Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 278
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-4422-5131-1 • Hardback • December 2016 • $116.00 • (£89.00)
978-1-4422-5132-8 • eBook • December 2016 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
Kima Cargill, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Washington, Tacoma. She is the author of The Psychology of Overeating: Food and the Culture of Consumerism, and has published numerous journal articles and book chapters.
Introduction by Kima Cargill1. The Psychology of Food Cults by Kima Cargill2. The Allure Of Food Cults: Balancing Pseudoscience And Healthy Skepticism by Leighann R. Chaffee and Corey L. Cook3. Food Practices In Early Christianity by Paul A. Brazinski4. Juicing: Language, Ritual, And Placebo Sociality In A Community Of Extreme Eaters by Samuel Veissière and Liona Gibbs-Bravo5. Contemporary Superfood Cults: Nutritionism, Neoliberalism and Gender by Tina Sikka6. Gluttons Galore - A Rising Faction in Food Discourses and Dining Experiences by Carlnita Greene7. Caving In: The Appeal of the Paleo Diet in the Wake of 9/11 by Lenore Bell8. “Of Bananas And Cavemen”: Unlikely Similarities Between Two Online Food Communities by Amanda Maxfield and Andrea Rissing9. Eschew Your Food: Foodies, Healthism And The Elective Restrictive Diet By Michele Scott10. Breaking Bread: The Clashing Cults of Sourdough and Gluten-Free By L. Sasha Gora11. The Gluten-Free Cult: A World Without Wheat by Jennifer Martin12. Erasure of Indigenous Food Memories and (Re-)Imaginations by Preety Gadhoke and Barrett P. Brenton13. “Herb Is For The Healing Of The Nation!” –Marijuana As A Consumable Vegetable Among Ghetto Muslim Youth Of Maamobi In Accra, Ghana by De-Valera Botchway and Charles Prempeh14. What Makes A Good Mother? Mother’s Conceptions Of Good Food by Liora Gvion & Irit Sharir
The authors of the 15 chapters in this fascinating exploration into the typical ‘why we eat what we eat’ conversation employ a historical perspective to explore dining experiences and the development of specific food practices in varying communities. Food fads and diets generate powerful followings of individuals, and these essays explore why and how food cults develop while also addressing food's appeal from health, social, and ritualistic standpoints. In her opening chapter, editor Cargill addresses the social and psychological pull that food cults provide for members of a community, as well as how food cults can contribute to religion, gender issues, and cultural trends. Communities hold different ideologies towards food, and this book explores the social dynamics surrounding the ways individuals embrace food and nourishment, and why their behaviors are justified.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
— Choice Reviews
Researchers seeking a grounded counterpoint to online forums and social media would deeply benefit from this carefully chosen collection of essays. . . Folklorists interested in small-group dynamics, the evolution of religion, secular ritual, and identity politics would find this compilation fascinating. Omnivores, cookbook aficionados, culinary historians, and librarians interested in diversifying their food literature would benefit from this set of social criticism. Mental health practitioners working with extreme eaters or loved ones who are concerned about extreme eating behaviors could find this a helpful addition to their library. While not an overt critique of individual cults’ ideologies, Food Cults introduces a healthy dose of skepticism and critical review to the complicated conversation about healthy bodies and healthy communities.
— Digest: A Journal of Foodways & Culture
This book is for anyone who has ever been curious about why we are attracted to food fads and food dogma and how they shape our identities, food preferences, and nutritional beliefs, as well as our consumer economy. From superfoods and paleo to gluten-free, this fascinating multi-authored volume on dietary ideologies—anchored in theory—explores these topics via case studies on specific historical and contemporary food cults and communities.
— Jennifer Otten, Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Center for Public Health Nutrition
This skillfully edited volume examines a central question in food studies—why we eat what we eat—through the lens of food cults, communities that develop around food ideologies or beliefs. Editor Kima Cargill insightfully recognizes that the human needs for belonging, affirmation, and meaningfulness are intimately connected to the need for nourishment, and she brings together here interdisciplinary and international perspectives to shed light on the social dynamics of groups addressing those needs.
— Lucy M. Long, PhD, Director, Center for Food and Culture, Bowling Green, OH
Food and cults? What an enticing and somewhat sensational topic! Editor Kima Cargill has assembled a rich and compelling collection of essays exploring the complex and sometimes surprising connections between devoted spiritual and secular collectivities and foods of many classes and types. The volume is loaded with stimulating case studies and thought provoking theoretical analyses. A very worthy addition to institutional library and personal holdings alike.
— Stephen Wooten, PhD, Associate Professor of International Studies & Anthropology, Director of the Food Studies Program, University of Oregon