Autumn 2011 Issue - University of Central Lancashire

Conference Reviews
25
History of food and drink on research menu
Conference attracts international delegates from four continents
Food for thought was on the menu for
delegates from four continents who arrived
at UCLan recently for what was believed to
be the UK’s first interdisciplinary conference
on the history of food and drink.
Food and Drink: Social, Political and Cultural
Histories attracted delegates from the US,
Canada, Australia, India and many EU
countries as well as the UK.
Historical debate ranged from food and drink
in medieval times to the 1980s, from healthrelated
topics to feasting, from Turkish tea to
tripe, and from the movement for Real Ale to
Temperance organisations.
The conference was organised by Dr Billy
Frank and Dr Annemarie McAllister from
UCLan’s History research cluster within the
School of Education and Social Sciences.
Dr Frank said: “Food and drink are essentials
– yet they also represent luxuries. We must
eat to live, sometimes we live to eat, and
alcoholic drink can be seen either as a
blessing which enlivens existence or a curse
which destroys it.
From agrarian production to their
commercial promotion, from the effects of
famine and shortages to the promotion of
healthy eating for national social and
economic benefits, food and drink are key
aspects of social and political history.”
Keynote speakers included: Professor
Stephen Yeo, Visiting Professor at the Centre
for Civil Society at the London School of
Economics and at the University of Warwick,
who delivered: ‘Food for Thought:
'Knowledge is food'’; Professor John
Bohstedt, University of Tennessee, whose
keynote address was entitled: ‘Food Riots,
Moral Economy, and the Politics of Provisions
in World History’ and Dr James Nicholls, Bath
Spa University, who delivered ‘Tall orders:
drink, culture and politics in England’.
Dr McAllister said the conference had
developed from an idea to explore links
between research on food production,
supply and consumption and on
Temperance organisations.
“UCLan holds the internationally important
Livesey Collection of Temperance-related
material and we wanted to combine this with
the historical food-related expertise which
also exists within the University. We received
a huge response to our call for papers and
we brought together scholars from four
continents to not only speak about their own
research but also to explore links and themes
such as food and national identity.
The conference really caught the imagination
of the world’s academic community and we
believe it was the first in the UK to explore
the interdisciplinary nature of the history of
food and drink.”
The conference was supported by the
Co-operative Membership Services, and the
first day featured papers on this aspect of
food supply.
“Food and drink – the
provision, choice, use,
restriction or lack of
them – provided
a fascinating focus for
historical inquiry and
for those who attended
this conference.”