Eating, Customs and Health

Health is related to (good) food. However, not everyone agrees on what good food is. Moreover, not everyone has an equal access to good food. In this course we study identities around and related ideas about food on the one hand, and daily routines, food customs and possibilities/access on the other hand, doing so from a health perspective. We examine the complex relations between food patterns and customs around food, and around personal and public health concerns. The course provides students with the tools and skills required to analyse and understand issues of (public) health, eating and customs across different geographical and cultural settings.
Besides these contents, the course focuses on interview techniques, and on working with and interpreting the data obtained through interviews.

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• explain how the experience of health and eating is shaped by the social and cultural context;
• explain how the experience of health and eating is shaped by identity;
• illustrate the theories from the course with examples;
• formulate interview questions that fit a research question, and executing the interview in such a way that it gives valuable information;
• interpret data obtained through interviews in order to answer the research question.