ANTHROP 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Sidney Mintz, Clearcutting, Retail Therapy
26 Nov 2015
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Anthrop 1aa3 - lecture #26 - food as commodity. Material culture is anything that is made, modified or shaped by humans. By modifying food we impart culture onto the food. Certain types of material culture (including food) are commodities: things. Food is a form of material culture that acquire value in a culture and can be bought and sold in a capitalist/market economy. Are signifiers of identities like gender, class, status, etc. We often use or manipulate commodities to cultivate our identities; eg. women and purses. Food is also a commodity: class, food and "taste" When foods are commodified: they have high economic value, they become perceived as a necessary part of our lives, eg. chocolate, sugar, beef, coffee. We eat certain foods to show off our identity. It becomes easy to overlook how our consumption habits affect others around the world, or how our habits have global effects.
