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Background Sources
Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online This link opens in a new window
This encyclopedia offers concise, expert definitions and explanations of the key concepts in sociology, written by leading scholars in the field, including several faculty from Boston University. Content dating to 2015 is included. Entries range from short definitions of key terms to extended explorations of major topics in both classical sociology and contemporary developments in the field.
The Oxford Companion to Food
Over 3,000 entries on every possible food, its history, cultural significance, and culinary usage.
They Eat That? A Cultural Encyclopedia of Weird and Exotic Food from Around the World
The title They Eat That?: A Cultural Encyclopedia of Weird and Exotic Food from around the World says it all. This fun encyclopedia, organized A-Z, describes and offers cultural context for foodstuffs people eat today that might be described as "weird"--at least to the American palate.
"Taste, Distaste and Food," in Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics"
Taste and distaste are influential constituents of our relations with food. This essay describes their nature and interconnections and highlights their links with disgust. Reviewing difficulties that arise for the notion of taste (and hence for that of distaste, which has received far less attention), the article turns to literary and philosophical investigations of material life to suggest alternative ways of comprehending taste, distaste, and their bonds with food.
A Cultural History of Food
A Cultural History of Food presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. This set of six volumes covers nearly 3,000 years of food and its physical, spiritual, social and cultural dimensions.
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture
A three-volume survey of food and its place in human culture and society, presented through 600 alphabetically sorted entries. Features multidisciplinary coverage of such topics as comfort food, ethnicity and food, medieval banquets, and nutrient composition, among many others.
Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia
Filled with succinct, yet highly informative entries, the four-volume Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia covers all of the planet's nation-states, as well as various tribes and marginalized peoples.
World Food: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence from Hunter-Gathers to the Age of Globalization
Comprehensive in scope, this two-volume encyclopedia covers agriculture and industry, food preparation and regional cuisines, science and technology, nutrition and health, and trade and commerce, as well as key contemporary issues such as famine relief, farm subsidies, food safety, and the organic movement. Articles also include specific foodstuffs such as chocolate, potatoes, and tomatoes; topics such as Mediterranean diet and the Spice Route; and pivotal figures such as Marco Polo, Columbus, and Catherine de' MΘdici. Special features include: dozens of recipes representing different historic periods and cuisines of the world; listing of herbal foods and uses; and a chronology of key events/people in food history.
Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia
Ethnic American Food Today introduces readers to the myriad ethnic food cultures in the U.S. today. Entries are organized alphabetically by nation and present the background and history of each food culture along with explorations of the place of that food in mainstream American society today. Many of the entries draw upon ethnographic research and personal experience, giving insights into the meanings of various ethnic food traditions as well as into what, how, and why people of different ethnicities are actually eating today.
"Sociology of Food," in The Oxford Handbook of Food History
Before discussing the merits of food studies in general and its lessons for sociology in particular, this article provides an overview of the discipline of sociology, its theories and methods, strengths and limitations that have been adapted to the study of food.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nd ed.)
Home cooks and gourmets, chefs and restaurateurs, epicures, and simple food lovers of all stripes will delight in this smorgasbord of the history and culture of food and drink. Professor of Culinary History Andrew Smith and nearly 200 authors bring together in 770 entries the scholarship on wide-ranging topics from airline and funeral food to fad diets and fast food; drinks like lemonade, Kool-Aid, and Tang; foodstuffs like Jell-O, Twinkies, and Spam; and Dagwood, hoagie, and Sloppy Joe sandwiches.
