John Coveney – författare

Following on from the success of the first edition, John Coveney traces our complex relationship with food and eating and our preoccupation with diet, self-discipline and food guilt. Using our current fascination with health and nutrition, he explores why our appetite for food pleasures makes us feel anxious. This up-to-date edition includes an examination of how our current obsession with body size, especially fatness, drives a national and international panic about the obesity ‘epidemic’.Focusing on how our food anxieties have stemmed from social, political and religious problems in Western history, Food, Morals and Meaning looks at:the ancient Greeks’ preoccupation with eating early Christianity and the conflict between the pleasures of the flesh and spirituality scientific developments in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe and our current knowledge of food the social organization of food in the modern home, based on real interviews the obesity ‘epidemic’ and its association with moral degeneration. Based on the work of Michel Foucault, this fresh and updated edition explains how a rationalization food choice – so apparent in current programmes on nutrition and health – can be traced through a genealogy of historical social imperatives and moral panics. Food, Morals and Meaning is essential reading for those studying nutrition, public health, sociology of health and illness and sociology of the body.

First published in 2006. Food, Morals and Meaning examines our need to discipline our desires, our appetites and our pleasures at the table. However, instead of seeing this discipline as dominant or oppressive it argues that a rationalisation of pleasure plays a positive role in our lives, allowing us to better understand who we are. The book begins by exploring the way that concerns about food, the body and pleasure were prefigured in antiquity and then how these concerns were recast in early Christianity as problems of 'natural' appetite which had to be curbed. The following chapters discuss how scientific knowledge about food was constructed out of philosophical and religious concerns about indulgence and excess in 18th and 19th Century Europe. Finally, by using research collected from in-depth interviews with families, the last section focuses on the social organisation of food in the modern home to illustrate the ways that the meal table now incorporates the principles of nutrition as a form of moral training, especially for children. Food, Morals and Meaning will be essential reading for those studying nutrition, public health, sociology of health and illness and sociology of the body.

In Food, John Coveney examines ‘food as … ’ identity, politics, industry, regulation, the environment, justice and gastronomy. He explores how food helps us understand what it means to be human.The centrality of food in life, and the importance of food as life, is undeniable. As a source of biological substrates, personal pleasure and political power, food is and has been an enduring requirement of human biological, social and cultural existence. In recent years, interest in food has increased across the academic, public and popular spheres, fuelled by popular media’s constant play on the role of food and body size, and food and cooking, as a mass spectacle for TV audiences. Through food, we construct our social identities, our families and communities. However, Coveney also highlights the tensions between the industrialisation of food, the environment, and the iniquitous distribution of food. He also considers how the food industries, on which most of us must rely, have also had direct effects on our bodies through diet, and the development of illness and diseases.This accessible primer is for students and general readers alike, indeed, for anyone with an interest in food. It questions the idea that food is merely something inert on the plate. Instead, it shows how influential, symbolic, powerful and transformative food has come to be.

In Food, John Coveney examines ‘food as … ’ identity, politics, industry, regulation, the environment, justice and gastronomy. He explores how food helps us understand what it means to be human.The centrality of food in life, and the importance of food as life, is undeniable. As a source of biological substrates, personal pleasure and political power, food is and has been an enduring requirement of human biological, social and cultural existence. In recent years, interest in food has increased across the academic, public and popular spheres, fuelled by popular media’s constant play on the role of food and body size, and food and cooking, as a mass spectacle for TV audiences. Through food, we construct our social identities, our families and communities. However, Coveney also highlights the tensions between the industrialisation of food, the environment, and the iniquitous distribution of food. He also considers how the food industries, on which most of us must rely, have also had direct effects on our bodies through diet, and the development of illness and diseases.This accessible primer is for students and general readers alike, indeed, for anyone with an interest in food. It questions the idea that food is merely something inert on the plate. Instead, it shows how influential, symbolic, powerful and transformative food has come to be.

Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have drawn the subject of food security firmly into the public eye. This timely Handbook examines and responds to this pertinent topic, offering calculated solutions to food insecurity. Exploring an international range of perspectives surrounding food security, the Handbook of Food Security and Society illustrates clear links between food and broader social welfare policy and economic determinants. Chapters describe histories of food security, its measurement and question the role of movements, such as charitable organisations, that have been involved in the food security debate. They resolutely locate food welfare as a fundamental human right. This comprehensive Handbook will be essential for politics, economics and social policy academics and researchers seeking to gain a clearer understanding of food security history and policy. It will additionally be beneficial to specific practitioners, such as nutritionists and policy makers, working to understand key connections between welfare strategies, wellbeing and food security.

This second volume in the Food Policy series focuses on critical nutrition and dietetics studies, offering an innovative and interdisciplinary exploration of the complexities of the food supply and the actors in it through a new critical lens.

​This volume is concerned with food poverty and action on food (in)security. The context is a global one; as the developed world faces a problem with overconsumption and chronic diseases, the developing world is addressing the double burden of hunger and over consumption. Even in the developed world, nation states are facing the rise of modern malnutrition which is over consumption, but also the re-emergence of hunger as there are growing levels of poverty and inequality due to the financial crises. Food insecurity is in many people’s minds associated with hunger, and while this is true the modern food system has introduced new complexities to food insecurity with the growth of micro-nutrient inequalities. Hunger and obesity are not being faced by two different groups but often the same group or cohort. These are features of modern malnutrition that are often not recognized. A critical examination of food poverty and food security is undertaken, with a view to clarifying taken-for-granted assumptions in present discourses. The book addresses food charity and the rise of solutions such as foodbanks as appropriate social responses. The final chapters explore the solutions from real life situations. The concluding chapter from the editors draws together the issues and locates solutions within a food policy framework of the total food system.   The various definitions of food insecurity will are examined. Hunger and its modern manifestations (hunger and obesity) is another focus,with particular explorations of developed and developing countries experiences. Some of the chapters cover how food poverty/insecurity is being addressed and  provide examples of work in progress.

This book explores the links between food and democracy. It addresses how democratic principles can be used to shape our food system and takes a practical ‘how-to’ approach to using democratic processes to regain control of the food we eat. It also highlights what food democracy looks like on the ground and how individuals, communities and societies can be empowered to access, cook and eat healthy food in ways that are sustainable.Food democracy, as a concept, is a social movement based on the idea that people can and should be able to actively participate in shaping the food system rather than being passive spectators. The book is useful for university and advanced TAFE courses that cover topics examining food in health sciences, social sciences and other areas of study. It is also relevant to health practitioners, nutritionists, food advocates, policy makers and others with a keen interest in exploring an alternative to the industrial food system known as “Big Food.”

The centrality of food in life, and the importance of food as life, is undeniable. As a source of biological substrates, personal pleasure and political power, food is and has been an enduring requirement of human biological, social and cultural existence. In recent years, interest in food has increased across the academic, public and popular spheres, fuelled by popular media’s constant play on the role of food and body size, and food and cooking, as a mass spectacle for TV audiences.In Food, a new book part of the Shortcuts Series, John Coveney examines ‘food as…’ humanness, identity, politics, industry, regulation, the environment and justice. He explores how food helps us understand what it means to be human. Through food, we construct our social identities, our families and communities, but this book also highlights the tensions between the industrialisation of food, the environment, and the fair (or otherwise) worldwide distribution of food. It considers how the food industries, on which most of us have to rely, have also had direct effects on our bodies – whether through diet and longevity, or the development of illness and diseases.This book is for all students and general readers alike – or for anyone with a fascination with food. It questions the idea that food is merely something inert on the plate, and instead shows how influential, symbolic, powerful and transformative food has come to be.This book is part of the Shortcuts series published by Routledge, a major new series of concise, accessible introductions to some of the major issues of our times.

The centrality of food in life, and the importance of food as life, is undeniable. As a source of biological substrates, personal pleasure and political power, food is and has been an enduring requirement of human biological, social and cultural existence. In recent years, interest in food has increased across the academic, public and popular spheres, fuelled by popular media’s constant play on the role of food and body size, and food and cooking, as a mass spectacle for TV audiences.In Food, a new book part of the Shortcuts Series, John Coveney examines ‘food as…’ humanness, identity, politics, industry, regulation, the environment and justice. He explores how food helps us understand what it means to be human. Through food, we construct our social identities, our families and communities, but this book also highlights the tensions between the industrialisation of food, the environment, and the fair (or otherwise) worldwide distribution of food. It considers how the food industries, on which most of us have to rely, have also had direct effects on our bodies – whether through diet and longevity, or the development of illness and diseases.This book is for all students and general readers alike – or for anyone with a fascination with food. It questions the idea that food is merely something inert on the plate, and instead shows how influential, symbolic, powerful and transformative food has come to be.This book is part of the Shortcuts series published by Routledge, a major new series of concise, accessible introductions to some of the major issues of our times.