Social scientists (such as Human Geographers, Cultural Anthropologists and Archaeologists) seek information about cultures, both ancient and modern, by looking at the "material stuff" in peoples' lives. Human Geographers use material cultural information to help explain human movement and changes in cultural landscapes. By cultural landscape, I am referring to the human imprint, or everything people do to the earth. Geographers also look at cultural diffusion, which means how behavior, ideas, and material "things" move from place to place. I am interested in food and food storage and what it tells us about the cultural diffusion of food, appliances such as refrigerators, and the modern diet.
What does today's kitchen pantry and refrigerator tell us about the early 21st century family? What does it say about a culture? Is the food produced locally or is it imported? If it is imported, does it come from across the country or from across the world? Are people eating more processed foods these days? Are freezers packed with frozen TV dinners or simple frozen vegetables to be used in creating dinners at home? Where did the frozen fruits and vegetables come from? Chile, perhaps? Does every family have a freezer these days? What about homes that lack electricity? How are foods stored there? Did one group learn a particular food storage system from another group? Are the products we use to store foods, such as refrigerators and freezers the same across the planet? Tell me about Tupperware! Who buys what kind of refrigerator? Do people living in Europe store the same types of food in their freezers that Americans do? What about Japan and India? What does all this say about how food and dietary ideas moves across earth's spaces?
The plan is to have everyday people from throughout the world photograph their pantries and refrigerators (as is) and email me the images. Add titles and a caption to the pictures and include a description of where you live, the number of people in your family, and anything else relevant to the images. What does your food say about you and your family? Also, make sure you include contact information for academic and legal purposes. (I promise not to share personal information, but this is a university project and I need to be accountable for the data I use.) For example, you might write: "My pantry and fridge feed a family of five in a suburban neighborhood located about 20 miles from Wilmington, NC. Three members of our family have food allergies and that means we need to buy a variety of different milks and milk substitutes. And, we have a dog." If your pantry is empty, that is great too! Thank you for your participation. -Kama Varney-Heck, University of North Carolina Wilmington
See My Food!