Introduction

Food creates, maintains, negotiates and expresses various kinds of social identities. Yet, conceptions of food and foodways can also change to signify very different things as social changes happen. An overview of how the interplay of food, social change and identity has long interested researchers brings together anthropologists, archaeologists, area studies specialists, linguists and food policy administrators in this book to ponder over the following questions: What triggers change? What kinds of changes in food and foodways are happening? How are the changes impacting on identity politics? The discussions cross time and space to provide insights into many themes such as food and power, food and environment, food and nationalism as well as food and social policy.