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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics pp 1573–1583Cite as

Race, Racial Identity, and Eating

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Synonyms

African American foodways; Colonization of food; Decolonized diets; Eating culture; Ethnic food; Ethnic identity; Exotic food; Immigrant food; Indigenous food; Mexican cuisine; Soul food; Slavery and food; Racialization; Racism

Introduction

This entry explores race and racial identity as they pertain to food and eating in the United States. Race is a fundamental organizing principle of American society that structures all forms of social, cultural, and political life. In the humanities and the social sciences, race is primarily understood as a social construction that is evolving and historically contingent. Despite the shifting nature of race, since the advent of New World slavery, there has remained a salient racial hierarchy in the United States, which has consistently placed whiteness at its apex.

Food practices are implicated in “fields of relationships, expectations and choices, that are contested, negotiated and often unequal” (Watson and Caldwell 2005). Food and the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Transnational Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1010 Clemens Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA

    John M. Burdick

Authors
  1. John M. Burdick
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John M. Burdick .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Paul B. Thompson

  2. Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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Burdick, J.M. (2014). Race, Racial Identity, and Eating. In: Thompson, P.B., Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_53

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_53

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0928-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0929-4

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