Food cults : how fads, dogma, and doctrine influence diet / edited by Kima Cargill.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cargill, Kima, editor.

Series:

Studies in food and gastronomy

Rowman & Littlefield studies in food and gastronomy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food habits--Social aspects.

Food habits.

Food preferences--Social aspects.

Food preferences.

Nutrition--Social aspects.

Nutrition.

Diet--Social aspects.

Diet.

Physical Description:

vi, 271 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2017]

Summary:

What do we mean when we call any group a cult? Defining that term is a slippery proposition-the word cult is provocative and arguably pejorative. Does it necessarily refer to a religious group? A group with a charismatic leader? Or something darker and more sinister? Because beliefs and practices surrounding food often inspire religious and political fervor, in addition to uniting people into insular groups, it is inevitable that "food cults" will emerge. Studying the extreme beliefs and practices of such food cults allows us to see the ways in which food serves as a nexus for religious beliefs, sexuality, death Anxiety, preoccupation with the body, asceticism, and hedonism, to name a few. In contrast to religious and political cults, food cults have the added dimension of mediating cultural trends in nutrition and diet through their membership. Should we then consider raw foodists, many of whom believe that cooked food is poison, part of a food cult? What about paleo diet adherents or those who follow a restricted-calorie diet for longevity? Food Cults explores these questions by looking at domestic and international food communities characterized by extreme nutritional beliefs or viewed as "fringe" movements by mainstream culture. While there are a variety of accounts of such food communities across disciplines, this collection pulls together these works and explains why we gravitate toward such groups, as well as the social and psychological functions they serve. The contributors here describe how contemporary and historic food communities come together and foment fanaticism, judgment, charisma, dogma, passion, longevity, condemnation, and exaltation. Book jacket.

Contents:

The Psychology of Food Cults / Kima Cargill

The Allure Of Food Cults : Balancing Pseudoscience And Healthy Skepticism / Leighann R. Chaffee and Corey L. Cook

Food Practices In Early Christianity / Paul A. Brazinski

Longevity Diets in Historical Perspective / Ken Albala

Juicing : Language, Ritual, And Placebo Sociality In A Community Of Extreme Eaters / Samuel Veissière and Liona Gibbs-Bravo

Contemporary Superfood Cults : Nutritionism, Neoliberalism and Gender / Tina Sikka

Gluttons Galore : A Rising Faction in Food Discourses and Dining Experiences / Carlnita Greene

Caving In : The Appeal of the Paleo Diet in the Wake of 9/11 / Lenore Bell

"Of Bananas And Cavemen" : Unlikely Similarities Between Two Online Food Communities / Amanda Maxfield and Andrea Rissing

Eschew Your Food : Foodies, Healthism And The Elective Restrictive Diet / Michele Scott

Breaking Bread : The Clashing Cults of Sourdough and Gluten-Free / L. Sasha Gora

The Gluten-Free Cult : A World Without Wheat / Jennifer Martin

Erasure of Indigenous Food Memories and (Re- )Imaginations / Preety Gadhoke and Barrett P. Brenton

"Herb Is For The Healing Of The Nation!" : Marijuana As A Consumable Vegetable Among Ghetto Muslim Youth Of Maamobi In Accra, Ghana / De-Valera Botchway and Charles Prempeh

What Makes A Good Mother? : Mother's Conceptions Of Good Food / Liora Gvion & Irit Sharir.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Food cults.

ISBN:

9781442251311

144225131X

OCLC:

953708350

Publisher Number:

40026704549