American foodways (or the ways that people “do food”) are shaped by politics, economics, history, culture, and desire. Food Studies is an essential component of American Studies, both because food culture is intrinsically worthy of study and because foodways and food systems reveal many of the crucial themes and fault lines of American culture.

This course considers the interlocking topics of food culture and food justice in the United States, including key issues in American Food Studies today, from what it means to speak of "American food" to how artists intervene in our habituated practices, with a focus on what creativity means with regard to food, and on food sovereignty as self-determination and agency.

Students will deepen their historical understanding of US culture, broaden their grasp of the forces that shape American foodways, and take creative and practical action through food. While grounded in key historical readings, this course points steadily to the present—to understand where we are—and to the future.

In addition to reading and discussion, this course engages students with a series of food-based activities, from collaborative cooking to community-based hunger action.

By exploring structural injustices alongside creative resistance and approaching food sovereignty as the fulfillment of cultural legacies and human agency, we can imagine doing food—and shaping our society—differently.