Food Literacy


Book Description

Globally, the food system and the relationship of the individual to that system, continues to change and grow in complexity. Eating is an everyday event that is part of everyone’s lives. There are many commentaries on the nature of these changes to what, where and how we eat and their socio-cultural, environmental, educational, economic and health consequences. Among this discussion, the term "food literacy" has emerged to acknowledge the broad role food and eating play in our lives and the empowerment that comes from meeting food needs well. In this book, contributors from Australia, China, United Kingdom and North America provide a review of international research on food literacy and how this can be applied in schools, health care settings and public education and communication at the individual, group and population level. These varying perspectives will give the reader an introduction to this emerging concept. The book gathers current insights and provides a platform for discussion to further understanding and application in this field. It stimulates the reader to conceptualise what food literacy means to their practice and to critically review its potential contribution to a range of outcomes.




Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada


Book Description

By examining newcomers' progress over time, the LSIC affords the possibility of assisting researchers and policy-makers to go beyond existing descriptions of immigrant integration outcomes to an examination of how newcomers achieve these outcomes -- in essence, the "how" and "why" dimensions. While the full value of the survey will be reached when the three waves of data collection are completed, this first wave of data provides important benchmark information. The focus of this publication is on the early settlement experiences of immigrants, from pre-migration to the first six months after arrival. First an overview of the LSIC population is provided, looking at both pre-migration characteristics as well as those at arrival. This is followed by a comprehensive look at the first six months of the settlement process, looking at things such as health, housing and mobility; education and training taken since arrival; employment, income and the general perception of the immigrant's settlement experience. Finally, a more in-depth look at problems and difficulties newcomers experience in four key areas of integration is presented: accessing health services, finding housing, accessing education and training, and finding employment. Challenges to integration are examined in terms of what help was needed, received and from whom, or needed and not received.




New Immigration Destinations


Book Description

Current population movements involve both established and new destinations, often encompassing marginal and rural communities and resulting in a whole new set of issues for these communities. New Immigration Destinations examines structural forces and individual strategies and behaviour to highlight the opportunities and challenges for ‘new’ destination areas arising from new economic and cultural mobility. Representing a "second wave" in studies of in-migration, this volume examines patterns in "non-traditional" rural and peripheral migration destinations, with a particular case study on Northern Ireland. Indeed, focusing mainly on events in the host society, this book shows how processes of migrant incorporation are complex and rely on multifarious influences including the state, community, individuals and families. Accordingly, the book develops of migration and social integration within rural/peripheral destinations. This subsequently provides clarification of many of the contested concepts including transnationalism; integration, acculturation and assimilation; ‘new’ destinations; and migrants and ethnic minorities. Focusing on the local and the micro with a strong sense of research, social and policy reality, this timely volume critically engages with original theories of migration, thus providing a much fuller conceptual and theoretical understanding that is required in the emerging field of migration studies within a rapidly changing and uncertain world. This book’s interdisciplinary nature will appeal to policymakers, scholars, and both undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of disciplines including Sociology (Race and Ethnic Studies), Human Geography (Migration, Demography), Political Economy and Community Development.




Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast


Book Description

Throughout time and in every culture, human beings have eaten together. Commensality - eating and drinking at the same table - is a fundamental social activity, which creates and cements relationships. It also sets boundaries, including or excluding people according to a set of criteria defined by the society. Particular scholarly attention has been paid to banquets and feasts, often hosted for religious, ritualistic or political purposes, but few studies have considered everyday commensality. Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast offers an insight into this social practice in all its forms, from the most basic and mundane meals to the grandest occasions. Bringing together insights from anthropologists, archaeologists and historians, this volume offers a vast historical scope, ranging from the Late Neolithic period (6th millennium BC), through the Middle Ages, to the present day. The sixteen chapters include case studies from across the world, including the USA, Bolivia, China, Southeast Asia, Iran, Turkey, Portugal, Denmark and the UK. Connecting these diverse analyses is an understanding of commensality's role as a social and political tool, integral to the formation of personal and national identities. From first experiences of commensality in the sharing of food between a mother and child, to the inaugural dinner of the American president, this collection of essays celebrates the variety of human life and society.




Nationalism and Exclusion of Migrants


Book Description

The association of exclusionist and nationalist relations, termed ethnocentrism, has been previously explored within single-country contexts. Studies have shown that dispositional factors, such as social identity and personality traits, affect ethnocentric reactions and that attitudes differ between social categories. However, broader national and international explanations have been neglected in the literature. This book fills this major gap by providing a unique account of the relationship between nationalist attitudes and the exclusion of migrants across a range of European countries, the US, Canada and Australia. Drawing on a variety of comparative surveys, the authors assess whether ethnic exclusionist reactions and nationalist attitudes are indeed systematically related across countries, and whether variations in such attitudes reflect country-level as well as individual-level differences. The authors consider the multidimensionality of the concepts of nationalism and exclusionism as well as the empirical associations, and analyze the attitudes of both majority and minority groups within the countries studied.




Political Trust


Book Description

This book, by Sonja Zmerli and Marc Hooghe, presents cutting-edge empirical research on political trust as a relational concept. From a European comparative perspective it addresses a broad range of contested issues. Can political trust be conceived as a one-dimensional concept and to what extent do international population surveys warrant the culturally equivalent measurement of political trust across European societies? Is there indeed an observable general trend of declining levels of political trust? What are the individual, societal and political prerequisites of political trust and how do they translate into trustful attitudes? Why do so many Eastern European citizens still distrust their political institutions and how does the implementation of welfare state policies both enhance and benefit from political trust? The comprehensive empirical evidence presented in this book by leading scholars provides valuable insights into the relational aspects of political trust and will certainly stimulate future research. This book features: a state-of-the-art European perspective on political trust; an analysis of the most recent trends with regard to the development of political trust; a comparison of traditional and emerging democracies in Europe; the consequences of political trust on political stability and the welfare state; a counterbalance to the gloomy American picture of declining political trust levels.




Beyond the Body Proper


Book Description

A theoretically sophisticated and cross-disciplinary reader in the anthropology of the body.