A Sociology of Food and The Social Appetite, 3rd Edition introduces readers to the field of food sociology, by comprehensively examining the social context of food and nutrition. Leading Australian and international authors in the field provide a contemporary analysis of the social factors that underlie food choice, exploring the socio-cultural, political, economic and philosophical factors that influence food production, distribution and consumption.
Highlights of the third
·Revised and updated chapters from experts in the field of food sociology.
·Two new chapters from leading international authors covering the politics of food and the and the culinary cultures of Europe.
·Strong learning each chapter includes and overview, key terms, summary of main points, discussion questions and further reading list.
·Sociological reflection new to this edition, these can be used as self-directed or class-based activities that assist readers to apply their learning.
·Extensive glossary of key concepts.
·An expanded Social Appetite website featuring a range of online instructor resources.
There are a few chapters in here I didn't get through because they weren't part of the course, but I read most of them. It's an Australian book, but there are stats from the US and Canada in there, and a lot of what is covered in here is applicable world wide anyways, especially the chapter on world hunger. This book is really informative, and gets you thinking about global problems in different ways. My only qualm is that the chapter on gender is, as per usual, about binary genders, i.e. sex. Transgender people have a unique relationship to food because of the intersection of their gender with other factors, and I would have liked to see that covered in a more "mainstream"/accessible title such as this.
An excellent editorial book for beginners of sociology of food. At the beginning of every each chapter informs about the concept that will be mentioned in there. Also, at the end of the every each chapter submit a summary of significant point of it. In this way, the book is designed as a course book as you study by oneself. To me, the weakest point of the book is the problem of continuity among chapters. I mean that there are chapters who begin with the beginning of the universe but on the other hand, there are some chapters who are much more detailed and high level. Specifically, I think the most strong chapters are about the ones about agriculture and food system, rather than food culture ones, these chapters are usually a little bit too basic if one interested in the topic. But overall, it is an excellent book: 5/5.
Recommended for those who are interested to know behind the scene story about what we eat and why. While for many, food seems to provide freedom in giving us quick happiness from consuming but is it really?