by Emma J Devereux
Citation: Devereux, E.J.,(2021), “Food as Identity, Society, & Political Power: Introduction”, EcoFoodDev, https://www.ecofooddev.com/food-as-identity-society-political-power-introduction/
When I first left my rural family home to study in the city, I quickly became aware of aspects of my country lifestyle (that I had never previously considered) that were different to those of my new urban friends. My meals were a little back to front compared to theirs. 1pm was ‘lunch’- this was usually my largest meal of the day called “dinner”. Their “dinner” was at 7 or 8pm in the evening, when I would eat “supper”. My meals and their meals stood in opposition to one another, with different types of food eaten and involving different methods of preparation. You might think this difference minor, but it caused my new friends much amusement and made me feel a little awkward. I was the culchie who ate odd things at odd times. Of course, I had been aware of people eating light lunches, I wasn’t totally sheltered, but Ireland today is arguably much more generally urbane than even the early 00’s. In the context of that time, my way of eating was something used to differentiate me, particularly as a bit uncivilized (given, of course, the social politics of 19-year-olds). Though I persisted out of a sense of identity and out of the sense of banter, eventually my new way of life and the new environment in which I lived dictated that I change my ways. So, I relented, and did lunch.
However, I then found that when I went to my family home there was a pressure to return to my old pattern of eating- I didn’t quite fit into the routine there anymore either because my eating habits had slightly changed. To insist upon my new way of eating could be seen as a judgement of my family, perhaps even an insult.
Thus, I physically realised just how much what I eat, and when I eat it, is not just dictated by taste or hunger, but by societal norms and expectations and the responsibility to establish and maintain relationships, even in modern contexts.
Food plays a vital role in building and maintaining relationships. The traditional first date is often dinner, seen as a good way to get to know someone. We have drinks and throw parties to mark special occasions and anniversaries. Wedding feasts join families, and funeral meals/drinks celebrate the passing of a loved one. The “breaking of bread” holds hugely symbolic meaning in business and religious settings to establish relationships, solidify power, and to make deals. Therefore, consumption and the practice of coming together at a communal feast can be used to gain political or social prestige, underline social inequalities, and is used to establish reciprocal bonds between people, groups, and associations. Food has long been used in our worship, as a way of marking identity, as a means of defining community, and as a method of control- particularly in terms of who can take part and who is excluded.
We can see these different ideas regarding food and consumption in our everyday lives: the importance of Christmas Dinner, fasting during Lent or Ramadan, chocolate eggs at Easter, the importance of Thanksgiving Dinner in the US (and how this dinner distracts from the origins of the holiday), or even something as simple as getting a takeaway as a ‘treat’, or sit-down Sunday dinner.
The consumption of food for political and social control does not just include what is eaten and when, but where food is consumed, how it is prepared (and by whom), and the congregation of participants. Feasts may be celebrated at specific locations, or special architectural features may be used- even down to using the “good” china or silverware. Food types may be rare, exotic, or intoxicating, with a distinctive method of preparation. The guests may wear special clothing, use special vessels, and different seating and temporal arrangements in serving may all be features of a feast, as distinct from everyday consumption. Feasts reveal a host of different ideas and notions about society, and provide information on identity, politics, social stratification, and gender roles among others.
Why is this important?
Why is it important to understand this today? As food is part of the everyday fabric of life we can overlook its significance in these contexts, and thus not be aware that we are partaking in these rituals, systems, and ideas- some of which are designed to exclude. This can begin at the shops we will or will not shop at, to the types of food we will or will not eat. Constructing moralities around food and diet can lead to unhealthy lifestyle movements and eating disorders. It is vital to understand these drivers from a personal health perspective, business perspective, from a social perspective and from a political perspective to ensure future food security, to facilitate transparent and clear communication of the value (nutritional and economic) of food, to combat food fads, and to ensure no one is excluded from society. We must ensure that there is room for everyone at the table.
What Drives Our Food Choices?
As this is such a large topic, I will generally introduce the concept of food choice drivers in human society (as opposed to biological drivers) and will delve more deeply into these topics in further posts. To better understand the social and cultural processes associated with consumption, we must look at the types of food people eat, and whether people’s food choices are rational and based on nutrition, or more culturally determined. In my example, the decision to eat a large meal in the middle of the day is a product of rural lifestyles- agrarian schedules mean people rise early and engage in heavy labour from dawn until dusk, which requires a significant refuelling in the middle of day.
Anthropologists have constructed various models to understand patterns of human food consumption and diet choices. Lewis Binford (1980), an American archaeologist and ethnoarchaeologist, investigated land-use habits of hunter-gatherer groups, undertaking fieldwork with the Nunamiut in Alaska, and describes methods by which they gathered and collected food and the associated labour costs. He found that environment, population density, and technological adaptations are responsible for general changes in subsistence strategies through time. Essentially, their lifeways are responses to their environment.
However, Wiessner (1982) criticizes Binford’s approach, by asserting that hunter-gatherer adaptations and subsistence strategies are not determined by climate and environment alone, but that social relationships are equally as important, including inter-group, and intra-group interaction. Cost minimization and calculating risk were cited by Wiessner as other factors involved in subsistence organisation and food choice. She argues that the entire productive process should be considered, from organisation around resources, site distribution, environmental remains and variation in artefacts.
Hamilakis further states that a product embodies the meaning of the entire production and distribution process, and therefore its consumption is the consumption of the entire process (Hamilakis 1999). Gumerman (1997) notes that some of the models put forward, such as those by Binford and Wiessner are too narrow, and do not adequately address the effect of individual action on subsistence.
Clearly, this is a field of huge debate, and ongoing research now incorporates even more scientific approaches, moving away from solely anthropological discourse to the integration of ecology, environmental science, and anthropology (see references below such as Sponheimer). Evidently, consumption is not just a repetitive process engaged in daily for survival but is a way of life, a way for people to communicate and enter relationships. Hence all aspects of consumption, from production, to preparation, to the act of feasting, are relevant to understand how we eat, what we eat, and why. An appreciation of these nuances is essential for policy regarding agricultural production (particularly consumer tastes and considerations), for environmental policy, and for the consideration of marginalised groups and indigenous peoples. In upcoming posts, I will give an overview of the different types of relationships involved in food and consumption such as gender roles, food taboos, food and social status, and consumption and power.
References
- Binford, L. R., 1980, “Willow smoke and dogs’ tails: hunter-gatherer settlement systems and archaeological site formation”, American antiquity, pp4-20.
- Dietler, M., & Hayden, B., 2001, “Digesting the feast—good to eat, good to drink, good to think: An introduction”, in Feasts: archaeological and ethnographic perspectives on food, politics, and power, pp1-20.
- Dietler, M., 2001, “Theorizing the Feast”, in Feasts: archaeological and ethnographic perspectives on food, politics, and power, pp65-105.
- Gumerman, G., 1997, “Food and complex societies”, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 4(2), pp105-139.
- Hamilakis, Y., 1999, “The anthropology of food and drink consumption and Aegean archaeology”, Palaeodiet in the Aegean, pp55-63. Kelly, R. L., 1995, The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in hunter-gatherer lifeways, Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- Sponheimer, M., Alemseged, Z., Cerling, T.E., Grine, F.E., Kimbel, W.H., Leakey, M.G., Lee-Thorp, J.A., Manthi, F.K., Reed, K.E., Wood, B.A. and Wynn, J.G., 2013. Isotopic evidence of early hominin diets. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(26), pp.10513-10518.
- Sponheimer, M., Clauss, M. and Codron, D., 2019. Dietary evolution: the panda paradox. Current Biology, 29(11), pp.R417-R419.
- Ungar, P.S. and Sponheimer, M., 2011. The diets of early hominins. Science, 334(6053), pp.190-193.
- Van Der Warker, A. M., 1999, “Feasting and status at the Toqua site”, Southeastern Archaeology, 18(1), pp24-34.
- Wollstonecroft, M. M., 2011, “Investigating the role of food processing in human evolution: a niche construction approach”, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 3(1), pp141-150.
- Wiessner, P., 1982, “Beyond willow smoke and dogs’ tails: a comment on Binford’s analysis of hunter-gatherer settlement systems”, American Antiquity, pp171-178.
- Willcox, G., & Stordeur, D., 2012, “Large-scale cereal processing before domestication during the tenth millennium cal BC in northern Syria”, Antiquity, 86(331), pp99-114.
- Wright, K. I., 2000,. “The social origins of cooking and dining in early villages of western Asia”, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 66, pp. 89-121.
- Wright, J. C., 1995, “Empty cups and empty jugs: the social role of wine in Minoan and Mycenaean societies”, in The Origins and Ancient History of Wine, pp282-309.
- Cover image: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=19274&picture=pint-of-proper-guinness-in-dublin
