Between Distribution and Consumption: On The Social Practices of Food Acquisition
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2020-12-21

Between Distribution and Consumption: On The Social Practices of Food Acquisition was a Distinguished Lecture given by Dr Hanna Garth (University of California San Diego) on 18 December 2020 at the SOAS Food Studies Centre, SOAS University of London.

Find out more at: https://www.soas.ac.uk/foodstudies/forum/lectures/18dec2020-between-distribution-and-consumption-on-the-social-practices-of-food-acquisition.html

As food circulated across the globe more rapidly and more broadly, within the anthropology of food early work focused on illuminating the importance of food distribution in the production-distribution-consumption chain. Based on ethnographic research in Cuba and the United States, in this talk I argue that the link between distribution and consumption is not a given, and food acquisition should be considered an important step in the chain from production to consumption. A focus on acquisition reveals intimate forms of sociality, cultural norms for accessing food, and reveals the dynamic ways in which people negotiate their social positions through food. I call for robust analysis of the social and cultural processes of food acquisition that we see in various global contexts.