New Connections in Food Research : Cardiff University

Place to Plate: New Connections in Food Research
2 April 2012
Cardiff University

This is a conference by and for Ph.D. and early-career researchers studying food. It is inter-disciplinary and welcomes participation and contributions from diverse perspectives.

Early-career researchers are invited to share their interpretations of the themes to challenge us to realise new connections between places, disciplines and concepts. Food students are encouraged to inspire their peers to learn from unusual allies and to seek answers in unexpected sources. In the spirit of new connections, the conference will also trial innovative ways of preparing an academic conference and aim to establish an enduring inter-disciplinary and international network in food studies.

Bookings will open in early 2012. In the meantime, you are invited to have your say in how the day will run. Visit http://placetoplate.wordpress.com/ to suggest ideas for the programme and to find out more.

Themes“Food is what connects us all to each other and to the natural world, which makes it an incredibly powerful medium for thinking and acting collaboratively.”
- Carolyn Steel author of Hungry City.

What we eat and where it comes from are fundamental questions in light of today’s global challenges around issues such as health, agriculture, development and sustainability. A sound food system is central to the resilience of society, economy and environment, and, as one of life’s
essentials, food is unique in its power to communicate such concepts to the public. But whilst food is a topic which can touch almost every academic discipline, research is too frequently confined by subject boundaries.

This conference will bring together those studying food, no matter what their backgrounds, to generate unique and enlightening perspectives that can break disciplinary boundaries and forge new relationships both conceptually and personally. It will consider questions such as:

    What does a resilient food system taste like?
    Can food be a key to unlocking transition?
    What is the recipe for a healthy community?
    Is good practice a moveable feast?
    Fair for whom: where is the justice in sustainable food?
    Are we going global, local or glocal?
    How do we eat: do we understand the socio-cultural issues of food?

And, of course, we invite your participation in defining panel and roundtable themes: this is, after all, a conference for us and by us.

The conference has received funding from Cardiff University Graduate College.

Source: Sustainable Food Blog