Twelfth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This paper lays out the framework for a new study on the intersections among public health, cultural identity, and international politics as experienced in small-scale fishing nations. Using the whaling society of the Faroe Islands as an extreme case indicator community, we investigate whether limits on global emission releases set by treaties such as the Minamata Convention on Mercury and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants are properly gauged to protect not only human health but cultural wellbeing, economic autonomy, and political sovereignty too. We argue that lessons learned from the indicator community chosen for analysis can inform the development of new theories that apply to small-scale fishing communities worldwide.