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Number 22, February 2010

11. Symposium of ICREFH

International Commission for Research into European Food History

Food and War in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

University of Sorbonne (Paris IV)

8-11th September 2009-09-12

The 11th symposium took place at the University of Sorbonne (Paris IV). After a warm welcome by the Vice President of the Scientific Council of University of Paris – Sorbonne and introductory presentations on the role of food and food history by Dominique Barjot and on the relationship between food and war by the president Alain Drouard a dense and multifold program started. Grouped under the three headings of first food allocation, food shortages and rationing in time of war, secondly alternative strategies for consumers, thirdly the social and health implications of wartime food consumption and finally and fourth innovations in food supply and technology during war time 24 scientists from 15 different European countries presented their papers. The first section dealt with the food provisioning of civilians in Germany, Austria, Russia, Great Britain, France and Iceland, which outlined the very different organisation of this provisioning and the very different food situation. To a different extent black markets were established. Nutrition education and communication of alternative food strategies in WWI and WWII in Paris, Austro-Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain dominated the second session. It was followed by a range of papers, on the science and rhetoric of rationing in Denmark during WWI and the health problems which followed from the bad food situation in Spain, Russia, France and Britain during WWII.

The next session on food innovations concentrated on food innovations, the changes of food behavior by the effects of war provision and on army food, comprising the time frame from the Crimean War to WWII.

During the general discussion Alain Drouard stressed that the papers and the discussions pointed at several perspectives, among them the changes of supply and diet (innovations in foodstuffs) and the comparative aspects: European countries showed parallel developments on the one, but diversities on the other side. These comparative aspects should and could be worked out further, especially as comparisons are a precondition for the proper understanding of changes. Peter Atkins presented a list of topics, which have been touched upon during the sessions and which would imply future perspectives. It comprised the 1) the question of networks, 2) strategies and resilience 3) comparative history 4) sources: quantifying impact and diversity, 5) innovation and modernization, 6) Politics 7) Gender 8) Globalization and the creation of networks.

Derek Oddy and Peter Atkins stressed the impact of the rationing for the population as well as the people’s roles as actors, may it be in regard to consumer’s movement or to resistance to the food policies imposed on them. Second he stressed the point of mobility, which became most obvious in army food. The organisation of the army’s food supply is important for army history, as it shows, how it works as an administrative and administrated body. Moreover it shows the enormous impact of the modern nutritional sciences. In contrast to this the conference did not so much touch upon the food of civilians and their individual or common reactions to the rationing and the whole development. Nevertheless, as Ulrike Thoms pointed out in regard to the results from the fourth session on social and health implications of wartime food consumption, there was a number of papers that reported on the differing consequences of the food policy for different groups of consumers, which became especially apparent in the hard and often deadly consequences for social groups as especially the people of besieged Leningrad and the inmates of hospitals for mentally ill people. Moreover it was the reaction of the people that led to the development of diverging strategies, which – as the case of Denmark shows– had to be accepted as being very different from what had been usual before. In face of these development the impact of nutritional sciences and of medicine in general in face of the “real” food situation, the economic development and – most important – military strategy was questioned and its overall very limited success during war was stressed.

Another point of discussion was the question, what innovation is and how it should be conceptualized. It was stressed that the different phases of invention, reception, implementation have to be clearly differentiated. Some of the elements, taken up in wartimes were not entirely newly invented. But even the return to former and traditional foodways may be a new, innovative strategy of coping with scarcity in face of hunger, when alternative foods and ways of eating, feeding and supply are at stake. According to Derek Oddy the model of Schumpeter, which has been discussed on former conferences should be taken into account, others stressed the importance of resisting powers and of resilience. Ina Zweiniger–Bargielowska stressed the transatlantic perspective. Food supplies from the USA and the empire were important for Great Britain. Without this aid they may well not have won the war.

As in former times the point of comparison played a major role in the discussion: A major point of the discussion was the difference between the countries, which Peter Atkins mentioned. These differences turned out especially under the conditions of war: War allows to refer to a common time frame and to compare the strategies of different countries. WWI played an important role in regard to setting up a common European stock of experiences with food, health and rationing policies during war and the countries clearly profited from this stock of experiences, but to a very different extent. Once again, Derek Oddy asked to integrate the papers in former ICREFH volumes in order to make maximum use of the potentials of comparison. Steven Schouten stressed that it would be most important to look for the different possible knots of comparison. Therefore the different interconnections and cross-sections of the papers (especially between the papers on France and on France and Germany) had to be taken into account. Kenneth Mouré pointed at the common elements of how different countries, populations and social groups tried to cope with constraints and politics of encountering these constraints. But he warned not to go to much into comparisons and take them wrongly as in-depth studies. In fact these are needed before in order to be able to compare. Following other speakers the beginning and the ways of rationing would be a possibility to organize the comparison. Ulrike Thoms mentioned, that it would possibly be necessary and useful to think about a new grouping of the papers for the proceedings.

The meeting was closed by a reception at the Historical Centre of the Defense, were the group was welcomed by its chair General Gilles Robert. During this visit to the archive of the Ministry of Defense in La Vincennes, where the participants were informed about the history of the archive and were taken around in a guided tour. Moreover they had the opportunity to have a look at a choice of sources, which were presented to them. Some members immediately took the chance to collect more information on the food provision of European armies and were freely supported with a bundle of pictures of field kitchens.

Minutes of the Biennial Meeting, 11th September 2009
In order to organize the editing work in a way that would allow to divide the workload better, an editorial committee was set up, which exists beneath and independent from the Scientific Committee. Derek Oddy and Peter Atkins have resigned from the workgroup they have built for many years. The members of the commission expressed their thanks for the tremendous work they have done during the last years on the editing of the conference volumes, which have been produced and processed in a very short time period. As the cooperation with Ashgate depend on English language skills Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska and Rachel Duffett took over the job. Alain Drouard as president is an ex-officio member of the editorial committee.

After a discussion about possible alternatives it was agreed to approach Ashgate for the publication of the proceedings of this conference, being a book of 100.000 words. The question was brought up if the gaps between the papers should be filled by invited papers. But the discussion ended with the statement, that ICREFH has never done that and that participation in the conference is a precondition of having a publication in the book and a systematic overlook cannot be the aim of a conference volume. Instead it is most important to work out the links and the cross references between the papers.
Presidency and Scientific Committee:

Alain Drouard was by acclamation confirmed as president for the coming four years. Martin Franc and Ulrike Thoms expressed their willingness to continue their work in the Scientific Committee, but Peter Atkins resigned. Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska and Maja Godina Golija were proposed as new members. After a short discussion the president in accordance with ICREFH’s constitutions accepted all four as members of the committee.

The next point was the topic of the coming ICREFH meeting in 2011. The president reported, that he had made contacts to colleagues from Bologna, where a working group from three different institutions had been built up. Alain Drouard had proposed the history of the food industry as the next topic, what was welcomed by the group, which, as a kind of precondition, demanded to open up the conference for the public. A large conference was not welcomed by the members, as ICREFH has been successful by holding smaller, workshop-like meeting, where everybody attended every session and participated in communication and discussions. But there has been an open day at Oslo as well and this worked well. In the end the Bologna colleagues were proposed to have a closed meeting, which a addendum of half or a day’s session open to a wider public.

The topic was welcomed and possible sub-themes were discussed, as e.g. the relation of the food industry to public health concerns and problems of communication between the public and the industry. As another aspect the food industry’s relation to agriculture was mentioned. It was stated that consumer’s questions and marketing as a means of communication between producer and consumer should be involved as well.

Proposals for future conferences:

A roundtable discussions at the end of every session was regarded as being useful and desirable for future conferences. The same was true in regard to allocate more time for preparing a summary of the session to the chairs, which then is presented in the General discussion. And third the problem of a new and actual website was discussed. The scientific committee will check out the possibilities of the virtual representation on the web.

Next Meeting

Meanwhile the president has sorted out the interests of the Italian colleagues and the Committee has worked out a Call for Paper (see below) for the next conference in Bologna in September 2011. The deadline for proposals is in July 2010. Papers have to be submitted until June 2011.

Finally the commission thanked Alain for this enormous efforts in organizing this conference which was evaluated as fruitful.

[Ulrike Thoms]

ICREFH XII, 2011

ICREFH has held biennial symposia since 1989 on various aspects of European food history, each of which has resulted in the publication of a book of the papers given. To date nine volumes are in print and a tenth is in preparation. These symposia are notable for the use of pre-circulated papers so that sessions consist of workshop-type discussions. In consequence ICREFH symposia have developed a reputation for friendly criticism and co-operation. ICREFH’s 12th Symposium will be held in Bologna in September 2011.

Call for papers
The History of the European Food Industry in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century
13 - 16 September 2011, Bologna

==> Deadline for abstracts: 15.4. 2010 [application form: here]

Submission of papers: 30.7.2011

During the 19th century the industrialization of the food sector brought major changes to the whole food branch. At the same time, urbanization created mass demand for food. While food production traditionally had been the business of craftsmen and small, local producers, mechanization and rationalization took command. These new production methods resulted in enormous increases in productivity and allowed for a lowering the food prices. These processes were connected with the introduction of branded articles and the standardization of food in general. At the same time, food production became a capital-intensive business, frequently resulting in concentration. Improvements of the transport system and the rise of modern conservation techniques like cooling and freezing allowed for the first wave of globalisation.

By complex interactions between agricultural production, industrial processing, distribution and consumption the roles and relations of producers and consumers were reconfigured. In contrast with direct, if not personal links in pre-industrial society, the relations between producers and consumers were now getting more distant and anonymous. Mediated by the new disciplines of food chemistry and the nutritional sciences, a new understanding of the nutritional process was established. This new knowledge was to become an important factor of production. It functioned as a prerequisite for the development of food innovations and the setting of new food standards. At the same time these new disciplines offered new opportunities and tools for managing and controlling the risks that had come about with the growing distances between consumer and producers. And finally, the advent of new marketing techniques established new channels of communication between producers and consumers.

It is important to acknowledge that the industrialization of food production was instrumental in providing food at ever-lower cost and it contributed to an enormous increase in the health status of people. Much of this is due to the growing variety of food which increased people’s choice. This contributed to a diversification of food practices. At the same time, industrialization evoked deep-rooted anxieties and fears, which among others led to the development of the consumer movement.

Historians of food have been interested in the history of the food industry for many years. Nevertheless, research has been uneven and large parts of the story have still to be written. This is the case with regard to the food industry’s different branches and products and the diverse developments in various European countries and regions. Comparative European aspects have been neglected, although this perspective promises important new insights into the transformation of food production and consumption in different European countries.

The conference will continue ICREF’s former work in the field of European food history. All who are interested in taking part are therefore urged to acquaint themselves with previous research which is available through the publications of ICREFH. Many of the earlier volumes have touched upon some of the aspects in question. The following themes and topics will be of utmost interest:

1. The change from basic foodstuffs to modern food commodities: Technologies, processes and products

* Changes in the traditional preservation of foods in pre-industrial Europe

* Food storage in urbanizing Europe

* The introduction of powered machinery in the food industry—brewing , baking and milling
* Twentieth-century techniques: the use of canning, freezing, and accelerated freeze drying processes; extrusion technology

* Modern packaging and presentation of food materials

2. Economic and organisational factors of the food industry:

* Large-scale production by the State—the needs of armies and navies
* The role of entrepreneurs
* The structure and organization of production and sales

* The rise of the modern firm in the food industry

3 The consequences of scaling up

* Food distribution systems in Europe; the role of international companies
* International trade and globalisation within Europe
* The impact of the American model
* Counter-movements: Reform and health foods, regional foods

4 Restructuring the relations between producers, processors and consumers:

* Relations between agriculture and the food industry
* The emergence of the new consumer and the history of the consumer movement
* The impact of public health concerns
* New communication channels and the role of marketing

Please send your proposals before April 15h 2010 to the president:

Alain Drouard: adrouard01@noos.fr.

Forthcoming Conferences and workshops

March 19th, 2010: Shaping and Implementing Nutritional Recommendations:

Sociological and Historical Perspectives

International Workshop, Ivry-sur-Seine, France, 19th March 2010

March 12-14th, 2010: Food and Trust Workshop

organized by Karin Zachmann, Technical University, Munich and Per Ostby at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

August, 13-14th, 2010: Setting Standards: The History and Politics of Nutritional Theories and Practices. Symposium at the Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada, organised by Elisabeth Neswald and David Smith.

Application Form

12th SYMPOSIUM

of the

International Commission for Research into European Food History

(ICREFH)

The History of the European Food Industry in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century

13-16 September 2009

Please e-mail this application form to: adrouard01@noos.fr

or post it as soon as possible to the symposium administration, care of:

M. Alain Drouard, rue Parrot 16, Paris 12, France 75012.

Applications must be received at the latest by 15 April 2010.

NAME _________________________________________________________

TITLE _________________________________________________________

INSTITUTION________________________________________________________

ADDRESS _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

PHONE _________________________________________________________

FAX _________________________________________________________

E-MAIL _________________________________________________________

Provisional title of Paper: _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Summary of Topic (100-200 words) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature_____________________________________________Date____________

Number 21, March 2009

ICREFH XI

The eleventh symposium of the ICREFH will be held in Paris, 8-11th September 2009 under the auspices of the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) and organized by Alain Drouard, President of ICREFH. The symposium’s title is ‘Food and War in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’ and the programme is as follows.

Tuesday 8th September

Arrival of participants and registration.

1000-1200 General Introduction and French Perspectives

1. Food history and economic history, Dominique Barjot, University of Paris-Sorbonne

2. Food and war: what is the relationship? Alain Drouard, Directeur de Recherche au CNRS

1400-1700 Food Allocation, Food Shortages and Rationing in Time of War

1. Food provision of German Army in World War I, Peter Lummel, Open Air Museum Domain Dahlem

2. British army provisioning in the First World War, Rachel Duffett, University of Essex, UK

3. Food provisioning of the German ‘Home Front’ during the First World War,1914-1918, Hans J. Teuteberg, University of Münster, Germany

4. Requisitioning, rationing and revolution: food policy and political radicalization in Austrian occupied Poland (1915-1922), Julie Jacoby, Cornell University, USA

5. Scarcity , civil war and the establishment of a New Food Regime in the Soviet Union 1918-1924, Mauricio Borrero, St Johns University, USA

Wednesday 9th September

0900-1200 Session 1 continued

1. Food supply during wartime and postwar period in Russia in the 20th century, Tatiana Voronina, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia

2. Le circuit de la viande en France et en Allemagne pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale: perspectives comparées et conséquences, Michel-Pierre Chélini, Université d’Artois, France

3. Réalités cruelles: state controls and the black market for food in France: 1940-1945, Kenneth Mouré, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA

4. Communal feeding in wartime: ‘British Restaurants’, 1940-1947, Peter Atkins, Durham University, UK

5. Three facets of war: Iceland, the paradox of food allocation, Daniel Jonnsson Orn, University of Iceland, Iceland

1400-1700 Alternative Strategies or Consumers

1. Fighting a kosher war? War patterns of Jewish front soldiers in Germany during World War I , Steven Schouten,Gonzaga University in Florence, Italy

2. Eating their words: cookbooks in wartime Paris, Kyri Watson Claflin, Boston University, USA

3. Flour from oak-bark. Natural substitutes in Austro-Hungary during the First World War, Martin Franc, Masaryk Institute, Archives of the Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

4. ‘The pig is our ninth enemy’: meatless days and meatless diets in Germany during the First World War, Eva Kokosycka, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

5. Spanish Civil War and Postwar: Social Change and Strategies to Eat, Alicia Riera Guidonet, University of Vic, Spain

Thursday 10th September

0900-1230 The Social and Health Implications of Wartime Food Consumption

1. The science and rhetoric of rationing in Denmark (1917-1918), Sven Overgaard, University of Copenhagen and Sabine Merta, Germany

2. War and famine in Spain 1936-1939, Xavier Cusso Segura , José Miguel Martinez Carrion, University of Barcelona and University of Murcia, Spain

3. Alimentary and pellagra psychoses in besieged Leningrad, Pavel Vasilyev, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia

4. Rationnement et politique: l’Académie de Médecine face aux consequences de la sous-alimentation sur la santé de la population française, Isabelle von Bueltzingsloewen, University of Lyon 2, France

5. Nutrition education in time of food shortages and hunger: war and occupation, 1939-1945, Adel den Hartog, Formerly Wageningen University, Netherlands

6. Regulating civilian health: the limits of food policy in Britain during the Second World War, Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA

1400-1700 Innovations in Food Supply and Technology during War Time

1. Alexis Soyer: the soldier’s chef, Diana Noyce, University of Adelaide, Australia

2. A new food which was born with the war of 1870 and died after the Second World War: horsemeat in France, Alain Drouard, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France

3. The First World War and its influence on Slovenia’s food habits, Maja Godina Golija, Institute of Slovene Ethnology, Slovenia

4. The innovative power of war. army , food sciences and the food industry in Germany in the 20th century, Ulrike Thoms, Institute for the History of Medicine, Charité, Berlin, Germany

5. La conserverie de poisson en France, 1939-1945, Jean-Christophe Fichou, CERHIO, Lorient, France

1730-1900 General Discussion and Biennal General Meeting of ICREFH

Please send suggestions for agenda items to the President. The agenda will be published in the next Newsletter in August 2009.

Friday 11th September

Social programme to be arranged

Depart.

Notes

1. Rooms have been reserved for 3 nights, from 8th to 10th September inclusive. If you want to stay after, or before the Symposium, or if you are accompanied and would like to have a double room, please send a message to Alain Drouard before 15th April.

2. Your full paper must be sent (as an email attachment) to Alain Drouard (adrouard01@noos.fr) no later than 15th June 2009

3. Papers will be circulated to everybody in July/August 2009.

4. It is expected that all participants in the Symposium will stay throughout the proceedings. This is not like other conferences where people arrive late and leave early. It is a workshop where we value everyone’s contributions to the discussion. We particularly wish for everyone to stay for the afternoon of Thursday 10th when there will be a general discussion and ICREFH’S BGM will elect a new President and Committee.

5. A data projector and laptop will be provided for powerpoint presentations.

ICREFH XII

ICREFH will welcome suggestions of a location in which to hold its next Symposium and will consider any suggestions of a theme for ICREFH XII in 2011. Please contact the President before the Biennial General Meeting in Paris in September.

New Books on Food History

Kaplan, S.L. (2007) Good bread is back: a contemporary history of French bread, the way it is made, and the people who make it Durham, NC: Duke University Press ISBN: 0822338335, £16.99

Malaguzzi, S. (2008) Food and feasting in art New York: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0892369140, $24.95

Kiple, K.F. (2007) A movable feast: ten millennia of food globalization New York: Cambridge University Press ISBN-10: 052179353X, £15.99

Satin, M. (2007) Death in the pot : the impact of food poisoning on history Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus ISBN: 1591025141, £17.50

Number 20, February 2008

Thanks

I am sure all ICREFH members will wish to join me in thanking Professor Peter Atkins of Durham University, UK, for all his efforts while completing a most successful term of office during which ICREFH has held two very valuable symposia – at Berlin in 2005 and Oslo in 2007. Peter is continuing to act as Newsletter Editor and we are all grateful to him for undertaking this essential task of communicating ICREFH’s plans to our membership.

ICREFH has held biennial symposia since 1989 on various aspects of European food history, each of which has resulted in the publication of a book of the papers given. To date nine volumes are in print and a tenth is in preparation. These symposia are notable for the use of pre-circulated papers so that sessions consist of workshop-type discussions. In consequence ICREFH symposia have developed a reputation for friendly criticism and co-operation. ICREFH’s Eleventh Symposium will be held in Paris early in September 2009.

The provisional title of the Symposium is “Food and War in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries”, a topic which has been under consideration at the last two ICREFH meetings. The aim of this Symposium will be to shed some light on the question of how wars, food supply and consumption are interrelated. We hope contributors will ask whether the special circumstances of war resulted in the development of new eating and drinking customs and patterns. A common view is that wars lead to privation and shortages but we also want to consider how wars helped to promote new foods and lead to the substitution of others. We shall be interested to discuss whether or not wars helped new consumption patterns to develop: did war provoke the development of gendered eating styles; did it stabilize male and female consumption patterns or did it destabilize them? What long-term effects of wartime foods on public health can be observed in Europe? Did governments try to learn from these experiences and did war-time experience influence health policy after the end of war?

During the last two decades, food history has elaborated the basic development of food supply and food consumption. It has often been summarized as explaining the development from scarcity to abundance. But this development has not been as linear as the overall narrative suggests and ICREFH has explored the social and cultural factors by which knowledge of food has been transmitted from one generation to another. Wars have not so far been the subject of ICREFH’s consideration in any detail: yet they are not only interruptions of normal life; they influence the daily life and cultural developments deeply. Indeed, the World Wars in the twentieth century brought severe ruptures and breaks for food production and distribution which necessitated the improvisation of substitutes and alternative methods of manufacture. War brought about long lasting effects upon the economic structure of the food industry and the food policy of respective governments, not only with regard to protective standards for the quality of food consumed by their populations but also measured by changes in the individual food habits of the people. Moreover, it was during the two World wars and their aftermath that European governments developed food policy programmes, including rationing systems and health surveys.

Historians have been well aware of the negative influences of wartime upon food but they have widely neglected the longer lasting effects on health status and on consumption patterns and eating customs. Even the food of the armies, the organization of the army’s food supply and the role of the nutritional sciences for the planning of rations have been almost completely disregarded by food historians so far. However, army rations were conceived as a possible way of getting people used to better and healthier food, and as a means of educating the mostly young men who made up the armed forces. The army has also been an initiator of innovations: some of the food items and commodities that we take for granted today have been developed especially for the army in times of war as, for example, tinned food, instant soups and dried foods. As long as their production was too costly for normal civilians, the armies served as a field for experimentation and for the gathering of experience of production and the reaction of consumers. In doing so, they served as a kind of test market and created the possibility of developing methods of cheap mass production in order to lower prices. This helped to make new food products cheaper, so that they could be integrated into normal diets after the war had ended.

The proposed topic for ICREFH XI seems, therefore, to offer opportunities for many food historians to contribute to a discourse with wide comparative perspectives in European food studies.

Papers may be offered in one of the four following sub-themes. To stimulate discussion at the Symposium, contributors should address one or more of the following research questions in their papers. Papers should not only describe the development of particular topics, but should also assess the short and long term consequences which affect nutritional habits of today.

Anyone wishing to propose a paper for ICREFH XI should complete the attached Application Form. It is essential that an abstract of up to 200 words is supplied. Papers will be selected for the Symposium by ICREFH’s Technical Committee and proposers who are successful will be informed by 31 May 2008 and sent further information.

Counihan, C. & Van Esterik, P. (Eds)(2008) Food and culture: a reader 2nd edition New York: Routledge ISBN 0-415-97777-0

Vernon, J. (2007) Hunger: a modern history Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press ISBN 0-674-02678-0 $29.95

Kumin, B. (2007) Drinking Matters: Public Houses and Social Exchange in Early Modern Central Europe Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan £55 ISBN 978-0-230-55408-5

Ravoire, F. & Dietrich, A. (Eds)(2007) La cuisine et la table dans la France de la fin du Moyen-Âge Turnhout: Brepols €40 ISBN : 978-2-902685-37-0

Tomasik, T.J. (Ed.)(2007) At the table : metaphorical and material cultures of food in medieval and early modern Europe Turnhout : Brepols €55 ISBN: 978-2-503-52398-9

Colquhoun, K. (2007) Taste: the story of Britain through its cooking London: Bloomsbury 460pp £20

Laszlo, P. (2007) Citrus: a history University of Chicago Press 262pp £14 ISBN 9780226470269

Audoin-Rouzeau, F. & Sabban, F. (Eds)(2007) Un aliment sain dans un corps sain - perspectives historiques Tours: Université François Rabelais

La Cecla, F. (2007) Pasta and pizza in the History of Italian identity: an anthropological approach Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press

Freedman, P. (2007) Food: the history of taste London: Thames & Hudson ISBN 0500251355 £24.95

Riley, G. (2007) The Oxford companion to Italian food Oxford: Oxford University Press £19.99

6e Colloque Institut Européen d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation, ‘Informations et pratiques alimentaires, 28-29 March 2008, Salle Ockeghem, 15 place de Châteauneuf, Tours

Reading and Writing Recipe Books: 1600-1800 University of Warwick, UK, 8-9 August 2008

Call for Papers

Tenth Symposium of the ICREFH

“From under-nutrition to obesity: changes in food consumption in twentieth-century Europe”

Hosts: SIFO National Institute for Consumer Research, Oslo, Norway

26 – 28 September, 2007

We invite proposals for papers from all of those who wish to contribute a perspective on the theme. The deadline for the submission of proposals is May 31^st 2006 (please see the attached application form). The Executive Committee will then select approximately 25 papers from those proposed.

Normally there is no conference fee and no charge for accommodation, meals and field trips. We hope to continue this admirable tradition in Oslo but our finances have yet to be finalised and further information will be circulated in the summer of 2006 on this issue.

ICREFH Symposia are very pleasant, collegial occasions at which there is ample opportunity for discussion outside the conference room. We will have a field trip with a food history theme and there will be ample opportunity to sample Norwegian cuisine.

A very important element of the Symposium will be the publication of a selection of the papers delivered. The ICREFH has a fine record of high quality published outputs, details of which are available on the website.

The theme

While food habits in Europe developed in natural households over many centuries, the twentieth century was characterized by the impact of commerce, industry, nutrition policy and the market on food consumption. This structural transformation has been concerned with both quantity and variety of food and, as incomes rose, the role of the consumer emphasizing for instance democratization, changes in lifestyles and social distinctions. The trend from under-nutrition to obesity in Europe will be considered as a social issue and the symposium will explore its different branches and perspectives in their historical context.

The sub-themes

The Symposium’s discussions will focus on the following central questions:

1) The growth of food consumption and the effect of consumer choice

Papers for discussion in this session should consider the trends in food consumption from under-nutrition to obesity and the development of consumers’ choice.

· Changes in consumption and lifestyle: the rise in food consumption during the twentieth century; consumer resistance to industrial food production systems (the rise of the organic food movement, vegetarianism and veganism, ethic consumption, the origins and growth of farmers’ markets and produce de terroir, the rise of the “slow” food movement and the idealization of the Mediterranean diet).

· Ethical questions: responsibility for choice of food (state regulations, governance, etc); moral values associated with food, e.g. balanced diets, junk foods;

· Gender relations in the development of food consumption (the construction of male and female consumers, differences in food intake, tasks related to food, etc.);

2) The role and impact of the food industry on food consumption during the twentieth century

Papers for discussion in this session should analyse the extent to which the food industry has influenced the trend from under-nutrition to obesity, by specifically looking at:

· The institutional framework of industrial food production systems in different European countries (law and regulation, state or regional programs, general EU food policy);

· Standardization of food products (the rational industry, impact of the price, democratization of food products);

· From fresh products to packages (presentation and design, content – e.g. the role of sugar-, hygiene , scientific innovations).

3) The growth of food distribution systems and their impact on consumption during the twentieth century

Papers for discussion in this session should examine the impact of food distribution and mass consumption resulting from market changes and innovations :

· From local shop to hypermarket (shop and store structures, store localization, facilities and services, social and cultural dimensions);

· Standards, designation and labelling of food products (new rules in the name of quality, role of consumer choice, institutional programmes);

· Globalization and internationalization (global influences on the European diet, global distribution and local consumption, global standardization).

4) Social and medical influences on food consumption

Papers for discussion in this session should review the effects of nutrition policy and campaigns during the last century by emphasizing different perspectives, such as:

· The importance of income changes and lifestyles for food consumption including the role of body image and aesthetics (changes in the body representation, diet, body fashion, including gender and social differences as well as democratization of food consumption.)

· The influence of medical and nutritional sciences and consumers’ reactions (including the use of nutrition in food advertising, consumer protection policy, fortification of and additives to foodstuffs);

· The influence of media discourse and the medicalization of food consumption (from tonics to nutriceuticals, popular diets, rumours and reputation, food discourse in magazines and periodical).

For further information please contact the Symposium organiser:

Dr Virginie Amilien,

SIFO National Institute for Consumer Research, P.B. 4682 Nydalen, 0405 Oslo, Norway

Email: virginie.amilien@sifo.no

Some Recent Books on Food History

Pilcher, J.M. (2006) Food in world history New York: Routledge ISBN 0-415-31146-2

Nabhan, G.P. (2004) Why some like it hot: food, genes and cultural diversity Shearwater Books ISBN 1559634669 $24

Goldstein, D. & Merkle, K. (Eds) (2005) Culinary cultures of Europe: identity, diversity and dialogue Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing ISBN 92-871-5783-9

This volume has ‘country essays’ on Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UK. In addition there are substantial essays by Fabio Parasecoli on ‘food identity and diversity’, and Stephen Mennell on ‘culinary transitions in Europe’.

Rambourg, P. (2005) De la cuisine à la gastronomie: histoire de la table française Paris: Audibert €29.00 www.lamartiniere.fr

C. Sarasua, P. Scholliers & L. Van Molle (eds), Land, shops and kitchens. Technology and the food chain in twentieth-century Europe, Turnhout (Brepols) 2005, 295 pages,

ISBN: 3-503-51780-3, €63. http://www.brepols.net/catalogue/index.jsp?mpk=20295&art=731160

Future ICREFH Newsletters

Please send copy for future Newsletters to the Editor at: p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contact: Dr Peter Atkins (President of ICREFH) Department of Geography University of Durham Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom Telephone: +44 191 334 1865 Fax: +44 191 334 1801 Email: p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

The ninth symposium of the ICREFH will be held at the open-air museum Dom?ne Dahlem, Berlin, 20-25th September 2005. The main sponsors are the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung fY?Nr Wissenschaftsf?rderung. The theme is "Food and the City in Europe since the Late Eighteenth Century: Urban Life, Innovation and Regulation". For full details, please refer to Newsletter 15 (below).

The proceedings of the Prague symposium will be launched in book form in Berlin. Thanks are due to Derek Oddy and Lydia Petr?o?Nnov?o?N for their editorial labours and to the Czech Academy for sponsoring the publication.

Biennial General Meeting. The President requests that all colleagues think in advance of the Berlin symposium about the matters that we need to discuss at the BGM. Please send your ideas for the agenda to: p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk For the minutes of the BGM in Prague, please refer to the ICREFH website at: http://www.vub.ac.be/SGES/ScientificReportPrague.html.

Please send ideas of future venues for ICREFH symposia to Peter Atkins. Two formal suggestions have been made for ICREFH X in 2007. Potential hosts are reminded that the expenses of the symposium, including the accommodation of the speakers, are normally met at the local level.

The Fifth International Conference on Culinary Arts and Sciences in National and Global Perspectives (ICCAS 05) will be held at the Warsaw Agricultural University, Poland, from 27 June -1 July 2005. Contact Angela Smith, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, angsmith@bournemouth.ac.uk (www.iccas05.com).

The 14th World Congress of Economic History organized by the International Economic History Association meets in Helsinki, 21-25 August 2006. One session is entitled O^Food quality: practices and rules (12-20th centuries)O. Anyone interested in presenting a paper should, as soon as possible, contact Dr Peter Atkins, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom, p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

The 8th European Urban History Association is meeting in Stockholm, 30th August N 2nd September 2006. There will be a session on O^Animals in the cityO and the organizer, Dr Peter Atkins, invites contributions.

COST, which stands for European Cooperation in Scientific and Technical Research, funds O^actionsO that involve at least 5 countries working on a similar subject for 3-5 years. The sums are about 70,000 EUR per year per project, which isnOt much but there may be scope for future ICREFH events. The deadline for this call is 1st October, so we should discuss the possibilities in Berlin. Meanwhile, please see http://cost.cordis.lu/src/home.cfm, and for the Social Sciences and Humanities: http://cost.cordis.lu/src/signatories.cfm?domain=A&country=all&FILTER=all

In addition, the European Science Foundation funds small workshops of up to 30 participants, to a maximum of 15,000 EUR, to explore new research agendas. The deadline is May 1st 2006 for workshops to be held in 2007. Please see http://www.esf.org/esf_domain_workshop.php?language=0&domain=5&activity=4

ICREFH members have made important contributions to food history in the last couple of years. Among these, please note the following.

Alain Drouard (2004) Histoire des cuisiniers en France XXe NXXe si?cle, CNRS editions, Paris. 145 pp, ISBN 2-271-06266-7, 20 EUR. This is a thorough review of the evolution of cookery professionalism in France. Rather than a hagiography, the author presents an account of how ordinary cooks and chefs gained greater freedom and employment rights from the mid-nineteenth century. The power of exploitative employment agencies was reduced by worker organization, a mutual aid society and a number of societies of cooks. The 1870s and 1880s were a hinge point, with the emergence of a trade union, a professional cookery school, trade journals and a higher public profile. The employment structure, for instance the nature of apprenticeship, is considered, along with steady progress towards social recognition. There is also a discussion of the recent era of nouvelle cuisine, Michelin stars and celebrity TV chefs. The argument is supported from a range of sources, including a wealth of statistical data and the book is illustrated with photographs and prints.

Hans Juergen Teuteberg (2004) Die Revolution am Esstisch. Neue Studien zur Nahrungskultur im 19./20. Jahrhundert. (The Revolution at the Table. New Studies towards the Culinary Culture in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries). Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart 2004. 60 EUR, ISBN 3-515-08447-9 This book has a very wide range of contributions including nutritional politics, food security, rural food habits, the fight against obesity, the consumption of alcohol, baby nutrition, food in cafeterias and hospitals, and the O^never-full giant bellyO of metropolitan Berlin. In addition, there are papers on the food ways of Italian and Turkish women in Germany and west African food customs under colonial rule.

Peter Scholliers invites you to surf and use his website named "Foodlinks", which is a compendium of links to sites of interest to food historians. http://www.vub.ac.be/SGES/foodlinks.html

Alessandro Stanziani has produced an important series of books on food quality in history. His work clearly shows the importance of this topic in the food history agenda. Stanziani, A. (2005) Histoire de la qualit? alimentaire XIXe - XXe si?cle, Paris, Seuil. 378pp, 25 EUR, ISBN: 2-02-078841-1; Stanziani, A. (Ed.)(2003) La qualit? des produits en France (XVIIIe-XXe si?cles) Paris: Belin. 345pp, ISBN: 2-7011-3546-2; Stanziani, A. & Bruegel, M. (Eds)(2004) La securite alimentaire, entre sante et marche, Revue dOHistoire Moderne et Contemporaine 51, 3, 236pp

Régnier, F. (2004) LOexotisme culinaire Paris: puf. 270pp, ISBN 2130544789, 31EUR.

Burnett, J. (2004) England eats out, 1830-present London: Longman. 388pp, ISBN 0582472660, ??f25

Levenstein, H. (2003) Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 275, $16.95, ISBN 0-520-23439-1

Levenstein, H. (Revised ed. 2003) Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America Berkeley: University of California Press. $19.95, ISBN 0-520-23440-5

Mallet, G. (2004) Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast Food World Mainstream 384pp, ISBN: 0393058417, $25.95

Carole M. Counihan (2004). Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family, and Gender in Twentieth Century Florence. New York and London: Routledge, 244pp. $23.95, ISBN 0-415-946735

Peter Lesniczak (2003) Alte LandschaftskY?Nchen im Sog der Modernisierung. Studien zur Ern?hrungsgeographie in Deutschland zwischen 1860 und 1930 (Old Regional Cuisines under the force of Modernization. Studies in Food Geography in German , 1860-1939). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003. 85 EUR, ISBN 3-515-08099-6

Sabine Merta (2003) Wege und Irrwege zum modernen Schlankheitskult. Di?tkost und K?rperkultur als Suche nach neuen Lebenstilsformen 1880-1930, (Right or wrong paths to the modern cult of slimming. Special diet food and bodily culture as a search for new forms of lifestyle, 1880-1930). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003. 90 EUR, ISBN 3-515-08109-7

Martin R. Schösrer, Pierre Butty, Isabelle Raboud-SchY?Nle, and Nicole St?uble Tercier (Eds)(2003) Cooking N eating N purchasing - digesting. Fondation Alimentarium. Mus?e de lOalimentation / Food Museum / Museum fY?Nr Ern?hrung, (French, German and English editions available), Vevey/Switzerland 2003. 200pp, SFr28

Martin R. Sch?rer (2004) The Saga Of The Soup Tureen: Museological approaches. 33pp, illustrated (colour), in English, French and German, ISBN 2-940284-16-4, SFr18

Patricia Lysaght (Ed)(2002) Food and Celebration. From Fasting to Feasting. Proceedings of the 13th Conference of the Internatinal Conference of the International Commission for Ethnological Food Research, Ljubljana

Keith R. Allan (2002) Hungrige Metropole. Essen, Wohlfahrt und Kommerz in Berlin. (Hungry Metropolis: Food, Commerce and Well Being in Berlin, 1870-1950), Ergebnisse-Verlag Hamburg. ISBN 3-87916-066-X

Lothar Kollmer and Christian Rothe (Eds)(2000) Mahl and Repr?sentation. Der Kult um das Essen. Beitr?ge des internationalen Symposium in Salzburgs 1999.( Meal and Representation: the Worship of Eating). Ferdinand Sch?ningh Verlag Paderborn. 292pp, 38 EUR, ISBN 74784 3

Birgit Pelzer and Reinhold Reith (2001) Margarine. Die Karriere der Kunstbutter (Margarine, The Career of the Artifical Butter), Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin. 192pp, ISBN 3-8031-3605-9, 9.50 EUR.

Felix Escher and Claus Buddeburg (Eds)(2003) Essen und Trinken zwischen Ern?hrung, Kult und Kultur (Eating and Drinking between Nutrition, Cult and Culture), ZY?Nrcher Hochschulforum vol. 34, ZY?Nrich. ISBN 3728127973, 30 EUR.

Utz Thimm and Karl Heinz Wellmann (Eds)(2000) Essen ist menschlich. Zur Nahrungskultur der Gegenwart (Eating is Human: towards the Culinary Culture of the Present), Suhrkamp -Taschenbuch, Frankfurt M., ISBN: 3-518-45533-8, 9 EUR.

Gerhard Neumann et al. (Eds)(2001) Essen und Lebensqualit?t. Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften im Gespr?ch (Eating and Quality of Life. Natural and Human Science Perspectives), Campus Verlag Frankfurt M and New York. ISBN 3-593-36852-8, 29.90 EUR.

Thomas Hengartner and Christoph M. Merki (Eds)(2001) Genussmittel. Eine Kulturgeschichte (Luxury Foodstuffs. A Cultural History), Insel Verlag Frankfurt. ISBN: 3458344616, _6

Roman Ro??feld (Ed)(2002) Genuss und NY?Nchternheit. Geschichte des Kaffees in der Schweiz vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart, Verlag Hier +Jetzt Baden. 288pp, ISBN 3-906419-44-4, 39.80 EUR.

Arnulf Huegel (2003) Kriegsern?hrungswirtschaft Deutschlands w?hrend des Ersten und Zweiten Weltkriegs im Vergleich (GermanyOs Food Economy during Word War I and II in Comparison, Hartung-Gorre Verlag Konstanz 2003, 673 pp.

Herbert May / Andrea Schilz (Eds)(2004) Gasth?user. History and Culture ( Inns N History and Culture), Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg. 348 pp, ISBN: 3-926834-58-7, 22 EUR.

Linda Civitello (2003) Cuisine and culture. A history of food and people, Hoboken N.J., Wiley. 384pp, ISBN: 0-471-20280-0, 39.20 EUR.

Contact: Dr Peter Atkins (President of ICREFH), Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE

Symposium Organizer: Dr Peter Lummel, Freilichtmuseum Domäne Dahlem, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 49, 14195 Berlin, E-mail: lummel@domaene-dahlem.de

Virginie Amilien, SIFO National Institute for Consumer Research, P.B. 4682 Nydalen, 0405 Oslo, Norway,

Maja Godina-Golija, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, ZRC SAZU, Novi trg 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Alain Drouard, Directeur de recherché au CNRS, 16 rue Parrot, 75012 Paris, France

Immediate Past President: Professor Dr Peter Scholliers, Department of History, Vrije Universiteit Brussel VUB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

The preparation of the proceedings of the Prague Symposium for publication as The Diffusion of Food Culture is going well and we aim to hand the complete text on a CD-Rom to the publisher - Academia Press, Prague - in October or early November. If all goes according to plan, the book should be in print in 2005 by the time ICREFH IX meets in Berlin. The publication details will be:

Derek J. Oddy and Lydia Petranove (eds) The Diffusion of Food Culture in Europe since the late Eighteenth Century, to be published by Academia Press, Prague, 2005

As the editors pore over the texts of the chapters, their strained eyes have noted several problem features of preparing an ICREFH volume for publication. Two points stand out:

What should the editors do when faced with texts of over 10,000 words in length, even though they have asked every contributor to keep within a word-budget of 5,000? How readable can an ICREFH book be if some contributors’ references run on for page after page — many of which have only marginal relevance to the subject discussed at the symposium?

There is a simple solution. At the next Biennial General Meeting, ICREFH needs to adopt some general editorial guidelines for the future based on the experience of recent volumes. While the endnote and short title system works well (even if it is not elegant!), all long reference lists (bibliographies) should be cut out. Each contributor should agree to provide a "Select Bibliography" with an absolute maximum of twenty authorities. That could save pages of print and allow an extra contribution to be included!

One aim after each symposium in selecting papers for publication should be to include as many contributions as possible that will reflect the balance of the discussions. That means having as many chapters as possible within the maximum length of the book. Few publishers want to handle a book longer than 100,000 words - the present one is 110,000 - because the retail price becomes prohibitive. Including more contributors will also mean continuing with the device adopted in The Diffusion of Food Culture of having joint chapters written by more than one contributor. Readers will find four such chapters in the volume currently under preparation. For the present, these chapters consist of papers put together by region, e.g. Britain, Czechoslovakia, France, and Norway, but future editors should consider putting subjects together to allow a greater degree of comparison to be made.

The ninth symposium of the ICREFH will be held at the open-air museum Domäne Dahlem, Berlin, 20-25^thSeptember 2005. The main sponsors are the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung für Wissenschaftsförderung. The theme is "Food and the City in Europe since the Late Eighteenth Century: Urban Life, Innovation and Regulation". The Programme is as follows.

0900-1400, Arrival of participants, Harnack-Haus (www.harnackhaus-berlin.mpg.de/eng-index.htm)

1. Hans Jürgen Teuteberg (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Historisches Seminar, Münster / Germany), Urbanization and Nutrition: Historical Research Reconsidered

2. Corinna Treitel (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, Harvard University Cambridge Massachussetts / USA), Food Science / Food Politics: Max Rubner and "Rational Nutrition" in Fin-de-Siecle Berlin

3. Adel den Hartog (Universiteit Wageningen, Vakgroep Humane Voeding, Wageningen / The Netherlands), A revolution in nutrition: Public health, the food industry and vitamins

1. Peter J. Atkins (University of Durham, Department of Geography, Durham / UK), ‘A tale of two cities: a comparison of food systems in London and Paris in the 1850s’

2. Heinz Gerhard Haupt (Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaft, Philosophie und Theologie, Abteilung Geschichtswissenschaft, Bielefeld / Germany), Conflicts about food in German and French cities, 1860 – 1890

3. Josep Pujol and Roser Nicolau (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Economic History, Barcelona / Spain), Urbanisation and food change in Mediterranean Europe: Barcelona, 1830-1935

4. Jürgen Schmidt (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Berlin / Germany), A solved problem returns: How to feed three million inhabitants of a town? Berlin in the first years after the Second World War

5. Martin Franc (Research Centre for the History of Sciences and Humanities, Prague / Czech Republic), Shop window of the regime: Prague’s position in system of preferential supply of selected towns in Czechoslovakia

1. Peter Scholliers (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Vakgroep Geschiedenis, Brussels / Belgium), A Capital in Danger! Food falsifications, food fears and the municipality’s response: Brussels, 1850-1914

2. Derek Oddy (University of Westminster, London / UK), Food quality in London and the rise of the public analyst, 1870-1939

3. Alessandro Stanziani (Centre national de la recherche scientifique Cachan / France), The Municipal laboratories and foodstuffs analysis in France under the Third Republic: The case of the municipal laboratory of Paris, 1878-1907

4. Lydia Sapounaki-Dracaki (Panteion University, Athens / Greece), Food regulation in Piraeus (1835-1914)

5. Vera Hierholzer (Max Planck Institut für Europäische Rechtsgeschichte, Frankfurt a. M. / Germany), The "War" against Adulteration of Food: The "Verein gegen die Verfälschung der Lebensmittel" in Leipzig

1. Peter Lummel (Freilichtmuseum Domäne Dahlem, Berlin / Germany), Trade-innovations and consumer demands: Berlins number one supermarket-chain „Otto Reichelt", 1950 – 2000.

2. Anneke van Otterloo (University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Amsterdam / The Netherlands), Exotic foods and the city of Amsterdam after 1945

3. Panikos Panayi (De Montfort University, Faculty of Humanities, School of Historical and International Studies, Leicester / UK) The Immigrant Impact on London’s Food

4. Jukka Gronow (University of Uppsala, Department of Sociology, Uppsala / Sweden), "Novelties are in big demand!" The invention and distribution of novelties in the Soviet system of food provisioning during the 1930’s

5. Tatiana Voronina (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow / Russia), Innovations in food allowance of Russians during post-Soviet period on the example of Moscow.

1. Virginie Amilien (SIFO, National Institute for Consumption Research, Oslo / Norway), Sour cream porridge and Turtle soup: social and cultural perspectives on food habits in Oslo

2. Alain Drouard (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris / France), Reforming Diet at the end of the XIX th century in Europe

3. Ulrike Thoms (Humboldt Universität - Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Zentrum für Human- und Gesundheitswissenschaften, Berlin / Germany), Scientists at the Table. Structure, Functions and Uses of Diners of Scientific Associations Berlin 1850-1930 and their Role in urban Life

4. Maja Godina-Golija (Institute of Slovene Ethnology, Ljubljana / Slovenia), The Influence of Cultural Elites on Eating Habits of Slovenian Urban Population between the End of the 19th Century to World War II

5. Isabelle Téchoueyres (Bordeaux 2 University, Social and Cultural Anthropology), When the rural space invades the city: food products and direct selling in the city of Bordeaux (France), from the 60s to the present day

0800-1330, Berlin Tour I: "Berlin – a huge stomach": 1. The former Central Slaughterhouse of Berlin. 2. The Gendarmenmarkt. 3. Reception in the German Bundestag – Paul Löbe Haus by Gabriele Hiller-Ohm (Committee of the German Bundestag for Consumer Protection, Nutrition and Agriculture). 4. The warehouse KADEWE

0900-1800 Berlin Tour II: "The historical and the new Berlin" with a visit Potsdamer Platz; "Under den Linden", Museumsinsel; a tour "Berlin by ship" and the new Jewish Museum with the building of Daniel Liebeskind

The President requests that all colleagues think in advance of the Berlin symposium about the matters that we need to discuss at the BGM. Please send your ideas to: p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

Please also think before Berlin about nominations for the Executive Committee, which will be elected at the BGM.

The Institut Européen de l’Alimentation, based at Tours will hold its Fourth Colloquium from 10-12^th December 2004 under the title "Alimentation et Croyances". For further information, contact them at 12 rue Etienne Pallu, 37000 Tours, France.

The 14^th World Congress of Economic History organized by the International Economoc History Association meets in Helsinki, 21-25 August 2006. One session is entitled ‘Food quality: practices and rules (12-20^th centuries)’. Anyone interested in presenting a paper should contact Dr Peter Atkins, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom, p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

The IEHA held a second Summer School at Tours in early September 2004. There were 20 students from 10 countries, with seminars and tables rondes involving a dozen or so speakers on the theme ‘Les Cultures Alimentaires: Définitions, Contenus, Pertinence’. The event was a great success and it was very encouraging to see so many young people with an interest in food history.

The Revue d’Histoire Moderne & Contemporaine has published a special issue, volume 51-3 for July/September 2004, on ‘La Sécurité Alimentaire, entre Santé et Marché’. The journal is published by Belin of Paris under ISSN 0048-8003. The cost of the issue is 25 Euro.

Tim Lang & Michael Heasman (2004) Food Wars: the Global Battle for Mouths, Minds and Markets London: Earthscan, 365pp, ??f19.99, ISBN 1 85383 702 4

Andrew Dalby (2004) Food in the Ancient World: from A to Z London: Routledge, 408pp, ??f30, ISBN 0 415 23259 7

Ruth Brandon (March 2005) The People’s Chef: Alexis Soyer, a Life in Seven Courses Wiley, 336pp, ??f8.99, ISBN 0 470 86992 5

Jack Turner (2004) Spice: The History of a Temptation Random House, 384pp, $26.95, ISBN 0 375 40721 9

Laura Shapiro (2004) Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America New York: Penguin, 336pp, $24.95, ISBN 0 670 87154 0

Ian Kelly (2003) Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Careme, the First Celebrity Chef Short Books, ??f16.99, ISBN 1 904 09520 8

Alan MacFarlane (2004) Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant That Took over the World New York: Penguin, $22.95, 308pp, ISBN 1 585 67493 1

Carol F. Helstosky (2004) Garlic and Oil: Politics and Food in Italy Oxford: Berg, 288pp, ??f18.99, ISBN 1 85973 890 7

Recommended: a new film ‘Super Size Me’ about McDonald’s. Food history in the making!

If you wish to fill the gaps in your collection of food history books, the Editor recommends the following websites:

Please send copy for future Newsletters to the Editor at: p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk

The International Commission for Research into European Food History was founded at MY?Nnster in 1989. It is a group of scholars working on the history of food and nutrition in Europe since the late eighteenth century. Every two years it holds a symposium on a single theme and publishes the proceedings. The official language is English, with French and German as working languages. I regard it as a great privilege to be elected President of the ICREFH. Over the last fifteen years the Commission has made a significant contribution to the study of food history and brought together colleagues from many countries, without financial or intellectual dominance from any one source. Its multinational and multidisciplinary composition is, in my view, a model that could be followed by other societies. I wish to thank the previous President, Peter Scholliers for his advice and support and the previous editor of the Newsletter, Adel den Hartog, for his excellent work over the years.

The new Executive Committee, elected in Prague, is as follows: President: Dr Peter Atkins (address above) Symposium Organizer: Dr Peter Lummel, Freilichtmuseum Dom?ne Dahlem, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, K?nigin-Luise-Str. 49, 14195 Berlin lummel@domaene-dahlem.de, Virginie Amilien, SIFO National Institute for Consumer Research, P.B. 4682 Nydalen, 0405 Oslo, Norway virginie.amilien@sifo.no, Maja Godina-Golija, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, ZRC SAZU, Novi trg 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia maja.godina-golija@uni-mb.si, Alain Drouard, Directeur de recherch? au CNRS, 16 rue Parrot, 75012 Paris, France adrouard01@noos.fr, Immediate Vice President: Professor Dr Peter Scholliers, Department of History, Vrije Universiteit Brussel VUB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium pscholli@vub.ac.be.

Vice Presidents: Professor Em. Dr Hans-JY?Nrgen Teuteberg (MY?Nnster) (President, 1989 -1994) Dr Adel den Hartog (Wageningen) (President, 1995 -1999)

We invite proposals for papers from all of those who wish to contribute a perspective on the theme (please, print and send the Application Form to Dr. Peter Lummel, address below]. The deadline for the submission of proposals is May 31st, 2004 . The Executive Committee will then select approximately 25 papers from those proposed. Normally there is no conference fee and no charge for accommodation, meals and field trips. We hope to continue this admirable tradition in Berlin but our finances have yet to be finalised and further information will be circulated in the summer of 2004 on this issue.

The Symposium will be divided into four sub-themes, each of which will be discussed in depth. Papers will be circulated and read in advance and the presentations will then be a brief summary of issues in order to open discussion. At the end of the Symposium there will be an extended plenary session in which general points can be raised and the relationship examined between the sub-themes. ICREFH Symposia are very pleasant, collegial occasions at which there is ample opportunity for discussion outside the conference room. We will have a field trip with a food history theme and there will be ample opportunity to sample German cuisine. A very important element of the Symposium will be the publication of a selection of the papers delivered.

The ICREFH has a fine record of high quality published outputs, details of which are available on this website. The theme The large European city of today results from the processes of industrialization and urbanization that began in the eighteenth century. These brought radical changes at all stages of the food-chain, amongst which questions of supply and transport of food to the market place, and its distribution, were central. The size of the cities created problems that required the state, the municipal institutions, and also the town-dwellers themselves, to make numerous adaptations. The resulting social and cultural transformation of urban society created a dynamic for changes in food consumption that had never been known before. As cities expanded, the lower social classes had to offset the higher cost of living against their limited incomes, while urban elites formulated new wants. The interplay of these factors led to new urban consumption patterns in Europe.

In the twentieth century the main focus moved more and more from the quantitative guarantee of the food supply to the question of qualitative food safety. With urbanization, the growing separation from producers led consumers to experience deeply-felt emotional uncertainties. At the same time, numerous innovations by the farming and food-processing industries created a more regular and a more varied supply of foodstuffs. Retailers were thus able to obtain food supplies from sources around the globe and to rationalize shops into larger and larger units. All this made possible an extreme individualization of demand and differentiation of consumption. No summary historical treatment of these developments exists in a comparative European perspective, which takes account of all interests from the producer to the consumer. The Symposium will consider especially those large and important European cities which, in differing national contexts, have developed as economic and cultural centres notable for innovation and change.

This discussion of how historical problems were solved in Europe seems to be particularly relevant against the contemporary background of rapid urban growth in developing countries, leading to food and housing shortages as well as severe social problems.

1. Feeding the multitude. When and how did local food production cease to be able to provide for the city and when did improved transport conditions and liberal commercial relations replace local by supra-regional food supplies? How far did the food industry contribute to improved living conditions in cities by supplying the masses with reasonably priced food? What influence did urban consumers themselves have, for example, in consumer organizations, consumer co-operatives or through charitable agencies?

2. Food regulation Was there basic scientific research and public discussions about food hygiene in the cities that stimulated municipal authorities to invest in a modern infrastructure with central slaughterhouses, market halls, etc.? What new r(TM)les did the food and health authorities take on in the city? What connexions are there between the growth of nutrition science and the beginning of modern consumer protection, and how did this come about?

3. Food innovations the product perspective Which new foods (sugar, coffee, chocolate, snack meals, pizza, kebabs, Asian food etc.) gained acceptance in the cities first? When and how did this happen? What r(TM)le did world exhibitions and new retail outlets (such as food divisions of large department stores, delicatessen and grocersO shops, street traders, supermarkets and superstores) play in presenting consumers with new products? What contribution did the food industry make to food innovations (brands, ready-to-serve meals, frozen food, convenience foods, and genetically modified foods)?

4. Eating fashions the consumer perspective Why, when and where did new eating habits start in the cities? How far did cultural life in the cities (theatre, concerts, cabaret etc.) influence eating fashions, i.e. ways and places to eat? Did cultural elites have an impact on eating fashions and what r(TM)le did the lower social classes play? How, when and where did the nutritional reform movements (vegetarianism, nature healing, health food shops etc.) influence city inhabitants by their opposition to modern urban diets?

For further information please contact the Symposium organiser: Dr Peter Lummel Freilichtmuseum Dom?ne Dahlem, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, K?nigin-Luise-Str. 49, 14195 Berlin Tel: +49 30 666 300-11 Fax: +49 30 831 6382 Email: lummel@domaene-dahlem.de Web: http://www.domaene-dahlem.de.

The eighth symposium of the ICREFH was held at the Vila Lana, Prague, 30 September to 5 October 2003, courtesy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The theme was "The diffusion of food culture: cookery and food education in Europe". Historians, geographers, ethnologists and sociologists attended and gave a total of 29 papers in five sections: the Family, Socio-economic Agencies, Specialist Literature, Industrial and Political Context, and General Determinants of Food Culture. There were fieldtrips in Prague and to Bohemia. Further details of this very successful symposium may be found here. ICREFH wishes to thank the organizers of this symposium: Dr Lydia Petr?o?Nnov?o?N, Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences, and Dr Darina Vystr?ilov?o?N.

Publication: Derek J. Oddy & Lydia Petranova (eds), The Diffusion of Food Culture: Cookery and Food Education during the last 200 years (Prague, Czech Republic, in press). Editors' note: The bulk of the text is now ready for editing work to begin. All the contributors who have sent in their revised texts are to be congratulated on their efforts to follow the rules laid down in the Guidelines for Contributors, particularly for the unpleasant work of shortening the papers discussed at the Vila Lanna. Almost all the revised texts are very close to the word-budgets set - which just shows that academics can be concise rather than verbose in their writing! There will be a meeting with the Director of Academia Press in Prague during the week beginning 19 April 2004, after which the editors should have a contract to publish the book. The date of publication should be known by the next Newsletter. Any contributors wishing to refer to their chapters in their publication lists should e-mail Derek Oddy for details (profdjoddy@aol.com).

The ICREFH has a sister organization, the Institut Europ?en de lOAlimentation, based at Tours. They hold regular international conferences and summer schools. Their journal O^Food & HistoryO was launched in 2003 and is a welcome addition to the literature. It is available from Brepols Publishers, Begijnhof 67, B-2300 Turnhout. For more information about the IEHA, contact them at 12 rue Etienne Pallu, 37000 Tours, France or take a look at its webpage.

The 14th World Congress of Economic History organized by the International Economoc History Association meets in Helsinki, 21-25 August 2006. One session is entitled O^Food quality: practices and rules (12-20th centuries)O. Anyone interested in presenting a paper should contact Dr Peter Atkins, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom, p.j.atkins@durham.ac.uk .

The Centre for European Conflict and Identity History will be hosting a conference on O^Food production and food consumption in Europe c. 1914-1950O at Esbjerg, Denmark, 2-4 June 2004. http://websrv5.sdu.dk/conih/food.html.

A new web-journal O^The Anthropology of FoodO (ISSN 1609-9168) was launched in 2001. Articles are published in French or English and some have historical interest. http://www.aofood.org/default.htm

As from January 2004, O^Food, Culture and SocietyO is the relaunched name of the journal of the Association for the Study of Food and Society. This society has held annual meetings since 1987 and from June 10-13th 2004 it will meet jointly with the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society at the Culinary Institute of America, New York. The theme is O^From agriculture to culture: the social transformation of foodO. http://www.nyu.edu/education/nutrition/NFSR/ASFS.htm

The O^Centre d'histoire culturelle des soci?t?s contemporainesO at the Universit? de Versailles-St Quentin-en-Yvelines is organizing a conference on the O^Gastronomie et identite culturelle francaise discours et representations (xixe-xxie si?cles)O, 17-18th March 2005. http://www.uvsq.fr/rech/colloques/appel_gastronomie.html

In 1997 the Department of History at the University of Adelaide established a Research Centre for the History of Food and Drink. Its next conference O^Convivial JourneysO will be held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide 12-14th July 2004. http://www.arts.adelaide.edu.au/historypolitics/history/f&d.html

Executive Committee: Peter Scholliers Brussels, president - Adel P. den Hartog, Wageningen vice-president - Eszter Kisbán, Pécs - Peter Atkins, Durham - Hans J. Teuteberg, Münster past president ICREFH Website: http:www.vub.ac.be./SGES/ICREFH.html

The coming eighth symposium of the International Commission for Research into

Venue: Institute of Ethnology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, in collaboration with the Institute of Economic and Social History, Charles University

The purpose of the symposium is to bring together different views on questions relating to the transmission of information about food culture in Europe during the last two centuries. The approach to the subject is interdisciplinary and our discussions will draw upon a broad debate between specialists in cultural history, economic and social history, sociology, anthropology, nutritional sciences, psychology of child rearing and education, and human geography. They will contribute, using their own methodologies, to formulate conclusions that will embrace basic developmental trends as well as periodic differences and regional characteristics in food culture.

All disciplines should take into account the historical context and time dimension.

The time period of the Symposium will be limited to the last two centuries, from the transformation of European thought and behaviour at the end of the 18th century through periods of industrialisation and modernisation, to the present time. Concerning the geographical dimensions of Europe, the research takes into account its specific features due in the past to the character of agricultural areas, ethno-cultural spheres and political and administrative units.

The first day will feature a plenary session on the general development of transmission of food culture. The plenary session is open to all persons concerned with historical, cultural and nutritional aspects of food culture.

On subsequent days invited participants will present their papers in topic related sections. Part of the Symposium will be a one-day excursion out of Prague with a special programme and a half-day visit to the Charels University, which will be combined with sightseeing.

Apart from the plenary session (open to an interested public) the biennial conference of ICREFH takes the form of a symposium, which implies that about 25 participants will be selected and invited to prepare a paper in one of the following fields:

The official working language of the Symposium is English. All papers have to be written in English and send to the organiser in written and electronic form in advance, so papers can be made available to all participants prior the opening of the Symposium. Alternative use of French or German is admitted for oral presentation at the Symposium.

The discussions will no doubt highlight inter European links of food culture, similarities and differences.

The Eight Symposium of ICREFH is organised by the Institute of Ethnology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, together with the institute of Economic and Social History, Charles University under the auspices of Doc. RN Dr. Helena IIInerová, DrSc., President of the Academy of Sciences.

The principal organiser is Doc. Dr. Lydia Petránová, a member of ICREFH.

The venue of the Symposium will be Villa Lana in Prague, ASCR’s Conference Centre, which has accommodation for participants. It is in a quiet residential part of Prague but near the city centre and within easy reach of metro and tram lines. The organisers hope that the participants will find in Prague a pleasant milieu and creative atmosphere for fruitful meeting.

For more information and a preliminary application please contact the principal organiser:

A call for papers will be sent in due course to all persons on the ICREFH mailing list. However, the application is open to all scholars having an interest in the theme of the Symposium. The Scientific Committee of the Symposium will make a selection out of the applications.

No fees are required but participants have to take care of their own travel cost to Prague. Efforts are being made by the organisers to get subsidisation for accommodation, subsistence and the excursion for direct participants. Any non-participating partners must pay their own cost. Any participant staying longer than the conference period must take care of own expenses.

Participants of ICREFH are kindly requested to supply to the secretariat any information which may seem of interest to the reader of the Newsletter.

Report of the Seventh ICREFH Symposium: Eating out in Europe; Eating and drinking outside the home since the late 18th century.

In Belgium, in the cultural centre the Landcommandry of Alden Biesen, the seventh Symposium of ICREFH took place from 10 —14 October 2001. Many thanks are due to the principal organisers of the Symposium for creating a stimulating scientific environment in an attractive set up. Marc Jacobs and Hilde Schoefs of the Flemish Centre for Popular Culture VCV and Peter Scholliers of the Department of History of the Free University of Brussels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel VUB. The Symposium attracted a wide range of scholars with papers of high quality. As a result the papers will now be published by Berg Publishers in Oxford. An other offshoot of the Symposium is a book in Dutch on eating out to be published by the University VUB Press. A scientific report of the Symposium is available on the ICREFH Web, see page 1 of the News letter.

In January 2001 the European Institute of Food history or Institut Européen d’Histoire de l’Alimentation, IEHA was created in Strasbourg, France. Two members of the Executive Committee Peter Scholliers and Adel den Hartog attended this meeting. The IEHA is now based in Tours and is part of the French Ministry of national Education. What will be the relation between the new institution and ICREFH? In order to clarify a number of points a meeting in Paris took place on 21 march 2002 between representatives of IEHA and ICFREFH. Present from the side of IEHA were Mr. Francis Chevrier director and Dr. Julia Csergo. The representatives of ICREFH consisted of Prof. Peter Scholliers, president, Dr. Adel P. den Hartog vice-president and Prof. Hans J. Teuteberg, past president.

The Paris meeting took place in an open and constructive way. The meeting agreed with the following areas of collaboration between both institution:

In this set up ICREFH will remain to function as an independent and international body.

Order and disorder: the health implications of eating and drinking in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

This book is based on the papers of the fifth symposium held in Aberdeen, Scotland, and hosted by the Rowett Research Institute. Among various topics discussed are milk consumption and tuberculosis, slimming, hunger cures and hospital food, soft drinks and health biscuits, drunkenness and smoking. Sometimes health care provide cures and sometimes health crazes create illnesses. Food crises of a different nature, are not caused by hunger or poverty, are still with us. This book is essential reading for all concerned with questions of food and health in Europe.

Voyage. Jahrbuch für Reise & Tourismusforschung. Schwerpunktthema: Reise & Essen. Köln, Dumont, 2002. 199 pp. ISBN-7701-5974-8 The German year book on tourism is now a special issue on the theme of travelling and eating. Several articles deal with food history and historical dimensions of gastronomy. In this context the article of ICREFH participant Karin Becker should be mentioned on regional cuisines of France in the 19th century.

In the Netherlands the Foundation History of technology (Stichting Historie der Techniek) has implemented a research project on the history of technology in the Netherlands in the 20th century. The results are now being published in a series of seven well edited and illustrated volumes. A large interdisciplinary team is involved. In 2000 volume III on Agriculture and Nutrition appeared, edited by Jan Bieleman and Anneke van Otterloo.

The foundation has already completed a monumental series of six volumes on the history of technology in the 19th century, of which the last volume was published in 1995. Plans are in the making to extend the activities in a wider European context.

Landbouw en voeding. Techniek in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw (Agriculture and nutrtion. Technology in the Netherlands in the twentieth century).

The twentieth century is the era of the rise of nutrition as an own discipline within the sciences. Although in the 19th century the foundation was laid for the modern nutritional sciences, the break-through as a topic of scientific and social significance emerged mainly in the twentieth century. In view of this and the role of nutrition research in the Netherlands the Dutch Association of Nutrition and Food technology decided to organise a conference on hundred years of working on food and health. The newer insight in the relation between food, nutrition research and health has made an important contribution to health improvement in the twentieth century. Till the 1950s food security remained a major point of concern, food shortages, poor diets and problems of vitamin deficiencies. At the end of the twentieth century, food safety became a public issue. The book examines the role of the nutritional sciences, the food industry, food marketing, food culture, nutrition education, training of dieticians and governmental policies. The papers prepared by a group of food and nutrition specialists are edited and published as a book.

De voeding van Nederland in the twintigste eeuw (Nutrition in the Netherlands in the twentieth century).

This book adds a new perspective to the existing body of scholarship by addressing pivotal questions: is food central or marginal to identify construction? Does food equally matter for all groups. Why should in people's experience, food become important at one moment, or on the contrary lose its significance?

The history of food attracts increasingly a wide category of interested persons. There is apparently a need for compendia type of books in this field. The publication to be mentioned is the two volume handbook on world history of food.

prehistory to modern times. Likewise it treats the history of major food plants, human nutrition and health. Many chapters are of a good quality. Most contributors are coming from the Anglo Saxon world, mainly from the United States. However some European authors have contributed to this monumental work such as our ICREFRH participant Anneke van Otterloo. As a reference book it is most useful for those engaged in teaching university students.

The publisher of reference books Charles Scribner’s Sons in New York is planning to issue at the end of this year a two volume Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. The encyclopedia will deal with the history, culture and diversity of food. It is intended for a rather wide range of users , scholars, collage and university students, journalists and general readers. Two ICREFH participants have been invited to contribute to the encyclopedia, Hans J. Teuteberg and Adel P. den Hartog.

The International Commission for Research into European food History was formed in 1989 in Münster, Germany by professor Hans J. Teuteberg. The Commission is an interdisciplinary and international working group of scholars dealing with the social history of food and nutrition in Europe, in particular for the 19^th and 20^th century. It includes disciplines such as social history, ethnology, sociology and biological sciences.

The main objectives of the Commission is to serve as a network for scholars interested in the social history of food in Europe and to organise on a biannual basis symposia on relevant topics of research. The outcome of the symposia are published as books. Under the auspices of the Commission the following volumes were published:

Fenton, Alexander (ed.), Order and Disorder: The health implications of eating and drinking in the nineteenth and twentieth century. East Linton, Tuckwell Press, 2000. 342 pp. ISBN 186232117 5

Schärer, Martin and Fenton, Alexander (eds.), Food and material culture. East Linton, Tuckwell press, 1998. 358 pp. ISBN 186232 0020.

Food technology, science and marketing: European diet in the twentieth century.

Burnett, John and Oddy, Derek,J. (eds.), The origins and development of food policies in Europe. London, Leicester University Press, 1994. 265 pp.ISBN 0718514742 (hb) ISBN 071851694 (pb)

Hietala, Marjatta and Lönnqvist, Bö (ed.), The landscape of food town, countryside and the food relationship in modern times.

The official language of the Commission is English, with German and French as working languages.