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Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites

Michelle Moon

Food is such a friendly topic that it’s often thought of as a “hook” for engaging visitors – a familiar way into other topics, or a sensory element to round out a living history interpretation. But it’s more than just a hook – it’s a topic all its own, with its own history and its own uncertain future, deserving of a central place in historic interpretation. With audiences more interested in food than ever before, and new research in food studies bringing interdisciplinary approaches to this complicated but compelling subject, museums and historic sites have an opportunity to draw new audiences and infuse new meaning into their food presentations.

You’ll find:

A comprehensive, thematic framework of key concepts that will help you contextualize food history interpretations;
A concise, evaluative review of the historiography of food interpretation;
Case studies featuring the expression of these themes in the real world of museum interpretation; and
Best practices for interpreting food.

Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites offers a framework for understanding the big ideas in food history, suggesting best practices for linking objects, exhibits and demonstrations with the larger story of change in food production and consumption over the past two centuries – a story in which your visitors can see themselves, and explore their own relationships to food. This book can help you develop food interpretation with depth and significance, making relevant connections to contemporary issues and visitor interests.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / AASLH

Pages: 220 • Trim: 7¼ x 10¼

978-1-4422-5720-7 • Hardback • November 2015 • $102.00 • (£78.00)

978-1-4422-5721-4 • Paperback • November 2015 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

978-1-4422-5722-1 • eBook • November 2015 • $47.50 • (£37.00)

Series: Interpreting History

Subjects: Business & Economics / Museum Administration & Museology

Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Food is such a friendly topic that it’s often thought of as a “hook” for engaging visitors – a familiar way into other topics, or a sensory element to round out a living history interpretation. But it’s more than just a hook – it’s a topic all its own, with its own history and its own uncertain future, deserving of a central place in historic interpretation. With audiences more interested in food than ever before, and new research in food studies bringing interdisciplinary approaches to this complicated but compelling subject, museums and historic sites have an opportunity to draw new audiences and infuse new meaning into their food presentations.

You’ll find:
- A comprehensive, thematic framework of key concepts that will help you contextualize food history interpretations;
- A concise, evaluative review of the historiography of food interpretation;
- Case studies featuring the expression of these themes in the real world of museum interpretation; and
- Best practices for interpreting food.
Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites offers a framework for understanding the big ideas in food history, suggesting best practices for linking objects, exhibits and demonstrations with the larger story of change in food production and consumption over the past two centuries – a story in which your visitors can see themselves, and explore their own relationships to food. This book can help you develop food interpretation with depth and significance, making relevant connections to contemporary issues and visitor interests.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / AASLH

Pages: 220 • Trim: 7¼ x 10¼

978-1-4422-5720-7 • Hardback • November 2015 • $102.00 • (£78.00)

978-1-4422-5721-4 • Paperback • November 2015 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

978-1-4422-5722-1 • eBook • November 2015 • $47.50 • (£37.00)

Series: Interpreting History

Subjects: Business & Economics / Museum Administration & Museology

Author

Michelle Moon oversees adult learning and interpretation at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, MA, a museum of global art, culture, and history, where she has forged connections between art, culture, ideas and audiences since 2009. She frequently speaks to professional audiences and has presented at the New England Museum Association, the American Association for State and Local History, the Association of Living History Farms and Agricultural Museums, and the National Council for Public History, as well as lecturing to college and graduate audiences on topics in museum interpretation, adult learning and food history.

Table of Contents

Preface: A Mug-Up
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why It’s Time to Rethink Food in History Interpretation

Chapter One: Starting from Scratch: The Origins of Food Interpretation
Chapter Two: Who's at the Table? Interpreting Food and Identity
Chapter Three: It's Good for You! Interpreting Food and Health
Chapter Five: Food - New and Improved! Interpreting Food Technology and Fashion
Chapter Six: Edible Activism: Interpreting the Politics of the Plate
Chapter Seven: Final Thoughts: Toward Resilience
Suggested Resources

Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

Food is the tie that binds together people across history and cultures. It tells the story of both cultures and individuals. Museum visitors understand this and consistently gravitate towards exhibits and interpretive activities highlighting food and in evaluations consistently mention it as one of the most memorable of museum experiences. Michelle Moon's Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites combines a lively history of food and society with practical suggestions on how to create programs that inform and engage museum-goers of all ages. Moon's book deserves a place in both the personal and professional libraries of all history museum professionals.
— Garet D. Livermore, Adjunct Professor of Museum Education, Cooperstown Graduate Program

Awards

• Commended, NCPH Book Award (2017)

Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites

Michelle Moon

Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites

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