Research Talk : The Politics of Food
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Speaker
Chef Jenny Dorsey is currently a Fulbright Research Fellow & National Geographer Explorer
Chef Jenny Dorsey is a professional chef, author, and speaker focused on food as a source of human meaning-making and identity formation. She leads a nonprofit research organization, Studio ATAO, and is currently researching hawker centres in Singapore as a Fulbright-National Geographic Explorer.
Jenny is a James Beard Awards nominated writer with a newsletter titled Way Too Complicated, and bylines in outlets such as The Washington Post, Eater, and Food & Wine. In pre-pandemic 2020, she gave her first TEDx Talk titled How Food Can Be A Source of Identity, Intimacy, and Vulnerability. In 2022, she was named to Food & Wine's industry Changemakers list and the World's 50 "50 Next" list. Her full biography, food portfolio, awards, and bylines can be found at www.jennydorsey.co.
Abstract
Food is deeply political. It flavors the social roles we accept, the laws we enforce, and the economic systems we design. While food is most often used as a noun, this talk will showcase how it is
more conceptually accurate to understand food as a verb, noun, and adjective — a network of actions, objects, and ideologies that coalesce into a meta-narrative of our past, present, and future. This three-pronged approach sets the foundation for my proprietary Food Identity Seashell framework, where each layer explicates the impact food has on our individual, group, and political identities and confronts how food shapes how we make meaning of the world.
