Encountering Food Systems

Abstract

This essay centers on an encounter with an idea, one that has become central to teaching—and activism—around food and agriculture—explored through an ongoing conversation. Neither of us presumed to have a full understanding of the history and uses of the term “food systems.” However, to understand its potential in teaching about food and agriculture, we considered how and when each of us—sociologists by training, but interdisciplinary by necessity—encountered and began using the term. According to Hewitt and Stokes (1975; see also Stokes and Hewitt 1976), a disclaimer is a way of protecting oneself in advance from negative comments or potentially stigmatizing identities. While neither of us disclaims our identity as sociologists whose projects span disciplinary boundaries, neither do we represent ourselves as having definitive knowledge about food systems. We therefore look forward to having others contest and embellish the definitions, theories and categorizations we discussed at conferences, over e-mail, and on a rainy morning in Ithaca.

Keywords:

• food systems
• food studies
• teaching
• liberal education
• perspectives
• social change
• sociology

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alice Julier

Alice Julier is Associate Professor and Director of the graduate program in Food Studies at Chatham University. She is the past president of the board of ASFS. She has taught courses on food through sociology and women's studies at Smith College, University of Pittsburgh, and the Gastronomy Program at Boston University. School for Sustainability and the Environment, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA ([email protected]).

Gilbert W. Gillespie

Gilbert W. Gillespie Jr. is Visiting Fellow in the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University. In 2009 he retired from being a senior research associate and senior lecturer. Since then he has taught courses on agriculture, food and society, and environment and society. He was president of Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society in 2008–09. Department of Development Sociology, Academic Surge A, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA ([email protected]).