The 21st Joint Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) and the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society (AFHVS) : June 4 – 8, 2008, in New Orleans, Louisiana (hosted by the University of New Orleans, in the Historic French Quarter)

Conference chair and local arrangements coordinator: David Beriss, Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Orleans

Deadline for submissions: February 4, 2008
This year’s conference is being held in New Orleans, where one of the most distinct culinary cultures in the United States is slowly — but surely — recovering from one of the worst disasters in American history. This year’s theme is inspired by that juxtaposition: in a world in which older agricultural practices and food traditions are simultaneously vibrant and under attack, what makes a culinary culture resilient? The floods of 2005 challenged many in New Orleans to think about what was important in their lives, including their culinary traditions and practices. The disaster revealed many of the inequities built on race and poverty that framed in often unacknowledged ways the lives of farmers, fishers, cooks and chefs — of nearly everyone — in the region. Yet food also stood as a symbol of lost identity, common culture, and distinctiveness for those who fled the floods. Food, often cooked and distributed by heroic chefs and restaurateurs in difficult conditions after the floods, was seen by many as the first sign that New Orleans could in fact recover. With the recovery now showing progress, it is clear that the local culinary culture has both survived and been significantly changed. Many culinary cultures face similar threats — including disasters, economic and political globalization, corporate homogenization, massive migrations, and violent conflicts — to their ability to survive. How will they adapt? What kinds of innovations allow us to speak of ongoing or even new culinary cultures? At the same time, in other parts of the world, governments and other economic players are revamping and sustaining local culinary traditions and identities to exploit their political and commercial potential. New Orleans will provide a fascinating context to think through these questions

Submit proposals to ; Dr. Alice P. Julier : apjulier@gmail.com
Information : http://www.afhvs.org/2008mtg.html