Religion and Food Autobiography

Religion and Food Autobiography – Paper Guidelines

The purpose of the religion and food autobiography is, among other things, to enable us to bring awareness to what influences how we may interact with the course material. This 4-7-page paper is composed of two parts. The purpose of the first part is to begin researching your relationship to food through your ancestors. You are required to interview an older member of your family (Grandparents, parents, or suitable elder) to learn more about how they think, or do not think, about the food they eat. Questions to consider would be: How has your diet evolved over your lifetime? What do you think the food you eat says about you? Do you pray over your food? What, if anything, is meaningful about meals with family or friends?

The second part of the paper builds off of the first and should describe what role food has played in your life and how your beliefs and experiences have shaped you. You should connect your ancestor’s answers to your own. How has their relationship with food influenced your relationship? How are your foodways reflective of your culture, background, and identity (e.g. socio-economics, race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, country of origin, etc.).

Ancestral Narrative
Student conducts an interview with a family member (n.b. I suggest asking for permission to voice record the interview to help with your writing) and connects their ancestors’ story to the course readings to explore the ideologies that formed and informed their ancestor.

Social Location – Identity
Description includes some of the following categories (i.e. axis of difference): race, gender, sexual orientation, class, education, geography, family structure, culture/ethnicity, (ir)religious background and ability. Student should demonstrate a clear ability to communicate about self and self in relation to others particularly within the context of the family narrative of part one.

Social Location – Experience
Student describes social location in terms of personal and familial experiences of both privilege and marginalization. Students should refer to the course readings and demonstrate the ability to reflect on their social location in relation to those course readings.

Embedded Food Perspective
Embedded beliefs are the implicit beliefs that people live out in their daily lives. These are the beliefs that are formed in people through their daily encounters; formal and informal, planned and unplanned. With respect to food studies, these messages are intrinsic in the foods we eat, the formality of dinner, the gender roles ascribed to food preparation and cooking, the ability to go to restaurants and try foods outside of your own “culture,” etc.

My comments:

*The paper should roam around the four main topics Ancestral Narrative, Social Location – Identity, Social Location – Experience, and Embedded Food Perspective.

*I have attached additional material including articles/books that you may use. I think If you use one or two resources will be good.

*Also I have attached a rubric, which he will grade up upon.
I have also attached a word docx file that I made myself, which includes some background information about myself, and an interview with my mom that has to be used in the essay. The essay is an autobiography so I tried my best to explain the background where I came from.

Resource you may use:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/why-are-americas-farmers-killing-themselves-in-record-numbers