Food Literacy for All:“How the Other Half Eats: the Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America”

Talk Description: Inequality in America manifests in many ways, but perhaps nowhere more than in how we eat. In this virtual presentation, sociologist and ethnographer Priya Fielding-Singh draws on her years of field research to bring us into the kitchens of dozens of families to explore how—and why—we eat the way we do. At the heart of Fielding-Singh's talk will be covering her powerful and timely new book, How the Other Half Eats: the Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America. The book unpacks nutritional inequality in America through an examination of class, race and health, intimately following four families across the income spectrum in an exploration of the meaning of food itself. By diving into the nuances of these families’ lives, Fielding-Singh lays bare the limits of efforts narrowly focused on improving families’ diets through increasing their access to healthy food. Instead, she reveals how being rich or poor in America impacts something even more fundamental than the food families can afford: these experiences impact the very meaning of food itself.

Food Literacy for All: Launched in 2017, Food Literacy for All is a community-academic partnership course based at the University of Michigan. Structured as an evening lecture series, Food Literacy for All features different guest speakers each week to address challenges and opportunities of diverse food systems.

The course is free and open to the public. The 2022 course is virtual on Tuesday evenings at 6:30pm EST.

Food Literacy 2022 Registration: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0TGY1FaMRMSW2VzuP2pPDQ