Past Event

Why We Eat What We Eat: What Food and Food History Tells Us About Ourselves

A Road Scholar program by Bruce Kraig

All living creatures eat, but among humans the process of ingestion carries immense burdens of culture. Eating bears more rituals, taboos, jokes, stories and all else that we call “culture” than any other aspect of life, besides procreation. Using a submarine sandwich as an example, Bruce Kraig deconstructs its ingredients and explains how food history is a key to understanding everything human, from world and American history to social organization, economics, and ways of thinking about the world. This is an entertaining approach that works well with audiences of all ages and is useful to teachers.

For more information contact Jill Pearce, 217.287.7397.