Food Between the Country and the City : Ethnographies of a Changing Global Foodscape

"At a time when the relationship between 'the country' and 'the city' is in flux worldwide, the value and meanings of food associated with both places continue to be debated. Building upon the foundation of Raymond Williams' classic work, The Country and the City, this volume examines how conceptions of the country and the city invoked in relation to food not only reflect their changing relationship but have also been used to alter the very dynamics through which countryside and cities, and the food grown and eaten within them, are produced and sustained. Leading scholars in the study of food offer ethnographic studies of peasant homesteads, family farms, community gardens, state food industries, transnational supermarkets, planning offices, tourist boards, and government ministries in locales across the globe. This fascinating collection demonstrates that, whether categorized as rural or urban, food around the world today has been shaped by, and in turn has shaped, historical processes through which the country, the city, and the relationship between these places and their foods have continually, and sometimes dramatically, been reconstituted. This text provides vital new insight into the contested dynamics of food and will be key reading for upper-level students and scholars of food studies, anthropology, history and geography"-- Provided by publisher 4e de couv. : At a time when the relationship between 'the country' and 'the city' is in flux worldwide, the value and meanings of food associated with both places continue to be debated. Building upon the foundation of Raymond Williams' classic work, The Country and the City, this volume examines how conceptions of the country and the city invoked in relation to food not only reflect their changing relationship but have also been used to alter the very dynamics through which countryside and cities, and the food grown and eaten within them, are produced and sustained. Leading scholars in the study of food offer ethnographic studies of peasant homesteads, family farms, community gardens, state food industries, transnational supermarkets, planning offices, tourist boards, and government ministries in locales across the globe. This fascinating collection provides vital new insight into the contested dynamics of food and will be key reading for upper-level students and scholars of food studies, anthropology, history and geography. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/food-between-the-country-and-the-city-9780857857040/#sthash.bexmlHWa.dpufThis book deals with an historical dichotomy (rural versus urban) that colors almost every discussion of food and diet: Is the city the only true site of gourmet indulgence? Does the romanticization of country food hide the decline of rural life? Is food tourism a form of social exploitation? This collection explores such issues in the context of supermarkets, heritage movements, urban food movements, and the globalization of the Mediterranean diet. This is the "new" ethnography at its best."--James L. Watson, Fairbank Professor of Chinese Society and Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus Harvard University, USA For too long tropes of the city vs. countryside and the values associated with these categories have been taken for granted in food studies. This volume is important in unpacking those categories, examining how they are made, remade and contested in relationship to one another, and the ideological systems that inform how those categories are made in the first place. This is a very timely and necessary intervention in food studies literature. Melissa L. Caldwell, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA Drawing on a series of telling examples, the authors highlight the value of a comparative, ethnographic perspective in exploring the complex interconnections between urban and rural foodways, past and present. The result is a fitting tribute to Raymond Williams' pioneering work, extending the geographical scope of his argument and using its intellectual power to challenge conventional stereotypes about the country and the city." - Peter Jackson, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield, UK Introduction : approaching food and foodways between the country and the city through the work of Raymond Williams / Nuno Domingos and José Manuel Sobral and Harry G. West -- Conflicting wine narratives : pleasant perspectives and the struggles in the construction of Alentejo wine / Nuno Domingos -- Embodying country-city relations : the Chola Cuencana in highland Ecuador / Emma-Jayne Abbots -- Bringing the city to the country : supermarket expansion, food practices and aesthetics in rural South Africa / Elizabeth Hull -- Bringing it all back home : reconnecting the country and the city through heritage food tourism in the French Auvergne / Harry G. West -- Coming to terms with urban agriculture : a self critique / Laura B. Delind -- Urban hunger and the home village : how Lilongwe's migrant poor stay food secure / Johan Pottier -- Perceptions of the "country" through the migration of "City"-grown crops : Guinean food in Bissau and in Lisbon / Maria Abranches -- The country, the nation and the region in representations of Portuguese food and cuisine / José Manuel Sobral -- Hazz Al-quhuf : an urban satire on peasant life and food from 17th century Egypt / Sami Zubaida -- Reflecting authenticity : "grandmother's yogurt" : between Bulgaria and Japan / Maria Yotova -- Unpacking the Mediterranean diet : agriculture, food and health / Monica Truninger and Dulce Freire Cover -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Introduction: Approaching Food and Foodways between the Country and the City through the Work of Raymond Williams -- Section I: Of the Country and Its Food -- 1 Conflicting Wine Narratives: "Pleasing Prospects" and the Struggles in the Construction of Alentejo -- 2 Embodying Country-City Relations: The Chola Cuencana in Highland Ecuador -- 3 Bringing the City to the Country: Supermarket Expansion, Food Practices, and Aesthetics in Rural South Africa -- 4 Bringing It All Back Home: Reconnecting the Country and the City through Heritage Food Tourism in the French Auvergne -- Section II: Of the City and Its Food -- 5 Coming to Terms with Urban Agriculture: A Self-Critique -- 6 Urban Hunger and the Home Village: How Lilongwe's Migrant Poor Stay Food Secure -- 7 Perceptions of the Country through the Migration of City-grown Crops: Guinean Food in Bissau and in Lisbon -- Section III: Of the Nation and Its Food -- 8 The Country, the Nation, and the Region in Representations of Portuguese Food and Cuisine -- 9 Hazz al-Quhuf: An Urban Satire on Peasant Life and Food from Seventeenth-century Egypt -- 10 Reflecting Authenticity: "Grandmother's Yogurt" between Bulgaria and Japan -- 11 Unpacking the Mediterranean Diet: Agriculture, Food, and Health -- Notes -- References -- Index