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Welcome to The Sociology of Food. I’m Maura, a Principal Senior Lecturer of Sociology, teaching and cooking in Atlanta, Georgia. I have a passion for food, hosting, and the little things that make life more beautiful. I love people, food, and people’s stories about food.
“Food is our common ground, a universal experience” – James Beard
As a sociologist, I see food as an analogy for human creativity and innovation. Biologically we need sustenance to survive, but our creativity transforms food into something more. It becomes decadent, complex, and (if we’re lucky!) even visually appealing. Food exists as a natural fact – “calories in and calories out.” (Although … even calories have a hidden social history!) But recipes take us on a journey beyond survival, toward the divine and the sublime. The care our species put into the food we eat is our sign of life. Our painstakingly perfected recipes say, “while we’re here, we can make life beautiful.”
The simplest way to explain what a sociologist does is to say that we study human interaction. We study conflict and social change, marriage and families, media and technology, poverty and war, sex and love – any and all experiences of humanity. But the basic foundation of everything we study is human interaction.
While there is no unified theory of why we behave the way we do, one thing about our behavior is clear: we are inherently social beings. Humans rely on cooperation with others for our very survival. For most of us our happiness hinges on our ability to connect with others. From a Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs perspective, after the need for food and shelter comes the need for love, inclusion, and belonging. And, for as long as there have been human societies, we have coupled those needs. We eat with each other to connect. We share food to show love. We sit at a table to belong. I believe that we are as nourished by gathering together as we are by the nutrients in the food we eat. That’s why I love stories about food – the stories about our food are ultimately stories about our human connections.
“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti” – Sophia Loren
Also, I just absolutely love food. If my profession is about studying people, my free time is about feeding people. Like a lot of you, my love language is food. Food is how I create comfort, offer care, and plan celebrations. It’s the best way to make a holiday special and a Tuesday less mundane. Oh, I know the saying, “we should eat to live, not live to eat.” Fair enough. But can’t we do both?
As far as talents go, I can’t sing or dance, or draw or play an instrument, and I’ve never been particularly athletic. What I’m saying is food is my thing. Food and people – those are the two things I know best. The Sociology of Food is about bringing both of my life passions to you, sharing my favorite recipes and the stories of how they came to our tables. Sometimes the story will be the social history of a kind of food. (I may never eat birthday cake again without sharing that women’s birthdays weren’t celebrated until the 12th century!) Sometimes the story will be about the cultural significance imbedded in a kind of food, and sometimes the story will be a profile of how my friends and family members came to learn their favorite recipes. No matter what, you can expect a wonderfully executed version of a beloved dish, with a side of the human story behind it.
