This conversation is part of a special issue on “Critical Nutrition” in which multiple authors weigh in on various themes related to the origins, character, and consequences of contemporary American nutrition discourses and practices, as well as how nutrition might be known and done differently. In this section authors discuss the aims and effects of nutrition interventions. In terms of aims, various authors emphasize how such interventions act as pedagogies of citizenship, governmentalize people as metric consumers, or reflect colonial practices. In terms of effects, authors discuss how the project of nutrition works in class/race differentiation, the disempowerment of mothers, or the interest of transnational corporations. All of the authors essentially challenge not only nutrition’s fundamental claims to neutrality and objectivity, but also its claims to benevolence.
Nutrition as a Project
Aya H. Kimura is Associate Professor in Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her contributions in this article draw on her book, Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods (Cornell, 2013).
Charlotte Biltekoff is Associate Professor in American Studies and Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Her contributions to this essay draw on her book, Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health (Duke University Press, 2013).
Jessica Mudry is Assistant Professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her book, Measured Meals: Nutrition in America (SUNY, 2009), as well as her current book project on the culture of the calorie, informs her contributions to this issue.
Jessica Hayes-Conroy is Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where she teaches feminist geography, food studies, and environmental health. Her contributions here draw from her work in the co-edited volume, Doing Nutrition Differently (Ashgate, 2013).
Aya H. Kimura is Associate Professor in Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her contributions in this article draw on her book, Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods (Cornell, 2013).
Charlotte Biltekoff is Associate Professor in American Studies and Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Her contributions to this essay draw on her book, Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health (Duke University Press, 2013).
Jessica Mudry is Assistant Professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her book, Measured Meals: Nutrition in America (SUNY, 2009), as well as her current book project on the culture of the calorie, informs her contributions to this issue.
Jessica Hayes-Conroy is Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where she teaches feminist geography, food studies, and environmental health. Her contributions here draw from her work in the co-edited volume, Doing Nutrition Differently (Ashgate, 2013).
Aya H. Kimura is Associate Professor in Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her contributions in this article draw on her book, Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods (Cornell, 2013).
Charlotte Biltekoff is Associate Professor in American Studies and Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Her contributions to this essay draw on her book, Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health (Duke University Press, 2013).
Jessica Mudry is Assistant Professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her book, Measured Meals: Nutrition in America (SUNY, 2009), as well as her current book project on the culture of the calorie, informs her contributions to this issue.
Jessica Hayes-Conroy is Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where she teaches feminist geography, food studies, and environmental health. Her contributions here draw from her work in the co-edited volume, Doing Nutrition Differently (Ashgate, 2013).
Aya H. Kimura is Associate Professor in Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her contributions in this article draw on her book, Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods (Cornell, 2013).
Charlotte Biltekoff is Associate Professor in American Studies and Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Her contributions to this essay draw on her book, Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health (Duke University Press, 2013).
Jessica Mudry is Assistant Professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her book, Measured Meals: Nutrition in America (SUNY, 2009), as well as her current book project on the culture of the calorie, informs her contributions to this issue.
Jessica Hayes-Conroy is Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where she teaches feminist geography, food studies, and environmental health. Her contributions here draw from her work in the co-edited volume, Doing Nutrition Differently (Ashgate, 2013).
Aya H. Kimura, Charlotte Biltekoff, Jessica Mudry, Jessica Hayes-Conroy; Nutrition as a Project. Gastronomica 1 August 2014; 14 (3): 34–45. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2014.14.3.34
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