Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food

by Ben Fine

With growing affluence in the developed world, food has become an increasing focus for attention. Here, the authors argue that in order to understand the extensive and dramatic developments in the world of food, a new interdisciplinary approach is necessary. The Age of Affluence successfully addresses food consumption in this way. The
* argues the importance of socioeconomic and cultural factors over diet, in influencing the production, marketing and consumption of different groups of foods;
* places food systems theory on sound analytical foundations;
* draws critically upon food systems literature;
* includes case studies from the sugar, dairy and meat systems;
* employs novel statistical techniques to identify and explain distinct patterns of food consumption;
The book will help to revitalize the discipline of food studies and points the way forward for the continuing study of food consumption. As such, it will be invaluable to students, researchers and policymakers engaged in the world of food.

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 1995

Reviews

[Brucus Scriptus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serious students of food systems should be aware of this book, which I first read in 1995 (pre-pub version via PhD supervisor), and checked again in 2013. Fine, Heasman & Wright are especially stimulating on the topics of industrial 'appropriationism' and 'substitutionism' which I see as pervading not just conventional food systems, but also organics. — Jun 24, 2013 03:32AM