Colleges Bring Food into the Classroom
Posted on August 28, 2008
Filed Under Media, Reading List | By Jessica Gross
Food is suddenly a big deal.
Suddenly, you ask? Hasn’t food been a big deal for all of history? True, astute reader, eating food is nothing new — but discussing it in an academic context, as a public health-environmental-political entity, only recently became the thing to do. (Just ride a New York City subway and count the number of Michael Pollan books.) More and more colleges are following the trend, offering courses and majors in food studies.
Why now? According to courant.com, students are demanding food-centered curricula, and there’s finally material to work with. (Until recently, the only food-related texts were dry articles, not popular literature.) Food — at the nexus of science, politics, and anthropology — is also the ideal conduit for interdisciplinary exchange.
I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Who wouldn’t want to eat food as a course assignment?
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