“I will never return to that Zone of Death! You too should try to follow this diet to nurture life.” Aunt Minh[i](Fieldwork notes, February 2018) We first met…
Photograph: coming soon I’m delighted to post this exciting PhD thesis review, which nicely complements the recently posted review of the book Food, Faith and Gender in South-east…
*This essay includes a photograph of a replica Paranthropus boisei skull and a replica human skull. New approaches to the dental remains of early hominins and the diets…
Maggi instant noodles are a treasured favorite among India’s young people. Their banning in 2015 conjured youthful memories of rebellion and revealed the uncertainties of our global food…
Facing language problems in Peru’s new coffee economy During a recent trip to the Andean-Amazonian foothills of Southern Peru, I hiked out to a remote corner of the…
A degree in sociocultural anthropology may not be the most obvious background for a food stylist, yet it was a love for hands-on, detailed fieldwork that led me…
A student-curated exhibition offers an immersive exploration of food and the connections, stories, and memories we consume each time we eat. Image description: A small, neon yellow…
Japan’s standing bars offer respite from the daily grind with drinks, lively company, and a feast of small dishes. Image description: People walk down a corridor in front…
The Wonka-fication of chocolate in American society is multiply damaging, increasing cocoa producer vulnerability to COVID-19 and further eliding the inequalities that characterize the value chain. “W…
An heirloom bean club brings culinary community and diverse foodways to its legume lovers’ doors. Alubia Blanca, Good Mother Stallard, Vaquero, Eye of the Goat. Four times a…
Keeping processing lines running at workers’ expense is not only a sign of our pandemic times. The meat and poultry processing industry has long treated workers as disposable.…
How a white identified city struggles to commemorate the Black lives and deaths that produced its sugar and built its wealth. Sugar Land is a growing, white, politically…
When I arrived from the Philippines to the airport in the city of Gondar in northern Ethiopia early last year—before the pandemic started—I was greeted with an intensely…
Food, Faith and Gender in South Asia: The Cultural Politics of Women’s Food Practices. Usha Sanyal and Nita Kumar. Bloomsbury. 2020. ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-3706-6. 222 pp. Wendy Yared…
Review of Tania Lewis. Digital Food: From Paddock to Platform. Bloomsbury Academic. London. 2020. ISBN: 978-1-3500-5509-4. 205 pp. Richard Zimmer (Sonoma State University) Tania Lewis has wr…
Re-reading page 99 of my dissertation, I’m snapped back to the mosque in Milan, Italy that I came to know so well. Where public school children convened to…
The Familiar Strange · #68:Landing On The Earth; Ashley Carruthers On Organic Farming And Cycling In Vietnam This week, we bring you an interview with Dr. Ashley Carruthers.…
Anthropologist Bill Schindler uses techniques developed thousands of years ago to prepare fresh-caught salmon during the filming of National Geographic’s The Great Human Race. Luke Cormack …
The winter holiday season will feel different this year for many: Extended families may not be able to gather, leaving holiday meals shared with smaller groups, or digitally,…
[no-caption] Manny Rodriguez As a poet and an anthropologist, I often write about the cycles of Black grief, death, celebration, and life. As a Black queer descendant of…
Ancient artwork, such as this relief in the Israel Beer Breweries museum in Ashkelon, Israel, offers clues to past beer production. Alamy One morning in May 2019, a…
[no-caption] Angus Greig SAPIENS host Chip Colwell talks with experimental archaeologist Farrell Monaco about her work re-creating ancient Roman bread and what it means to reconnect with …
If you’re an Australian, the title of this blog post likely felt kind of strange to you. Perhaps it just felt a bit wrong or maybe it made…
Experimental archaeologist Farrell Monaco re-creates the baking techniques of ancient Romans to produce classic breads such as the panis quadratus. Farrell Monaco Around 2000 B.C., a bake…