• Art Features
  • How-To
  • Culture
  • Interviews
  • Best Of
  • On View
  • Cosmic Calling
  • Fresh Take
  • Sex Advice from an Artist
  • Art Living
  • Retrospect
  • This Artwork Changed My Life
  • Elephant 100

OUT NOW ISSUE #48

OUT NOW ISSUE #48

  • Art Features
  • How-To
  • Culture
  • Interviews
  • Best Of
  • On View
  • Cosmic Calling
  • Fresh Take
  • Sex Advice from an Artist
  • Art Living
  • Retrospect
  • This Artwork Changed My Life
  • Elephant 100
5 Jan 2020
Art Living / Sunday Read

How Food Became One of the Most Loaded Subjects of the Decade

Food is an endless arena, one that in recent years has spilled over into art, activism, economics, environmentalism and much more. It is impossible to capture the politics of food in a single book, but a new publication from Delfina Foundation does a great job of fuelling the fire. Words by Emily Steer

The Christmas period is a time when we think about food a lot. We buy tonnes of it; we cook it; we share moments (positive and otherwise) with our family while consuming it; we berate ourselves for eating too much of it; we waste it. Every possible relationship we may have with food plays out over this period, before we quickly and guiltily retreat into diets and newfound ethics come the new year, when Veganuary and Dry January kick in.

We cannot deny that food is political. The last couple of years have seen conversations heat up and reach boiling point around food waste, farming, veganism and more. It is impossible to look away. But why would we want to? The decisions we make around our diets and attitudes towards food now could have massive implications in the years to come.

Tweet this

“It is impossible to create an all-encompassing overview of such a rich and constantly evolving field”

  • Politics of Food (2019). Edited by Dani Burrows and Aaron Cezar. Co-published by Delfina Foundation and Sternberg Press. Photo Tim Bowditch. Courtesy Delfina Foundation. LR - 66
  • Politics of Food (2019). Edited by Dani Burrows and Aaron Cezar. Co-published by Delfina Foundation and Sternberg Press. Photo Tim Bowditch. Courtesy Delfina Foundation. LR - 89

Delfina Foundation—based in London, and home to almost 100 art/food collaborations and residencies and countless intimate art lunches as part of its Politics of Food programme over the last seven years—has released a substantial book on the subject. The book (edited by the foundation’s Aaron Cezar and Dani Burrows) hones in on the last decade of food development and creativity, bringing together reflections on the subject from chefs, policy makers, anthropologists, activists and more, with one foot firmly planted in the arts.

Tweet this

“The subject of food is blown wide open, far beyond the product that ends up on our dinner table”

This is a time of great cultural cross-collaboration, and the combination of food and art is one that is becoming much more nuanced in recent years. As the curators of V&A’s Food: Bigger Than the Plate exhibition recently told me: “We will never enact any meaningful change to the food system if what we propose is not fundamentally delicious!” Reading this book, one gets the sense it must be visually original also, as this publication eschews the typical, seductive #foodporn photography for hand-drawn maps, sketches, artwork imagery, luscious typography and more. The subject of food is blown wide open, far beyond the product that ends up on our dinner table. Here, we are encouraged to take, through both the visuals and texts, a holistic view of our food.

  • Politics of Food (2019). Edited by Dani Burrows and Aaron Cezar. Co-published by Delfina Foundation and Sternberg Press. Photo Tim Bowditch. Courtesy Delfina Foundation. LR - 27
  • Politics of Food (2019). Edited by Dani Burrows and Aaron Cezar. Co-published by Delfina Foundation and Sternberg Press. Photo Tim Bowditch. Courtesy Delfina Foundation. LR - 96

The structure of the book, laid out in four key sections—Food Journeys; Food Futures; Food and Identity; Food and Hospitality, which are full of snappy individual essays and ideas—allows for a snacking approach. You can pick and choose which elements to dive into first. There are some weighty responses to industry research with Raj Patel’s introductory Epistemology of a Shopping Cart, exploring gentrification, ruthless profit-making in the food industry and the ecological damage it causes. Playful conversations entertain and enlighten, such as the one between Michael C Vazquez and Michael Rakowitz (who recently released a fantastic book on the politics and pleasures of cooking with dates), which hilariously recounts their work at Delfina five years ago, as well as discussing the complex status of Mexican food in America.

The last year has seen a swathe of publications and exhibitions that focus on the politics and future of food, including Elephant’s own issue 39. It is impossible to create an all-encompassing overview of such a rich and constantly evolving field. What this book does very well is put forward insights from those at the forefront of a broad cross-section of disciplines to start to open this subject up. It left me wanting to go away and read, see and, above all, eat a lot more (responsibly, of course).

 

Politics of Food

Edited by Dani Burrows and Aaron Cezar. Co-published by Delfina Foundation and Sternberg Press

BUY NOW

Liked this post? Share it on social!

MORE TO READ

Read Next:

This Is What it’s Like to Be Paid by the Government to Make Art

Art Living

This Is What it’s Like to Be Paid by the Government to Make Art

In Norway, many artists are entirely supported by public money. It is a system that is unique in the world, but how do artists feel about it?
Read More
Exhibition 'Diluvial Valleys' at Swallow, curated by Vaida Stepanovaitė, 2021 Photographer: Laurynas Skeisgiela
The Index

The Urban Myth and Magic of Anastasia Sosunova

The Lithuanian multimedia artist explains how she manipulates old folktales and modern mythologising to shape eye-opening new narratives.
Read More
Art Living

Recipe for Reinvention: Can Cooking Instructions Freeze Moments in Time?

A new book collating cooking instructions from artists prompts Rebecca May Johnson to ponder what on earth a recipe even is anyway?  
Read More
Art Living

Venice Biennale Diary #5: “It’s the Emily in Paris of the Art World”

Elephant’s deputy editor Louise Benson gives her account of the 2022 Venice Biennale preview week
Read More

Keep in the loop

Get our weekly newsletter straight to your inbox

HUNGRY FOR MORE?

All Editorials
Profile

Breaking Open the Machine with Legacy Russell’s Glitch Feminism

Essential Art Books

The Essential Art Books of 2020

Showtime

Bye Bye Biennial: The Global Art Event Gets an Empathetic Reboot in Istanbul

Anton Hickel, Portrait of Marie-Thérèse, Princesse de Lamballe, 1788 via Wikimedia Commons
Article

Our Essential Guide to the 20 Best Culture Newsletters to Sign Up to Now

Instagram of the Month

Helping Build a Sustainable Artistic World, One Post at a Time

Diaries

Frieze Diary #4: “Jarvis Cocker Performed in a Faux French Bistro…”

Diaries

Frieze Diary #5: “Someone Pours a Negroni: ‘Just a Lot of Shouting, Isn’t It?’”

Diaries

Venice Biennale Diary #4: “You’re Always Bumping into Someone From a Past Life”

Picture Gallery

Snap Happy: Elephant’s Biennale Photo Diary

Opinion

The Mona Lisa Cake Thrower Was 100% in the Right

Opinion

Utopia Now: How Speculative Fiction Can Provide Hope in a Crisis

Are We There Yet

The Cultural Sector Is Rigged, But Can the Cycle Be Broken?

Sunday Read

Behind the Mask: Face to Face with Rashid Johnson’s The Hikers

Contemporary Classics

Welcome to the LOL House: The Cynical Legacy of DIS

Illustration by Lucia Pham
Advice Column

How Do I Land My First Job as a Curator When My CV Is Blank?

Profile

Brave New Worlds: Inside the Art of Meriem Bennani

  • About Us
  • Write for Us
  • Stockists
  • Privacy Policy
Follow Us
Instagram Facebook Twitter