AMERICAN FOODIE: Taste, Art and the Cultural Revolution
“You don’t have to be a fan of sophisticated food to enjoy this often entertaining illuminating lecture on America’s current taste revolution.” –Publishers Weekly
As nutrition, food is essential, but in today’s world of excess, a good portion of the world has taken food beyond its functional definition to fine art status. From celebrity chefs to amateur food bloggers, individuals take ownership of the food they eat as a creative expression of personality, heritage, and ingenuity. Dwight Furrow examines the contemporary fascination with food and culinary arts not only as global spectacle, but also as an expression of control, authenticity, and playful creation for individuals in a homogenized, and increasingly public, world.
Features:
- Draws from art theory and history to show how food preparation and consumption is both an art form and one of life’s essential pleasures.
- Counters the views of a society obsessed with speed and profit, suggesting that slow and purposeful approaches to food can improve our lives.
- Examines how elements of American history have kept the nation from developing its own respected cuisine – until now.
- Examines the philosophy of the foodie craze as a search for aesthetic authenticity in our increasingly pre-packaged world
Dwight Furrow is professor of philosophy at San Diego Mesa College. He specializes in the philosophy of food and wine, aesthetics, and ethics. He is also a Certified Wine Specialist with certification from the Society of Wine Educators and an advanced level certification from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust. Furrow is the author of Edible Arts, a blog devoted to food and wine aesthetics. He is also the author of many books, professional journal articles, op-ed pieces, and magazine articles in publications
