HNSC:2222/2223—Foods of Diverse Populations

Instructor: Scott Alves Barton

Office hour: Via Google Hangouts/Meet or phone by appointment (to schedule contact via email)
Contact: [email protected]
Co-requisite: HNSC 2222 Foods of Diverse Populations (lecture)
Pre-requisite: HNSC 1200 (Fundamentals of Nutrition) or 2210 (Human Nutrition)

Core-fringe-legume Sidney Mintz

This course has an academic and a practical or lab component. Of course in the
virtual sphere the lab will have to be adapted to online and home-based practices. All
of these details will be made clear in our first meeting.
The goal of this course is to your understanding of international cooking and cultures as a
means to develop our cross-cultural awareness as budding practitioners of Nutrition and
Dietetics. Being able to communicate and develop a cognitive understanding of cultural,
religious, social, and, racial, ethnic and gender mores, values, and behaviors around food
will enhance your ability to administer to your future client base.

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We will use a variety of texts as a way to build understanding and sensitivity to
international culture and cuisine and eat delicious meals as well. This course has three
component parts. Primarily to engage students in the theoretical and practical nature of
international cuisines and their subtexts as markers of cultural identity, social habitus,
class status/access, and for their reflection of technological advancement in local
agricultural/culinary traditions. The course will be constituted of guided readings, lecture
and discussions, media presentations, several culinary production sessions, a semester long
project that integrates on-site research in local ethnic markets, knife skills and recipe
development. You are being prepared to go out into the field and work with populations
that immigrate to this country from all over the world. I'll work to introduce you to
cultural sensitivity and inform you to the best of my ability

CLASS PARTICIPATION:
The most important element of this class is showing up, on time, dressed in your uniform
for LAB days, ready to cook and clean. On time means early. Dressed means chef's whites,
proper footwear, no excessive jewelry (that may catch on kitchen equipment), head
covered, and no nail polish. All students must work clean and no one will leave the
classroom until it is completely clean, organized and set for the next group of students.
This course has a service-learning component. Students will be expected to complete an
extended practical community assignment that should be fun and informative. One to two
class periods will provide students with time to partially complete this practical exercise.
Student’s free time should include scheduling the remainder of this assignment.

CLASSROOM COOKING:

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There will be several virtual culinary sessions, where students will work in teams and
individually to cook food from recipes as well as developing their own recipes. All of the
cooking will complement and relate to our reading schedule. This practical application should
further enhance our understanding of the theories presented in the narrative. Cooking is fun.
Organization of your workspace and CLEANING are integral aspects of the cooking process.
If you present your work via video link, you should be professional and demonstrate your
awareness and knowledge of food safety, and HACCP protocols.

Participation (15%)
Participation is divided in three parts: 1) “virtual dish preparation” 2) virtual presentation, and 3)
rotating single communal task (blog editing and posting). Each team comprised of the students
that were previously cooking together in the actual kitchen laboratory will virtually meet, search
for the dishes the instructor assigned before class, and prepare a team blog entry. During the
virtual class through videoconferencing, each team will share their main research findings and
explain the main characteristics of the dishes. There will be only one communal task of
compiling the group blog postings and editing to make one single entry in the class blog, and
such task will be assigned on a rotating schedule.

1) Team blog entry – 11AM-12PM

Each team will search online around one or more dishes previously assigned by the
instructor and will create a BB team blog entry with the title of the cuisine that should
include at least one photo, but could also include a description of the dish/s, main and
varying ingredients, tips on cooking, common accompanying dishes from the same cuisine,
any interesting facts, more photo/s of the dish, and even short videos.

NOTE ON PLAGIARISM: You must include the credits (and website link) to each photo
and video posted. Each team has to decide the communication tool/s that best suits their
work flow. Students are encouraged to use BB journals, Google Hangouts (for written chat,
voice and videocalls), and Google Docs (it also has a chat side bar), but each time should
discuss and define the set of tools used to a) organize the work and tasks, b) share the
findings, and c) work on the blog entry that the team will upload in their BB team blog.
When writing, paraphrase and use your own words to avoid plagiarism.
2) Presentation – 12-12:40 PM
Each student will login in the videoconference for the virtual tasting part of the class (on
Google Meet) at noon, and the instructor will go over each dish calling each team to
provide a 2-minute presentation for each dish using the team blog entry. The team can
show the photos posted as they present the dish/es.
3) Class blog entry
Each week a different team will have the task to compile, edit, and post a blog entry with
the title of the cuisine explored into the “Food Pop Lab Blog” including the photos
uploaded by classmates and headlines with the name of the dishes.

Lab Reports (30%)

After each lab, a one-page evaluation of the recipes including descriptive vocabulary for each
recipe and an overall summary of the characteristics of the cuisine.

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All written assignments for this course must be submitted through the appropriate Blackboard
Safe Assign links by 11:59 on the due date.

Cultural Recipe Assignment (5%) and Short Paper (20%)

The purpose of this assignment is to research and define a culture and its traditional foods.
Students will work with a lab partner with tasks divided equally amongst the two partners.

Part One: Selecting a Culture

For this part you and your partner will select a culture whose food and culture you wish to
analyze. This part will not be graded but is mandatory.

Part Two: Recipe Research (2%)

For this part you and your partner will source cultural recipes that successfully depict your
selected culture. You will need to find 1) an appetizer, 2) an entrée, and 3) a dessert. If any of
these three types of dishes are not appropriate for the specific cuisine (e.g., desserts are not
common), discuss with me to change one or more. You are allowed to source up to two
recipes from the internet, and at least one from a book or a direct person. Recipes chosen
must be achievable to prepare in under an hour. Recipes have to be transcribed, scanned
pages or images will not be accepted. This part will be graded based on citations and format
(2%).
Part Three: Shopping List (1%)
List of all ingredients for the dishes that you can make at home, and if you cannot make any,
list the ingredients for one single dish for the entire team. This part will be graded based on
citations and format (1%).
Part Four: Presentation (2%)
Each student has a choice of a) cooking one of the dishes and presenting it at the virtual
tasting class, b) sharing your own photos of the dish/es (credited, taken by you, or with
permission, by someone else you know) and presenting, c) sharing photos from books or the
Internet and presenting. This part will be graded based on level of articulation of the
presentation (2%).
Part Five: – Food Culture Paper - Individual (20%)

FINAL PAPER:
Food is often a mediator between cultural groups, allowing bridges to form where none
existed before. The cultural food presentation assignment is your chance to demonstrate a
significant cultural recipe(s). Each student will prepare a 3-page paper on their chosen culture
History of culture
Example of traditional dishes
Common terminology used for foods
Choose a subject of your own choosing that relates to class readings, course themes or
your personal interest, and write a brief research paper that will include:
• abstract (identifying the theme and method for your research in one paragraph),

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 introduction, (what is the focus or “headline” in one-two paragraphs),
• your argument and research findings, (this is the body of the paper: 1-2 pages,
think of summarizing what you have learned),
• conclusion (one paragraph), and
• bibliography (APA format).
You will be asked to submit your abstract, (a brief summary of your focus and method
for conducting research), and outline, (1/2 page bulleted is fine), and brief bibliography.
Your bibliography will need a minimum of five academic (peer reviewed) sources. You
may include additional sources that come from journalism, literature, videos, film and
or television as long as they are credible and not ‘fake news’.
The only other focus is that you not home in on issues related to nutrition or dietetics.
We will discuss this at length. For example, if you were interested in peanut allergies,
you might choose to research the food and cuisines of Sichuan province, in China, Peru,
Brazil or Senegal all places where they are deeply embedded in the local diets. Are
there cultural or historic norms that preclude allergic reactions in youth within these
regions/nations?
On or near the last day of class everyone will create a 5-8-minute presentation that pulls
out some specific details from your research that you find interesting to share. You may
elect to create a video, food tasting, or oral or visual presentation.

Assignment format: Your papers must be submitted in the form of a Microsoft Word
document (file extension “.doc” or “.docx”) through SafeAssign on Blackboard. Assignments in
the body of an email, EMAIL attachments, and any other format than Microsoft Word are not
accepted.
Points will be subtracted if any of the following format requests are not included:
● Microsoft Word files ONLY, NO pdf or Pages files!
● File name: Last Name#1_Last Name #2_Last Name
#3_HNSC2222_Annotated_Bibliography_Sp2020 (e.g.,
Chow_Jarana_Kaplan_HNSC2223_part2_Sp2020; part 3, part 4, part 5 for individual
papers). No spaces in between words. Note there is no “part 1.”
● Document must include class name, the names of all the team members (unless it’s the
individual paper), date, a title and page numbers
● Use double-spaced text (no simple, triple/quadruple spaces between paragraphs)
● Use standard 12-point Times New Roman font and 1-inch margins
● Proofread. You should
o Review what you and your team wrote,
o Use the Spelling and Grammar Microsoft Word tool (under Review
ribbon/menu). Spelling and grammar errors will incur in point subtraction.
● Cite all sources, including recipes, following the APA style format:
▪ http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx
● Citation in the text for ANY information that is not considered common knowledge AND full
references at the end of your assignment.
Follow the APA format

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 • Helpful Tools https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
• American Psychological Association. (2013) The Basics of APA Style. Available at:
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx

All written assignments for this course must be submitted through the
appropriate Blackboard links by 6:00 o’clock P.M. on the due date.
The paper requires the inclusion of a recipe, which may be either one of your own invention (and
authorship) or from another source. If you use a recipe from another source, whether that source
is a family member, friend, website, cookbook or magazine, you MUST cite it properly, just as
you would any other source. If the recipe is your own invention, simply state “Recipe by YOUR
NAME”. Plagiarism policies apply, please, ask when in doubt.

Final Exam
The Final Exam will be comprised of multiple-choice questions and reflective essays.

NB: Make-up exams are not available unless planned with me in advance of the scheduled exam
date with verifiable documentation. If an emergency situation arises in which you cannot make
it to the scheduled exam, contact me as soon as possible so that we can work out an acceptable
plan of action. Please have documentation of the emergency ready to show me when we meet.

WEEK-TO-WEEK:
Every week there will be readings presented in advance. Each week there are handouts
available on Blackboard to download. Students will be expected to come to class and discuss
these materials. A calendar will be created for students to sign up for 2-3 weeks as reading
responders. On their designated week as a responder they will give a brief summary of the
reading that they selected and present a critical opinion and 1-2 questions that arose from their
reading. If in the process of reading you have questions related to content and understanding,
those questions should be brought out in class so that as a class we can discuss the content,
theme and meaning to better understand and contextualize the readings. Students will be
graded on these brief presentations.

COME TO CLASS PREPARED:

To participate in class (and to receive full credit for participation, see below), you must:
● Login on time for the Google Meet virtual class
● Stay through the entire class until it is dismissed
● Communicate via email with the instructor as soon as possible in case of a technical
difficulty/lack of access to the platform, or medical emergency
● Follow e-etiquette

Aug 25 Last day to drop for 100% tuition refund; Last day to file e-Permit request for Fall 2020
Aug 26 Classes Begin
Sept 1 Last day to add a course; Last day to drop for 75% tuition refund; Financial Aid Certification
Enrollment Status Date
Sept 2 WD Assigned for students who drop class on this date
Sept 5-6 No Classes
Sept 7 College Closed/Last Day to submit Pass/Fail Option

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Sept 8 Last day to drop for 50% tuition refund
Sept 15 Last day to file for Fall 2020/December 31, 2020 and Winter 2021/February 1, 2021
graduation/Last day to drop for 25% tuition refund; (VOE) Verification of Enrollment Rosters Due
Sept 18-20. No Classes Scheduled
Nov 6 Last day to withdraw from a course with a grade of W
Nov 25 Classes follow a Friday schedule
Nov 26-27 College Closed
Dec 20. End of Fall Term

READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1: Course Introduction

In class reading: Dirt Eaters & Memory of Fire

Southern Practice of Eating Dirt Shows Signs of Waning,
Dirt Eaters, (excerpt), Alexander, Suárez and Huffman,
http://www.alanhuffman.com/dirteatersexcerpt.htm
How Spring Rolls Got to Senegal, James Courtright, https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/spring-rolls-got-
senegal/
LECTURE: Distinction, Pierre Bourdieu, [suggested]

Food Patterns in Agrarian Societies: The ''Core-Fringe-Legume Hypothesis'' A Dialogue,

Mintz & Szell
Deciphering a Meal, Mary Douglas
The Culinary Triangle, Claude Levi-Strauss
Chapter 1: Cuisine and Empire-Grains, Rachel Laudan, [Optional: suggested]

Week 2: Mapping Agriculture and Creolization

ONE: Write upload a short 2-page report, 1.5 space, 11-12pt font of your choice that details your
observations, and notes on food that you purchased on two distinct occasions over the past week.
This may be either prepared food or foodstuffs bought for cooking. Be as complete and detailed as
possible. Give life to the food, its provenance, character, quality, nature, value, taste, smell, sound,
visual appeal/or lack, et cetera.

TWO: Make your best effort to read through the assigned readings, Mintz/Szell, Douglas and Levi-
Strauss. Take notes of any concepts, words or theories that you are uncertain of. When and where
possible look up anything that you can to help you to better understand the readings. Write down any
questions that you have. Now summarize what you have understood in your own words. Where
possible think of how you might apply the ideas in your own life or work as a future
nutritionist/dietician. Finally, write upload a short 2-page report, 1.5 space, 11-12pt font of your choice.

Week 3: Taboos
Pollution, Mary Douglas

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 The Abominable Pig, Marvin Harris
Gift Exchange, Marcel Mauss, (foreword
& chapter 1), Ch. 7, Industrial Food, Jack
Goody
The Taste of Ethnographic Things, Paul Stoller

IN CLASS: Discuss Readings assigned for class | Draft: Raw & Cooked Maps

Practical Grain mapping comparative exercise, (refer to Laudan’s map).

Week 4: Markets/Farmer’s Markets COOKING Session

Community gardens more than triple in Twin Cities, Shannon Prather,
A Place Called Supermarket, Carmen Rial and Maria Elisabeth
Goidanich Lost in the Supermarket, Josey Johnston, Andrew Biro,
& Norah MacKendrick
The Rise of Supermarkets in Africa, Asia and Latin America Untangling Alliances,
Thomas Reardon, C. Peter Timmer, Christopher B. Barrett, and Julio Berdegué

Discuss Readings assigned for class

Market Ethnography: Pig Face Manicures and Dog for Dinner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXhRylRyAVg
Shopping Clip, G.W.B.: https://www.c---span.org/video/?c4552776/bush---shopping---quote

Week 5: State and Nation

Love in Times of War, Clara Luzia
Gastropolitics in Hindu South Asia, Arjun Appadurai
From Refugee Chefs, A Taste of Home, Alissa J. Rubin, & companion
Japanese Mothers and Obento, Ann Allison
African Cuisines:Recipes for Nationbuilding, Igor Cusack
The Indian Meal, Colleen Sen (you will need to upload the link below):
http://www.colleensen.net/articles-and-papers/

Week 6: Nation, Region, Recipe

How to Make a National Cuisine, Arjun Appadurai
Culinary Tourism, Lucy Long
The Best Chink Food, Frank Wu
Never the Noodles Shall Meet, Emily Feng
The Fonio Revival, James Courtright, https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/the-fonio-revival/

Discuss Readings assigned for class

Recipe Development: Using one of the grains or dishes produced, write a recipe,
analyze for seasonality, cost, nutrition, fiber, et cetera

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 Week 7: Marking Identity
Assessing the Food Situation in North Korea, Woon Keun Kim, Hyunok Lee and Daniel A.
Sumner
"Let's Eat Chinese!": Reflections on Cultural Food Colonialism, Lisa Heldke
From Kim Chee to Moon Cakes, Kathleen Ja Sook Bergquist
Food, Self and Identity, Claude Fischler
How South Korea Uses Kimchi To Connect To The World, The Kitchen Sisters

Discuss Readings assigned for class

Week 9: Morphing Tradition

The Future Is Expensive Chinese Food, Joe Pinsker
How to Read a Menu, Dan Jurafsky
Thai food tasting machine tests authenticity
You Call This Thai Food, Thomas Fuller
Discuss Readings assigned for class

Week 10: Food, Politics, Empire

Birth of the Modern Diet,
Rachel Laudan Going for an
Indian, Elizabeth Buettner
Dining out in Moscow: from culinary wasteland to foodie heaven, Shaun Walker
Russian food sanctions produce hip Moscow cuisine, Owen Matthews
Trump White House: Food Policy,
Kim Severson Citizen Chef, Tom
Colicchio
A Bakery in a War Zone, Lily Hyde
The Chef Tom Colicchio Quits a Food Policy Group He Started, Kim Severson

Week 11: Enculturation

Invention of Baby Food, Amy
Bentley Consuming Taste,
Pontecorvo, Ochs and Fasulo Food
to Come, Warren Belasco
Crowded, Barbara Crosette

Week 12: Food and Diaspora

Columbian Exchange, Rebecca Earle
Time, Sweetness and Sugar, Sidney W. Mintz
Talkin’ bout the food I sells, Jessica B. Harris
José Andrés Fed Puerto Rico, and May Change How Aid is Given, Kim Severson
Food, Race, and Power: Who gets to be an authority on 'ethnic' cuisines? Lorraine Chuen
Jollof Rice: West Africans Dish It Up with A Hefty Serving Of Smack Talk, Ofeibea Quist-

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 Arcton
Nigerian Food: Crash and Burn Style, Sam Sifton

Discuss Readings assigned for class

Week 13: Creolizing Americas

Who Owns Southern Food? John T. Edge and Tunde Wey
Consequences of Açai, Jessica E. Zerrer
Caruru and Calulu, Etymologically and Socio-Gastronomically, Brazil, Angola & São
Tomé Principe, Russell O. Hamilton & Cherie Hamilton
Water, Water, Everywhere, Emily Ziemski | Photographer: Allie Wist
Eroticism and Gastrosophy, Octavio Paz

Discuss Readings assigned for class

Week 14: Multiculturalism

Cooking and Domestic Economy, Jack Goody

Eating at the Borders: Culinary Journeys, Jean Duruz

Food as nostalgia: Eating the fifties and sixties Pacific Food, Jean Duruz
Eating the Asian Other? Pedagogies of Food Multiculturalism in Australia, Rick Flowers
and Elaine Swan

Discuss Readings assigned for class

Week 15: Politics on the Plate: Authority & Agency

What Happens When a Brown Chef Cooks White Food? Khushbu Shah
Philly chef reacts to online backlash over pho video, Patricia Madej
‘Bon Appétit’ video of white chef explaining how to eat pho is peak cuisine
Columbusing, Matthew Rodriguez
People Are Pissed About This White Chef's Take on Pho. Here's Why You Should Care., Helin
Jun
About That Pho Video, Adam Rappaport

COLLEGE POLICIES
Academic Integrity
The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating
and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and
plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy
and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site:
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic
integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation,
the faculty member MUST report the violation. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Any violation of the following will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment or activity.

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Types of Academic Dishonesty Explicitly Prohibited
● Cheating is the unauthorized use or attempted use of material, information, notes, study
aides, devices or communication during an academic exercise.
● Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writings as your own.
● Internet plagiarism includes submitting downloaded term papers or parts of term papers,
paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, and “cutting
& pasting” from various sources without proper attribution.
● Obtaining unfair advantage is any activity that intentionally or unintentionally gives a
student an unfair advantage in his/her academic work over another student. This includes
sharing specific information about exam questions with other students.
● Falsification of records and official documents includes, but is not limited to, forging
signatures of authorization and falsifying information on an official academic record.

Center for Student Disability Services

In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be
registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a
documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an
appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie
Stewart-Lovell at (718) 951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for
Student Disability Services, please provide your professor with the course
accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with him/her.

Student Absence on Account of Religious Belief

A student who, for religious reasons, does not attend classes on a particular day or days shall be
excused from any examination or other work. The student shall have equivalent opportunity to
make up any examination or study or work requirements. Please make every effort to notify me
beforehand of any planned absences for religious reasons. For a full description of the policy,
consult the Brooklyn College Bulletin.

Student Bereavement Policy

Please, consult Brooklyn College’s policy:
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives/policies/bereavement.php

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