September 24 – Food Meaning and Practice
September 24
Class Content
In this class, we will continue exploring how food takes on meaning through culture and everyday practice. We will begin with a Food for Thought discussion about soil and compost, considering soil as a living system and thinking about how soil health, biodiversity, nutrients, and human activity connect to the food we eat.
We will then return to our framework for analyzing the cultural significance of food. We will continue examining how food is produced and represented, how cultural signs and symbols communicate meaning, and how people interpret food through their experiences, identities, social environments, and everyday practices.
Supplemental Readings and Resources
These optional readings and resources are included for anyone interested in exploring the topics from class in more depth. They are not required.
Presentations
Schedule
Introduction and Check-In
– How are your plants doing?
– What have you noticed since last week?
Food for Thought – Soil and Compost
– What is soil, and what makes soil healthy?
– Explore soil nutrients, biodiversity, and the relationship between soil and plant health
– Consider how compost helps return nutrients and organic matter to the soil
– Discuss how farming practices and food systems can shape soil over time
Framework for Analyzing the Cultural Significance of Food
– Continue working through the multidimensional model introduced last class
– Examine how food and cultural meanings are produced
– Explore signs, symbols, and semiotics using familiar food examples
– Consider how people interpret food through automatic thinking, experience, identity, and social context
– Discuss how everyday food practices are shaped by family, communities, institutions, culture, and broader social forces
Questions, Comments and Concerns
– Questions about the class material
– Course-related questions, comments, and concerns