Food: Meaning and Memory

Author: Maddie Williams Major: International and Global Studies 

Food and agriculture are of no small political, moral, and economic significance. As a defining characteristic for cultures and peoples, it is vital to understand the inextricable tie between successful food systems and the people who benefit from them. In a cultural context, what one eats and cultivates define who they are and who they are not. Food habit contributes to development and transmission of culture in our society, making it a learned behavior, which implicitly involves memory devices in the creation of such conveyances. This, in turn, connects individuals to past, place, and other people, upholding both personal identities and societal structures.  

This study began during the Spring 2018 semester, where I spent four months living and studying abroad in Mongolia. Through the use of interviews and observations of nomadic herders in the countryside, organic farmers market grocers, those in academia, and Mongolians who reside in the city I examined the relationship between food, memory, and identity in Mongolia. My research abroad showed that food was not only a cultural, interpersonal instrument, but also an indicator of Mongolia’s new wave diaspora that is occurring between rural and urban populations. 

This research project will continue to explore the premise that every aspect of food—its capture, cultivation, preparation, and consumption—represents a defining cultural act, having the power to both establish and dismantle entire peoples. It will take the raw data collected in Mongolia and do a case study comparison to the rural population located here in Arkansas, a seemingly disparate population; however, my research will show that there are shared sets of concerns in regard to food and culture in communities, highlighting similarities and outlining solution possibilities. 

This past semester was a time of research back in Arkansas, especially in regard to methodology and my approach to contextualizing this complex topic. I read many books from my main disciplines (anthropology, politics, history, food studies) so that I can adequately highlight not only the interdisciplinary nature of my degree, but also the multifaceted nature of food. Because I did so much reading and researching this semester, it was sometimes difficult to stay on task and not get weighed down by all the extra information that I was taking in. However, it truly helped enrich the depths of my knowledge on the topic at hand, and other surrounding areas of study that have historically contributed to issues and solutions in my field.  

My faculty mentor helped me choose the many books that I would be reading this semester to sharpen my analytical skills. We worked together to really hone in on my methodology and how I would explain the reasoning and justification for my study. This semester I did not have the chance to travel to any offsite locations, and I will be graduating at the end of this Spring semester. After graduating I hope to enter into the world of nonprofit work for at least a year before I pursue a graduate degree in International Development or Religion and Conflict.