OKT offers free History of Food Class

Our Kitchen Table is offering The History of Food, a free class, open to all. Facilitated by anthropologist, Dr. Christina Mello, the class meets five consecutive Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Jan. 11, 18, 25, Feb. 1 & 8 at Garfield Park Lodge, 334 Burton St. SE. By understanding the history of food, communities will be better able to build a food system that truly meets their nutritional needs within their economic realities.

Throughout history, food production has been a key component of how members of a society organize themselves and express their different cultural norms and identities. This class explores different types of sustenance economies as well as the history of food from before the rise of civilizations.

Topics will include the history of colonialism, the rise of agri-business and how these have destroyed cultural practices. Finally, we will learn about the relationship of cultures with food and the importance of biodiversity for preserving cultural heritage.

Participants are asked to purchase a copy of The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans, by Patricia Klindienst (2006, Beacon Press). The class will also include other readings, including selections from Food and Culture: A Reader, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny Esterik (2008, Routledge, second edition).

Christina Mello received her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of New Mexico and is currently a professor at Grand Valley State University. She is a cultural/applied anthropologist whose research addresses the anthropology of food and social justice issues. Her dissertation was entitled, “Local Food and Power Dynamics in Southeast Grand Rapids.” Other research interests include ethnographic film methods, urban anthropology, studies of power, public and environmental health disparities, the anthropology of food, food justice/social movements, and applied anthropology.