Food & Society: Principles and Paradoxes

by Amy E. Guptill, Denise A. Copelton, and Betsy Lucal

This timely and engaging text offers students a social perspective on food, food practices, and the modern food system. It engages readers curiosity by highlighting several paradoxes: how food is both mundane and sacred, reveals both distinction and conformity, and, in the contemporary global era, comes from everywhere but nowhere in particular. With a social constructionist framework, the book provides an empirically rich, multi-faceted, and coherent introduction to this fascinating field. Each chapter begins with a vivid case study, proceeds through a rich discussion of research insights, and ends with discussion questions and suggested resources. Chapter topics include food s role in socialization, identity, work, health and social change, as well as food marketing and the changing global food system. In synthesizing insights from diverse fields of social inquiry, the book addresses issues of culture, structure, and social inequality throughout. Written in a lively style, this book will be both accessible and revealing to beginning and intermediate students alike.

• ISBN10: 0745642829
• ISBN13: 9780745642826
• Publish Date: 2 November 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 18 January 2017
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Polity Press
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• URL: http://wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0745642829.html

Reviews

[Joséphine]

August 20, 2015

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: If I were to pitch this book as coursework material for university, I'd say it's best suited for freshmen or sophomores. The content is well-organised, concise and very clear. However, those who know their sociological theories and frameworks can figure out the analytical parts themselves, as long as they know the current state of affairs in the food and agricultural industries.

Either way, I still learnt a fair bit of new things, even though I had already covered half the content in sociology modules related to media and globalisation during my undergraduate days. I think the text is also easy enough to understand for anyone who want to read Food and Society to expand their general knowledge.