Introduction

The term foodways has emerged from the intersection of popular and scholarly literature about cuisine to account for everything about eating, including what we consume, how we acquire it, who prepares it, and who is at the table. ¹ In the words of Patricia Harris, David Lyon, and Sue McLaughlin, foodways, as a concept, summons to mind “[o]ur attitudes, practices, and rituals around food” and offers a “window onto our most basic beliefs about the world and ourselves.” ² Robert Blair St. George has described foodways as a form of vernacular expression with autoethnographic dimensions. ³ Other recent characterizations of the term foodways have focused on the procurement, preparation, and consumption of food. ⁴ Foodways has invigorated food studies and done much to awaken readers to the profound impact foods have on culture, politics, and industrial practices. ⁵