Historical Geography of Food

Course Number:

GLS 535

Instructor:

Hines, Elizabeth

Objective: To introduce you to the various methods and resources for obtaining information on the geographical, political, cultural, and historical aspects of food. Specifically, this guide will address methods for beginning your research, finding journal articles, and other sources of information.

Starting Points

Encyclopedias and Overview Literature
If you are not familiar with a topic when beginning your research a great place to begin is with a specialized encyclopedia. These types of materials are excellent resources for summarizing what is known by scientists, what questions or issues remain, and often include suggestions regarding directions for future research. Often, these materials are authored by highly regarded scientists who have made lasting contributions to the particular field of research. The following list provides a topical overviews, bibliographies, and other related information in the study of historical, cultural, and geographical importance of food. The library maintains many more sources than those listed here, so it is important to search the library's catalog and/or browse the the shelves around these titles to locate other relavant materials.

Cambridge World History of Food

Includes sections on the foods of human ancestry, domestical plants and animals, oils, food trade, nutrition, disease, food and drink from around the world, geographic histories of food, and food policy issues.

Encyclopedia of Food and Culture

Focuses on food and its place in human culture and society. Entries include food distribution, nutrition, health, cultures, cuisines

Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

Excellent starting point to investigate the historical and cultural impact of food in the United States.

Articles & eResources

As you begin researching a topic, you may not be aware of any published material on your subject. And with multiple systems for accessing information, knowing where to begin can be a difficult and overwhelming task; particularly if one is not familiar with that specific area of study. However, knowing what sources are available for finding this information, and how to search through these sources is a critical function of a well-trained scientist/researcher.

To help you begin learning about core bibliographic databases in the study of history, economics, geography, culture, and society a list of these resources is provided below. These should also help you find scientific/scholarly journal articles related to your papers for this class. Please note that each database has a limited scope, so depending on your topic it may be necessary to search one or more of these databases.

Key Databases (i.e. indexes) for Finding Articles

Note: These databases are stand alone resources and primarily citation-based; i.e. they will not generally contain the full-text of the articles listed. You will need to search the library's catalog to determine if the library subscribes to the journal referencing your article. By searching the library's catalog you will be able to determine if the library has access to your article.

If you find that the library does not subscribe to the journal referencing your article or is missing the journal issue that contains your article, use the library's Interlibrary Loan service and the library will obtain it for you from another university. This is a FREE service! All you need to do is give us the citation and we'll do the rest. All you need to do is create an account so that you can submit the information to us and so we know who to send the article to when it arrives. This service also applies to books.

Don't wait until the last minute to do your research. Interlibrary Loan requests can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks to fill so make sure you give yourself enough time to obtain the best information possible for your paper!

America: History & Life

Covering the historical literature of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, America: History and Life is a valuable tool for historical analysis and information related to U.S. and Canadian society.

Anthropological Index Online

Index to about 700 journals worldwide received by the Museum of Mankind Library in London, covering both physical and cultural anthropology and related fields.

Anthropological Literature

Bibliographic index to articles and essays published from the late 19th century to the present on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies.

Historical Abstracts

Covering the world's scholarly literature in history (1450-present), with the exception of the United States and Canada, Historical Abstracts is a valuable tool for historical analysis and information related to culture and society.

PubMED

A free resource (1950s-present) developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), PubMed is the most comprehensive biomedical research database. It provides access to 12 million citations and additional life science journals published in the US and 70 foreign countries. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources. Please see the PubMed Fact Sheet and Guide for more information on using this database.

Web of Science

WorldCat

A combined catalog of thousands of libraries, including Randall Library. Search WorldCat if you want to search the largest universe of book and other cataloged items.

Using the Library Catalog

Click here to search the Library Catalog

When searching the library's catalog, a "Keyword" search will often yield the results that one is looking for in a search. However, when searching specifically for information on a specific topic a subject search will be beneficial as well. The library uses subject headings developed by the Library of Congress to classify its books. Below are several examples that may help you when searching for information. Simply, copy and paste each into the catalog search box, select "Subject" as the search feature, and hit "Submit." The catalog will then bring up all the entries that have that subject.

Agriculture - economic aspects
Agriculture - History
Diet
Drinking Customs
Food - History
Food crops - History
Food habits

Food preferences
Food relief
Hunger Produce trade
Produce Trade - developing countries
Sociology, Rural
United States - Rural conditions

Books & Library Materials

Human relations area files

Available in the library's microfiche collection (GN4 .H85), the HRAF is a collection of ethnographic materials providing historical information on the ways of life of people in over 350 cultural, ethnic, religious, and national groups around the world. Included is information on the diet and foods of the various culture groups and the majority of the sources are primary documents which have resulted from field observation by anthropologists. Materials used to access the HRAF include the Outline of World Cultures; Index to the Human Relations Area Files (UNCW Microfiche: GN4 .H85 Index); and HRAF Source Bibliography (UNCW Reference Collection: GN345.3 .H72).

Foods and Nutrition Encyclopedia

Includes information on many aspects of food, nutrition and related health topics, with historical context. Arranged alphabetically with cross-references to related articles. Includes illustrations.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life

Organized into four volumes (Africa, Americas, Asia and Oceania, Europe), the series provides information on 500 cultures of the world, covering twenty different areas of daily life including clothing, food, language, and religion.

Consuming Geographies: We Are Where We Eat

Food in Antiquity: a Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples

Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography

Seed to Civilization: the Story of Food

Feeding the World: a Challenge for the Twenty-first Century

Food: a Culinary History from Antiquity to the Present

Websites

Key Ingredients: America by Food

Online educational companion to the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibition Key Ingredients: America by Food. Explore the two ingredients that are key to American cuisine - regional traditions and international influences.

Not by Bread Alone: America's Culinary Heritage

Sponsored by Cornell University, the site explores American cuisine from the period when it became distinct from its European ancestry.

Changing Structure of Global Food Consumption and Trade

Regmi, Anita. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

World Food Habits Bibliography

Compiled and maintained by Robert S. Dirks, Anthropological Program, Illinois State University, the site provides a comprehensive bibliography of food's role in culture and history.

Page maintained by:

Peter Fritzler