things To Eat", Nancy A. Shore

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Food Policy Council, Alexandra G. Winn, Kirsten Hannah Jaquish, Shelby Lynn Davis, Alexandra N. Ehlers, Joshua Lohnes

Undergraduate Scholarship

Nourishing Networks is a workshop that promotes the development of Food Policy Councils, which are a group of community members that advocate for the Right to Food in their community. Through conversation surrounding food access barriers and strategies in their community, the workshop aims to educate participants on how they can improve food access in their community. This research project sought to conduct Nourishing Networks meetings in a variety of West Virginia counties with the intention of accompanying local community members and organizations to create a Food Policy Council for their region. Using a standardized organization process, curriculum, and reporting …

Seeding Sparks For The Right To Food, Alexandra Grace Winn, Shelby Lynn Davis, Kirsten Hannah Jaquish, Alexandra N. Ehlers, Joshua Lohnes

Undergraduate Scholarship

Seeding Sparks for The Right to Food partnered with Voices of Hunger to disperse a grant to community leaders. These community leaders have projects that are aimed to advance the Right to Food and promote food security. This project interviewed the applicants and pulled out common themes among their responses to further understand their motivations and passions related to food justice.

The Factors Causing High Food Insecurity Rates In U.S. Undergraduate Students, Natalie S. Byrd

Soaring: A Journal of Undergraduate Research

The cliché of a college student surviving off ramen noodles sheds light on a deeper issue — high rates of food insecurity among undergraduate college/university students in the United States. There have been countless studies in recent years exploring the hidden causes of why an estimated 40% of students experience food insecurity as of 2022. These studies conclude three main reoccurring factors causing these high rates: costs, accessibility, and demographic characteristics. Food insecurity rates are important for higher education officials to address due to the countless physical and mental health, academic, and equity implications for the students.

Cooking In The Past And For The Future In Latin America, Clare A. Sammells

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Food As A Literary Device In The Hunger Games: World Building, Characterization, And Plot Momentum, Linzee Mitchell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food relates to the experience of life, survival, and memory. It impacts us every day, whether we have plenty of it or not. It influences our memories and connects us to one another, while structuring details of our identities and cultures. As a creative writer and English major, I recognize that food influences a story to accentuate literary concepts and unveil them, such as a character’s compassion or the poison that a villain uses to unfold the plot. The best example of food as an impactful device within a story is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. From the first …

Pasta And Politics: A Taste Of Culinary Xenophobia In Italy, Rachel Berns

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Italy has become a common “landing country” for many European and Asian immigrants, creating a perception of invasion that has led to cultural reactionism masked in the reinforcement of “traditional cuisine.” For so-called traditional foods to endure, they must continually be reinvented, bearing different meanings and social values throughout time and space while accumulating rich, cultural baggage that serves as a powerful marker of identity in a given society. This project explores the role of traditional cuisine in Italian national identity and pride, and the subsequent historical culinary antagonism maintained in widespread attitudes toward ethnic cuisine in Italy. Through an …

Around The Table: A Comparative Study On The Commensality Of American And Italian Culture And Its Implications On Wellbeing, Joy Bernal

Senior Theses

Commensality (the act of eating together) has been shown to increase psychosocial wellbeing. As culture differs, so do the ways commensality occurs. This thesis uses established literature to compare the commensality between two countries, the United States and Italy, and conclude how those behaviors impact psychosocial wellbeing. After exploration and drawing connections, the hope is that this thesis encourages a call for change on the way we view eating and how we can gather more often to improve overall psychosocial wellbeing.

The Most Environmentally Sustainable Diet For Adolescents In Terms Of Land Use, Food Waste, And Greenhouse Gas Emissions., Lina Elsehelly

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The current food system is directly responsible for much environmental damage including severe climate change, biodiversity loss, and land scarcity. This research aims to find some strategies to mitigate these damages through diet by specifically targeting adolescents because they are potential problem-solvers. This period is also when personality and habits are articulated. By focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and food waste, a more environmentally sustainable diet can be formulated. The key findings of the research can be summarized by reducing ultra-processed foods, choosing sustainably produced food, generally reducing meat consumption from the current rate, substituting red and …

Dirt Cheap Nutrition, Rain Delucia

Bucknell Farm

The aim of this project is to reach a range of people who are suffering from food insecurity. Food insecurity is a spectrum; people have varying access to not only food, but to related resources such as cooking equipment and knowledge. Food insecurity is a broad term since there are varying reasons as to why people cannot access food such as transportation, money, and access. In most cases food insecurity is a symptom of a much bigger issue known as poverty. The typical person struggling with food insecurity suffers from both mental and physical complications such as decline in academic …

Food As A Vector For Change: Lessons From The Third Sector On Improving Livelihoods With Nutritional Knowledge In Medellín And Bogotá, Solomon Treister

Honors Theses

In this thesis I argue that improving diet in communities depends on building nutritional knowledge. In examining the role of community level organizations, I look specifically at how knowledge is conveyed through agriculture and gastronomy. This project analyzes how civil society organizations work to reintegrate individuals into food systems, compelling consumers to take agency over their diets and pursue better livelihoods. The industrialization of food systems has fundamentally changed the way humans connect with food and diet. In Colombia, internal displacements and urban migration have accelerated a loss of connection with the land and food processes. At the same time, …

Food For Harlem, Izania Gonzalez

Capstones

Food for Harlem is a resource guide for Harlem residents to find local food-focused organizations. It’s a list for you to find where you can get healthy affordable food in your neighborhood. This project was created after the feedback I heard in discussion during my time at a food market in Harlem. The final product includes a complete list of over 70 food-focused organizations in Harlem, an interactive map, some important information about the included resources, and a list of definitions.

The website can be found here: https://imgjournalism.wixsite.com/food-for-harlem

Navigating The Cairene Table: Food And Family Between What Is Ideal And What Is Real, Iman Afify

Theses and Dissertations

Our daily encounters with food, especially during our childhood, play a crucial role in shaping and informing our identity and our habitus. In this research, by using multimodal and auto ethnography, I argue that due to the guiding path that our senses carve for us, we make sense and contextualise our surroundings through our senses, and not only the five senses of vision, smell, taste, hearing, and touch, but also through our inner senses of time and temporality, and how time and memory play an important role in the registration of our surroundings through our bodies and senses. I am …

Cultivation, Conflict, And Consumption: Food Systems In Syria, 1920–1946, Sara Pekow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines Syria during the French Mandate using food as a primary unit of analysis. The exploration of food pushes this project beyond the boundaries of political and diplomatic histories of Syria during the French Mandate, bringing forward the hidden voices of the nonelite. Nonelites are often not visible in archives, but their absence in most written sources permits us to ascertain their experiences in studying the materials that comprised their everyday lives. The sources consulted for this work include memoirs, print media, and state archives, to name a few.

Each chapter of this dissertation follows a different link …