Eating Power: Food, Culture, and Politics

Abstract

Food, if interpreted just as an expression of biological needs, may come across as natural and apolitical. It does not take much to realize that food is actually profoundly entangled with power dynamics, social structures, and environmental issues that assume immediate, tangible meanings. Both as a material object with innumerable and diverse uses and in its cultural and media representations, food reflects, supports, and reinforces values and practices that have social and economic consequences in terms of accessibility, affordability, and labor relations, at times generating oppression and injustice. In this context, hegemonic analysis allows us a deeper understanding of such biopolitical dynamics, while providing crucial tools for interventions aimed at introducing change and social innovation.