Consumption Patterns
The Science and History of Cold Breakfast Cereal
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kathryn Dolan
Cold, packaged breakfast cereals started as health foods, based in the burgeoning nineteenth century science of nutrition. At that time, health reformers like Sylvester Graham, James Caleb Jackson, John and Will Kellogg, and C.W. Post sought to bring whole grains back into the U.S. diet during the rise of industrialization and agricultural intensification, trends which led to more processed foods and cheaper meats in the national diet. These dietary trends led to higher rates of dyspepsia and other ailments across the population. Therefore, health reformers began sanitariums, venues where client-patients would eat and live in a “scientific” method to improve their diet and overall health. This new era of nutritionists patented their breakfast cereal recipes, much like medicines. These cereals—Granola, Corn Flakes, and Grape-Nuts—began an entire breakfast cereal industry. It wasn’t until after World War II that breakfast cereals were marketed almost exclusively to children, at which time their sugar content soared. Between the middle of the nineteenth century and WWII, though, a breakfast of cold cereal was seen as a healthy alternative to the industrialized, processed, meat-heavy American diet. In this paper, I examine how breakfast cereal began as a science, and how it has changed over two centuries. I study the effect cold breakfast cereals have had on “the most important meal of the day” in the United States and across the globe.
An Integrated Framework of Country-of-Origin in the Context of Trust in Food in the Global Age
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ivy (Caixia) Gan, Deinse Conroy, Michael S W Lee
Country-of-Origin (COO), usually recognised as the “made-in” label, has been extensively studied since the 1960s. COO labelling on food products is commonplace worldwide so as to facilitate informed purchasing decisions and promote trust in a time of frequent food recalls and safety incidents. However, the increasingly globalised food provision and consumption has made COO weak in signalling multiple country affiliations and thus created confusion in consumers. Based on an empirical investigation of consumer trust after food incidents, an integrated framework of COO, which covers the global food process from the farm to the table, from country-of-ingredients to country-of-consumption, is proposed to address the above-mentioned gap between lagged theory and changing food practice. The institutional regulative power of involved countries is also found essential in building consumer trust in food through COO cues. The proposed framework will advance theoretical understanding of COO and better inform business practice in the food sector.
Everyday Eating Behavior and Notions of Mongolian Pastoralists
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mari Kazato
The aim of this paper is to examine foodways such as folk taxonomy of dishes, eating behavior and notions of Mongolia that might represent practices and ideology on food as well as bodily norms of the society. I have made analysis of Mongolian pastoralists’ everyday food, eating behavior and notion since 1997. Firstly, Mongolian daily dishes are divided into ten sorts of meat main dishes. The most popular one, “meat with soup and noodle” is repeated almost everyday, getting foodstuffs more diverse. Secondly, on eating behavior, Mongolians mainly have “tea” from morning to afternoon, and “meal” only for dinner. “Meal” means meat itself and can be added with grain stuffs and vegetables. Thirdly, the female head of a household takes charge of cooking and distributing the meal, and she treats her husband and a favorite child with prior portion. However, others cannot protest against it, as they have a tendency not to express hunger and comments on food. In contrast, they are quite interested in others’ stomaches, and their hospitality is primarily shown with offering foods. In conclusion, women’s daily food management and distribution might be recognized as a way of biopolitics tied with national food and population policies.
