Anthropology Newsletter Columns: 2003
January 2003
Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
A Welcoming Message from Barrett P. Brenton, CNA President
After years of serving CNA as Secretary/Treasurer/Archivist and Contributing Editor to this column, it is with great pleasure that I assume the duties of President of CNA. It is a comfort to know that this position was passed on to me from the very capable hands of past CNA President David Himmelgreen. Once again we had wonderful slate of CNA sponsored sessions this year in New Orleans that ran the gambit of what our small and vibrant section is all about. CNA provides a wonderful forum for all anthropologists regardless of discipline. Nutritional anthropology is truly a biocultural endeavor and is inherently four-field in its scope, whether the focus is micronutrient deficiencies, the politics of hunger, or the semiotics of food. If anything, the range of topics from micronutrients to food studies, represented in this year's sessions, is symbolic of this diverse approach. In a time of ongoing fissions within our larger discipline I think it is also time to consider what role CNA can have in continuing to promote, as we have done so well in the past, the fusion of ideas. As President of CNA, I plan to continue to meet this challenge and build upon our section's diverse range of theoretical and methodological approaches, from the biological to the symbolic, and from the past to the present. An ongoing commitment for CNA is to provide a bridge to other AAA units with overlapping interests, as well as maintaining its outreach and open communication with non-anthropologists engaged in the study of food and nutrition. I look forward to working with CNA board members, past and present, and the opportunity to further serve the membership of CNA and the larger community of individuals devoted to the study of human foodways. Please feel free to e-mail me at brentonb@stjohns.edu anytime.
CNA Board News
Starting in 2002, the CNA board will include Andrea Wiley, who will bring us her considerable experience as Program Chair for SMA. Leslie Carlin, who is currently Program Chair, will become Nominations Chair. Their statements:
Leslie Carlin (Nominations Chair 2002-2004)
As a nutritional anthropologist who lives and works in the UK, yet maintains many links with the US anthropological community, I feel I'm in an ideal position to act as CNA's Nominations Chair. My goal is to create a balance between preserving the continuity that provides strength to our board and to encourage involvement by new, interested members as positions become available. I will rely on the board and membership of CNA to assist me in this task.
Andrea Wiley (Program Chair 2002-2004)
My goal as the program chair for the CNA will be to broaden the profile of the organization and the work of its members at the AAA meetings. Given that there has been a resurgence of interest in food studies across a number of disciplines, this should be reflected in the offerings at the AAA meetings. Thus I would work towards expanding and diversifying the sessions sponsored by the CNA to represent food and nutrition related research conducted across the subdisciplines and related fields. I would like to continue the tradition of sponsoring a distinguished lecturer and reception, which highlights the section and draws more people into CNA and its activities. At the same time I would encourage the formation of sessions organized by CNA members that include participants from other sections of the AAA. I would especially like to encourage sessions bringing together students with common interests in diet-related themes.
Nutritional Anthropology
Nutritional Anthropology is the peer reviewed publication of the Council on Nutritional Anthropology. We invite submissions of articles, research reports, book reviews, or notices of member news to Miriam Chaiken, Editor. She can be reached by email at chaiken@iup.edu or by mail at: Dept. of Anthropology - G12 McElhaney Hall - 441 North Walk - IUP - Indiana PA 15705.
February 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
The Future of Food Studies in Anthropology
CNA sponsored a lively and engaging session at the AAA meetings in New Orleans on the future of food studies in anthropology. In an all-discussant session format, a variety of perspectives on the role of anthropology in the study of human foodways were presented by David Himmelgreen (U South Florida); Barrett Brenton (St. John's U); Miriam Chaiken (Indiana U Penn); Carole Counihan (Millersville U); Solomon Katz (U Penn); and Gretel Pelto (Cornell U). The audience was also actively involved in the discussions. In time the conversation became focused on how the section's name 'Council on Nutritional Anthropology' might also incorporate the word 'Food' to more fully represent the spectrum of perspectives, and individuals AAA-wide, that contribute to anthropology's long-term study of human food, diet, and nutrition. This issue was later brought up at the CNA business meeting and will be a focal point of discussion amongst its members in the near future.
Notice from Andrea Wiley, Program Chair
While you may be still mulling over the events of the last AAA meetings, it is not too early to start thinking about the 2003 meetings in Chicago. The meeting theme will be Peace: Affinities, Divisions, Transformations. Certainly food fits into this theme in numerous domains. I would like to encourage you to be thinking about possible invited sessions, especially those that we might cosponsor with another unit. Proposals for invited sessions will be due to me by mid-March. The AAA program committee is also encouraging diverse formats for sessions and special events. If anyone would like to put together an off-site event that involves food/nutrition, let me know. Feel free to contact me (wileyas@jmu.edu; 540-568-6984) with ideas for sessions and I can help you with the process. The deadline for volunteered papers and sessions will be April 1.
2002 Christine Wilson Awards
The 2002 Christine Wilson Award was awarded by a committee of the Council on Nutritional Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association to Sera Young of the University of Amsterdam for her paper entitled "Listen, without blood there is no life": an ethnography of anemia during pregnancy". The award was received on her behalf by Gretel Pelto at the Business Meeting on November, 2002. Dr Wilson gave the award on behalf of the selection committee, chaired by Dan Sellen.
The Council on Nutritional Anthropology is seeking submissions for the 2003 Christine Wilson Awards. The awards, which are given to outstanding undergraduate and graduate papers in nutritional anthropology, will be presented at the CNA Business Meeting during the 2002 AAA Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Students will receive a year's membership in CNA including a year's subscription to Nutritional Anthropology. Papers must be submitted in triplicate, and are to be no longer than 20 pages text, double-spaced, standard margins and font size. Bibliography, tables and figures are additional to the 20-page limit. Submit to: Daniel W. Sellen, Ph.D.; Dept. Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Pierce Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Telephone: 404 727 4777; Fax: 404 727 2860; dsellen@emory.edu
March 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
CNA Listserve
Recognizing that members may wish to discuss research and ideas the board has decided to establish and maintain a listserve. Anyone wanting to subscribe should send an e-mail to Laura Cramer (lcramer@counterpart.org). After that, an e-mail sent to cna@counterpart.org will be delivered to all subscribers.
Nutrition and Health Challenges for the New Century: Anthropological Approaches to Micronutrient Research among Human Populations
Kristen Borré and Peggy Bentley chaired the invited CNA session focused on the challenge nutritional anthropologists face in understanding the origins and culturally competent approaches to improving the poor micro-nutrient status of human populations. Papers by Pelto and Carlin focused on how social phenomena and cultural beliefs are linked to improved micro-nutrient dietary intake in families and children. Backstrand's study demonstrated that Bentley, in her focused review of the critical status of micro-nutrition in the world, was right to argue that failures to improve human iron status are linked to the supporting roles of nutrients such as vitamin C that improve the bio-availability of iron. Bentley's own study demonstrated how existing community institutions, such as soup kitchens in Peru, can be used to maintain the iron nutrition of high-risk women and girls. For the girls, changing eating patterns is enhanced when nutrition education recognizes links between desire for beauty and its association with health. Borré's research highlighted the association between minority status, caloric excess, overweight, and the poor micro-nutrient intake in children aged 8-11. For minority students, participation in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program significantly protected them against calcium deficiency. Adams demonstrated a significant association between dietary zinc and alcohol drinking among Native Americans. Further studies to demonstrate a possible mechanism in rats showed that zinc supplementation may be protective for prevention of alcoholism when zinc status is compromised by local diet. A discussion following the papers emphasized how the structure and meaning of foods, access to food, and the significance of varied traditional diets must be linked to interventions if significant reductions in micro-nutrient deficiencies are to occur in the next quarter century. Nutrient supplements alone do not appear to be as effective as whole food interventions and changes in dietary behaviors
Book Note
Human Diet: Its Origin and Evolution. Edited by Peter Unger and Mark Teaford (Bergin & Garvey: Westport, CT, 2002, $58.95) is a welcomed edition to the nutritional anthropology literature. It explores two major themes. The first is dietary reconstruction and the chemical and morphological markers used to theorize the basis of non-human primate/ early hominid, Australopithecus/ Paranthropus and early hominid/ Homo erectus divergences. Evidence includes fossil materials, especially dental morphology, wear patterns, oxygen, carbon and trace element analyses and jaw biomechanics; and dietary observations from non-human primate and foraging/hunting human societies. A number of authors point to the increased dietary breadth of Plio-Pleistocene hominids over that of fossil and contemporary apes, a change from the reliance on hard, brittle foods to one on soft, tough foods including meat, a new emphasis on the consumption of underground foods such as tuber, roots and corms collected by women, and a fresh look at children in foraging/hunting societies.
The second theme is the relationship between dietary changes from high fiber, moderate energy Paleolithic diets to high complex-carbohydrate agricultural diets to the contemporary highly processed, low fiber, high simple-carbohydrate, high-fat diets that characterize 'modernization'. These changes and others are discussed with relevance to the etiology of the diseases of affluence: dental caries, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.
In summary, this is an interesting collection of symposium papers with abundant data, good explications of methodology and interesting hypotheses. The figures, tables and photographs are clearly captioned. The bibliography is at the end of the volume along with an adequate index. This is a good reference work with potential for use in upper division and graduate courses in nutritional anthropology.
Leslie Sue Lieberman, U of Central Florida
Nutritional Anthropology is seeking manuscripts for peer review for the two 2003 editions. We are seeking original research, essays about food and/or nutrition, and book reviews to publish. Send your manuscript by March 1 for review for the Spring Issue to Kristen Borré, Associate Scientist, NC Agromedicine Institute, 1157 VOA Site C Road, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858; borrek@mail.ecu.edu.
April 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
European Food Studies News: Gambero Rosso and the Citta del Gusto
In Rome, a revamped warehouse - an intriguing example of industrial archeology ' is now Città del Gusto, the 'city of taste' and a multi-layered showplace for food and wine. This unique site was created and constructed by Gambero Rosso, which started in 1986 as an 8 page monthly supplement to the communist daily newspaper manifesto. Gambero Rosso (which means 'red shrimp' in Italian) is the name of the tavern where an unscrupulous pair of beastly thugs (the Cat and the Fox), con the puppet Pinocchio out of his gold coins. The mission of the supplement was to protect Pinocchio's real-life counterparts - innocents abroad as well as trusting customers at home - from finding themselves at the mercy of padded bills, gruff service, watery wine, or mediocre food. In 1987 Gambero Rosso became a publishing house with the first edition of Vini d'Italia (Italian Wines, produced with Carlo Petrini and Arcigola, soon to become Slow Food), which is a guide to wine production in Italy and reference book for enthusiasts and professionals. The guide created an evaluation system expressed in 'glasses' and the 'Tre Bicchieri' (three glasses) label soon became a byword for quality in food and wine. Vini d'Italia is translated into German and English.
In Città del Gusto, a six-floor building which overlooks the Tiber, professional and academic students and the public can learn while having fun. In this sleek Roman setting are TV studios, classrooms, workshops for food and wine, a theater dedicated to cooking, multimedia services and activities, a wine-tasting bar, and a shop with a wide choice of food and wine-related objects and books.
At the Gambero Rosso School in the Città del Gusto, amateur and professional students can learn to cook or to cook better, understand what is traditional, experimental and even groundbreaking in cooking, learn to write about gastronomy and wine and to manage a food and beverage venture. The Gambero Rosso School catalogue now offers more than 50 courses aimed at a wide-ranging audience from young people who want to learn the art of cooking, to professionals anxious to perfect their trade, enthusiasts exploring new paths and perspectives and students of food studies and gastronomy from around the globe. The most popular so far have been the wine seminars: four educational levels (from amateur to professional) designed to teach an understanding of wine, how to taste it, and to achieve a better knowledge of its production and typologies all over the world. Città del Gusto is more than a cooking school; it tries to offer unique and different opportunities to both Romans and tourists to learn about Italian food, wine and the regional cultures that have created the remarkable diversity found in Italian cuisine. Città del Gusto offers short (1 to 4 week) classes in food, wine and Italian culture all year long on a variety of levels from professional to summer-school enrichment as well as several accredited Masters programs in food journalism, management and gastronomy. Classes are offered in English and Italian and are appropriate for students in summer-abroad programs. And to add to the fun, visitors can even spend a pleasant evening in the Cooking Theater, where the best Italian and foreign chefs perform year-round, and where RaiSat Gambero Rosso Channel, the Italian food-theme channel, has moved its studios and production. Città del Gusto is an exciting venue, offering academic educational opportunities in nutrition, food studies, and even cultural studies. Its presence ' and economic viability ' demonstrates the growing public interest in food and food studies. http://www.gamberorosso.it/portale/cdg/homepage
Fabio Parasecoli, Città del Gusto (gambero@gamberorosso.it)
Nutritional Anthropology is seeking manuscripts for peer review for the Fall 2003 edition. We are seeking original research, essays about food and/or nutrition, and book reviews to publish. Send your manuscript to Kristen Borré, Associate Scientist, NC Agromedicine Institute, 1157 VOA Site C Road, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858; borrek@mail.ecu.edu.
May 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
New Feature: Nutritional Anthropologist of the Month
This month introduces the first of what will be an occasional feature highlighting the careers and current research of established nutritional anthropologists. The purpose of this focus is to honor anthropologists who have made considerable contributions to the field as well as highlight the many interests, career paths, and intellectual trajectories of academic endeavor in Nutritional Anthropology. Our first member to be profiled is Leslie Sue Lieberman of Central Florida University; she has provided the following autobiographical sketch.
Leslie Sue Lieberman
In recent years I have been writing about the history of nutritional anthropology and its founders1,2, trends in nutritional anthropology 3and a number of lengthy review articles on both obesity4, and diabetes5,6. Having come full circle, I wonder, if after more than 30 years, this is somehow the twilight of my career. It's funny. I don't feel crepuscular and I am not particularly interested in a prosimian entomophagous diet.
As an undergraduate Anthropology major at the University of Colorado, I gave my first professional paper at the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Sciences meeting in 1964 or 65 on the evolution of obesity. I have maintained an interest in this topic throughout my career and explore this again in an article for Annual Review of Nutrition (2003)6. As an MA student in biological anthropology and human genetics at the University of AZ I did my first grant-supported research on obesity and diabetes among the Pima of the Gila River Reservation. My Ph.D. (1975) is in behavior genetics from the University of Connecticut (UCONN) from the now expired Department of Biobehavioral Sciences where we all received multidisciplinary training. I had intended to do a study on growth and development among Puerto Rican youth in CT and this community entrée work was the basis for my second refereed publication7. However, I ended up with a dissertation on prenatal exposure to noise stress in inbred strains of mice. What has remained intact is an interest in the mechanisms at the nexus of genetic/environmental interactions. My post-doctoral work at Penn State took 2 paths: the first was the initial development of ultrasound to measure body composition 8 and the second was the initial work with Samoans9 leading to decades of research by Paul Baker and his students.
In the early 1970's at UCONN I was among the Anthropology students who gravitated to Gretel and Bert (Pertti) Pelto. Gretel, in particular, started an interest group in nutritional anthropology and was one of the prime movers in creating the Committee on Nutritional Anthropology, at first an interest group of the Society for Medical Anthropology and later becoming a section of AAA and the Council on Nutritional Anthropology. I taught my first course in nutritional anthropology while I was finishing my dissertation and I was one of the founding members, co-wrote our by-laws and have held a number of positions with CNA including the Presidency. Nutritional Anthropology became firmly established at the 1973 and 1974 AAA Meetings with symposia leading to the publication of Nutritional Anthropology: Contemporary Approaches to Diet and Culture10 and support for CNA. We have come a long way and continue to flourish with peer-reviewed Nutritional Anthropology, SNAC I and II, training sessions in nutritional anthropology methods, many AAA symposia, and yearly additions to books in our field.
My research and those of my students are broad in scope although the bulk of my work has been on diabetes and obesity among minority women. From 1976-2001 I was a professor at the University of Florida with a primary appointment in Anthropology and secondary appointment in Pediatrics. I taught a graduate course called Culture and Nutrition. I also served as the Epidemiologist with the Diabetes Research, Education and Treatment Center and as the Executive Director of the Center for Research on Women's Health. In 2001 I moved to the University of Central Florida as a Professor of Anthropology and founding Director of the Women's Research Center. And, yes, I have renewed my work on the textbook in nutritional anthropology for Prentice Hall. (llieberm@mail.ucf.edu)
1. 2002 Appetite 38:77-78. 2. 2001 Ecol Food Nutr 40:1-12. 3. --- 1998 Nutritional Anthropology 22:11-15. 4. 2000 In K Kiple and K Ornelas (eds.) The Cambridge World History of Food. Pp.1062-1077. 5. 2003 23:345-377 Ann Rev Nutr 6.(in press) In C Ember and M Ember (eds.) Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology. 7. 1979 Social Sci Med 138:191-198. 8. Rosenbloom AL, Riley WJ and Silverstein JH 1980 New Eng J Med 303:940-941. 9. Gahagan H, Yalich G and Walden B 1977 Ecol Food Nutr 6:1-6. 10. Jerome NW, Kandel RF and Pelto GH 1980 Nutritional Anthropology: Contemporary Approaches to Diet and Culture.
Nutritional Anthropology is seeking manuscripts for peer review for the Fall 2003 edition. We are seeking original research, essays about food and/or nutrition, and book reviews to publish. Send your manuscript to Kristen Borré, Associate Scientist, NC Agromedicine Institute, 1157 VOA Site C Road, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858; borrek@mail.ecu.edu.
October 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
Anthropology in the Non-Profit World
Thoric Cederstrom
Counterpart International
As an anthropologist, I sometimes compare working for a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) to white-water rafting. It's rapid, challenging, and oftentimes dangerous, but also it is very rewarding, sometimes exhilarating, and the views are great! I left the academic world eight years ago to join a large NGO based in Washington, DC. My life was quickly consumed by international travel that entailed rapid field assessments, project proposal development, program evaluation, report writing, and donor/government negotiations. Yet in spite of the complexity and velocity of the world that I had entered, I found that my background in anthropology had well-prepared me for the career I had chosen.
The four-field approach has provided me with a holistic perspective that is very advantageous in international development work. For example, archaeology gives me a historical perspective that is vital for work in sustainable tourism among the Maya peoples of Central America. A strong grounding in biological anthropology has permitted me to jump full swing into the debate on genetically modified organisms currently hindering international food aid from the United States. Linguistic study gives me the capability to do a quick study of the myriad of local languages I encounter. Cultural anthropology is rich with applications to 'social engineering' and allows me to construct appropriate conceptual frameworks to guide specific projects. Applied anthropology advocates for local people, those most affected by intentional or unintentional change, to have a voice and vote in the entire process of development, an important element that in spite of all the rhetoric about 'participation' often gets left out of the equation.
Political anthropology has prepared me for the complicated process of negotiations that occur at every level of the development process. The US government is the largest donor of international aid and dealing with its various aspects requires a great deal of diligence, persistence, and finesse. Host governments can also be challenging and cultural sensitivity and political acumen definitely help. I often work with local NGOs operating in country, which poses a whole set of challenges ranging from radical political positions to weak technical or organizational capacity. A history of US presence in a particular region of the world complicates the seemingly simple task of improving local health services or increasing agricultural production when you are saddled with the perception of being a 'US NGO.' At the community level, power relations play out in multiple ways and are being distorted by an uneven development process that is quickly changing the way people relate to one another. Gender relations are particularly sensitive to rapid economic change.
Finally, economic anthropology allows you to speak with a voice of authority to the donor. Strong academic preparation in economics and an intimate, long-term field experience among the world's poor allow me to challenge questionable policy and to advocate for alternative paths of development that will maximize financial benefits to the disenfranchised in a sustainable and dignified manner. I have learned that there is nothing romantic about being poor and assisting people to improve their lives as they desire means helping them improve their income. Having more income translates into having more choices'better housing, quality food, improved health, more education, etc. The goal of improved income seems quite straightforward but is easily distorted in the context of the world's developing economies with conflicting interests, unsettled security situations, underdeveloped infrastructure, restricted capital, and limited natural resources.
The challenge of working through all these aspects of the development process is worthy of a student of anthropology with its long tradition of understanding the context and content of human behavior. What emerges foremost is that human behavior is complex and that there are no simple solutions to problems that humankind faces. What is required are dedicated, well-trained individuals backed by strong organizations with the technical and organization capacity to engage the other actors in the development process'donor governments and institutions, host governments, national NGOs, and local communities'in a proactive way in order to utilize limited development resources in an optimal way. Easy to say, hard to do. We definitely need more anthropologists for this daunting task!
November 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
An Invitation to Attend CNA Events at the 2003 AAA Meetings
in Chicago from CNA President Barrett Brenton (St. John's U)
CNA Distinguished Lecture to be Given by Marion Nestle
It is with great pleasure that I announce that the 2003 CNA Distinguished Lecture will be given by Marion Nestle, Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is the author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002) and Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism (2003). Dr. Nestle's talk titled "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (and Attempts to Silence the Critics)" will follow the CNA general business meeting which begins at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, November 21, 2003. Dr. Nestle's talk will start at 7 pm. A reception will follow.
CNA Invited Sessions and Discussion on
Transforming the Organization's Name
I also invite everyone to attend our two CNA invited: "Conflict and Confluence in Food Studies and Nutritional Anthropology" organized by Janet Chrzan, and "Food and Memory" organized by Jon Holtzman. We are also sponsoring a volunteered session: Food, Cuisine and Health in an Era of Globalization, organized by Sue Johnston. Finally, I want to announce that an important discussion will take place at the general business meeting concerning the transformation of the name of our organization to incorporate the word "food." We need input from our members. I look forward to all of our CNA events and to seeing everyone in Chicago.
2004 Christine Wilson Awards
The Council on Nutritional Anthropology (CNA) of the American Anthropological Association is seeking submissions for annual Christine Wilson Awards. The awards are given for outstanding undergraduate and graduate papers in nutritional anthropology. Winners will be recognized and presented with a plaque, receive a year's membership to the CNA, and their papers will be considered for publication in the peer-reviewed CNA journal, Nutritional Anthropology. Submitted papers must be no longer than 30 pages text, double-spaced, and with standard margins and font size and type. Bibliography, tables, figures are included in the 30-page limit. Please mail in triplicate or submit as an email attachment to: Dr. Dan Sellen, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Pierce Dr, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; dsellen@emory.edu
Nutritional Anthropology is seeking manuscripts for peer review for the Spring 2004 edition. We are seeking original research, essays about food and/or nutrition, and book reviews to publish. Send your manuscript to Kristen Borré, Associate Scientist, NC Agromedicine Institute, 1157 VOA Site C Road, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858; borrek@mail.ecu.edu.
CNA Listserve
The new CNA Listserve is up and running. Anyone wishing to subscribe should send an e-mail to lcramer@counterpart.org. An e-mail sent to cna@counterpart.org will be delivered to all subscribers.
December 2003
COUNCIL ON NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Janet Chrzan, Contributing Editor
Nutritional Anthropologist of the Month
David Himmelgreen, Assistant Professor, University of South Florida
http://www.cas.usf.edu/anthropology/faculty/himmelgreen.html
Like many anthropologists, I didn't start my undergraduate education in anthropology. Instead, my plan was to go into marine biology, but after taking several anthropology courses I became hooked and decided to switch majors. Fortunately, Michael Little, my undergraduate advisor at SUNY Binghamton, strongly recommended that I double-major in anthropology and biology. To this day, I have benefited from his advice.
After graduating I took time off before entering the graduate program at SUNY Buffalo where I studied biological anthropology under Ted Steegmann. Although I was interested in human adaptability, my attention was drawn toward nutritional anthropology, and I started to take courses in the nutrition program at Buffalo. These courses provided me with a basic background in nutrition and dietetics. While in Buffalo, I also worked on several studies including one in which I examined the nutritional status of Kashmiri villagers. This was my first international research experience and the data I collected during this study made up my first published research article.
My dissertation research was conducted in Lesotho, where I examined seasonal nutritional and health status among women and children living in different kinds of households. As many people know, fieldwork is never easy and is often quite challenging. The research got off to a very rocky start when my wife (Nancy Romero-Daza, who is also an anthropologist) and I were attacked during the 1991 country-wide riots. Fortunately, we were not hurt, but it did take many weeks to get up to the mountains to begin our research. My experiences in Lesotho, one of the poorest countries in the world, had a profound effect on my theoretical orientation; I shifted from adaptation to political economy.
After finishing my doctorate in 1994, I took a position at the Hispanic Health Council (HHC) in Hartford. Connecticut. Hired as a research analyst, I began to work on the explosive HIV/AIDS epidemic among injection drug users. This was a very sobering experience but one that allowed me to learn a lot about the ways in which community based organizations address health issues through participatory research and community empowerment. While working at the Council, I began to work with Rafael Pérez-Escamilla (at UCONN) on the Infant and Toddler Component of Family Nutrition Program. This USDA funded project had the goal of improving the food choices of low-income Hispanics. This was a very fruitful period during which we conducted several food and nutrition studies and developed the PANA nutrition education project targeting low-income Latino families and the SALUD social marketing campaign involving various media outlets. Along with colleagues and students, we have published several articles from this work on topics ranging from infant feeding practices to nutritional status and substance abuse.
Since 1998, I have been a faculty member at the University of South Florida. The experience I gained at the HHC has been very useful to me as a teacher of students that are studying applied anthropology. Moreover, I have been able to take my previous research experience and apply it in Tampa. I have developed several community-based nutrition projects including Project New Life, Good Health which is a nutrition education and church-based farmers market. Recently, I have started up international research again with a study on food consumption patterns in Monteverde, Costa Rica. This study is focusing on the impact of globalization on rural household nutritional status. I hope to build on this project in the future with a multi-year grant that will provide services in addition to conducting basic research.
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