Food is Good to Teach: An Exploration of the Cultural Meanings of Food

摘要

This article focuses on the teaching of culture through the lens of food. It discusses a course of food and culture, in which students considered various foodstuffs and traditions as means to explore various cultural areas, including subsistence and economic issues, gender and racial stratification, ethnic and nationalist identities, and more. Drawing on the results of an in-class survey and class discussions, the article highlights a wide range of ideas and beliefs as well as areas of emerging resistance to cultural diversity which became highly visible to the students because the topic of "food" seemed innocent and safe.