Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food
An inside look at the complex and controversial debates surrounding foie gras

In the past decade, the French delicacy foie gras—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of contentious battles. In Contested Tastes, Michaela DeSoucey takes us to farms, restaurants, protests, and political hearings in both the United States and France to reveal why people care so passionately about foie gras—and why we should care, too. Bringing together fieldwork, interviews, and materials from archives and the media on both sides of the Atlantic, DeSoucey offers a compelling look at the moral arguments and provocative actions of pro- and anti-foie gras forces. She combines personal stories with fair-minded analysis and draws our attention to the cultural dynamics of markets, the multivocal nature of “gastropolitics,” and the complexities of what it means to identify as a “moral” eater in today’s food world. Investigating the causes and consequences of the foie gras wars, Contested Tastes illuminates the social significance of food and taste in the twenty-first century.

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Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food
An inside look at the complex and controversial debates surrounding foie gras

In the past decade, the French delicacy foie gras—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of contentious battles. In Contested Tastes, Michaela DeSoucey takes us to farms, restaurants, protests, and political hearings in both the United States and France to reveal why people care so passionately about foie gras—and why we should care, too. Bringing together fieldwork, interviews, and materials from archives and the media on both sides of the Atlantic, DeSoucey offers a compelling look at the moral arguments and provocative actions of pro- and anti-foie gras forces. She combines personal stories with fair-minded analysis and draws our attention to the cultural dynamics of markets, the multivocal nature of “gastropolitics,” and the complexities of what it means to identify as a “moral” eater in today’s food world. Investigating the causes and consequences of the foie gras wars, Contested Tastes illuminates the social significance of food and taste in the twenty-first century.

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Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food

Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food

by Michaela DeSoucey
Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food

Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food

by Michaela DeSoucey

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Overview

An inside look at the complex and controversial debates surrounding foie gras

In the past decade, the French delicacy foie gras—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of contentious battles. In Contested Tastes, Michaela DeSoucey takes us to farms, restaurants, protests, and political hearings in both the United States and France to reveal why people care so passionately about foie gras—and why we should care, too. Bringing together fieldwork, interviews, and materials from archives and the media on both sides of the Atlantic, DeSoucey offers a compelling look at the moral arguments and provocative actions of pro- and anti-foie gras forces. She combines personal stories with fair-minded analysis and draws our attention to the cultural dynamics of markets, the multivocal nature of “gastropolitics,” and the complexities of what it means to identify as a “moral” eater in today’s food world. Investigating the causes and consequences of the foie gras wars, Contested Tastes illuminates the social significance of food and taste in the twenty-first century.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691183183
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 12/04/2018
Series: Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology , #70
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 296
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michaela DeSoucey is assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Preface xi

Chapter 1 What Can We Learn from Liver? 1

Chapter 2 Vive le Foie Gras! 27

Chapter 3 Gastronationalism on the Ground 66

Chapter 4 Foiehibition110

Chapter 5 The Paradox of Perspective 147

Chapter 6 Conclusion 195

Notes 209

Bibliography 243

Index 259

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

In Contested Tastes, we find not just detailed case studies, but an overview of contemporary food politics which challenges assertions about what we have on our plates and why it matters.
—George Berridge, Times Literary Supplement



"Contested Tastes takes a deep dive into the gastropolitics of foie gras. Whether or not you approve of eating it, you will want to read this riveting case study of how fights among stakeholders—producers and eaters of fatty duck liver, of course, but also animal welfare advocates, chefs, and government officials—reflect larger issues of national identity, class, economic markets, and who decides what we have for dinner."
—Marion Nestle, author of Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)

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