GIMMS Toolkit: Food Studies
Comprehensive list of food studies research resources available from the Government Information, Maps & Microform Services (GIMMS) department at Indiana University Bloomington Libraries
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Welcome to GIMMS
Government Information, Maps & Microform Services (GIMMS) is located on the second floor of Herman B Wells Library on the Indiana University Bloomington campus. Included in GIMMS are local, state, and federal government information and data resources, the largest map collection in Indiana, GIS services, and microform services.
This guide brings together a comprehensive list of GIMMS resources regarding food studies, globally and domestically.
For further information, or to request a consultation or IU Libraries instruction session, please contact us at libgimms@indiana.edu.
Government Information & Data Resources
United States
Many agencies in the United States regulate and conduct research on food. Below are some introductory websites from several of them. Additionally, if you are interested in finding more information from a specific agency, you can include their name in the Author field of your database searches.
United States Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)Executive agency is charge of food security, rural economic development, agriculture, and forestry.
- Agricultural Trade Periodicals and Reports (USDA)"Data products and reports covering U.S. agricultural trade and factors affecting trade flows."
- Food Security: Interactive Charts and Highlights (USDA)"Food security" refers to people's access to enough food for a healthy life. From the Economic Research Service at the USDA.
- National Agricultural Library (USDA)One of the five national libraries of the U.S., the National Agriculture Library is one of the largest agricultural research libraries in the world.
- Foreign Agricultural Service Statistical Data (USDA)"The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) works to improve foreign market access for U.S. products, to build new markets, to improve the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace, and to provide food aid and technical assistance to foreign countries."
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA)Agency responsible for protecting animal health, animal welfare, and plant health. Includes regulation of genetically modified organisms, administration of the Animal Welfare Act, and coordination of efforts to fight pests and disease among plants and animals.
- “Reflecting on 20 Years of Measuring Household Food Security in the United States.” (USDA)The opening session of the October 21, 2015 conference at the Economic Research Service.
Run time: 1 hour, 13 minutes
United States Food and Drug Administration
- Food and Drug Administration: Food (FDA)Responsible for the protection of human health through the regulation of food, drugs, animal feed, tobacco products, etc.
United States Agency for International Development
- USAIDAgency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
- Feed the Future (USAID)USAID's global hunger and food security program.
International Organizations
International Organizations are groups like the United Nations that represent the cooperative interests of their member states.
United Nations
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)International agency to improve food security globally.
- World Health Organization (WHO)Responsible for international public health.
- The state of food security and nutrition in the world (FAO)Annual report. Scroll to bottom to see past issues.
- Global Data Bank on Infant and Young Child Feeding (WHO)"It pools information mainly from national and regional surveys, and studies dealing specifically with the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding and complementary feeding."
- Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS) (WHO)"Surveillance of micronutrient deficiencies at the global level." Formerly known as Micronutrient Deficiency Information System (MDIS).
European Union
- Food, Farming, Fisheries (EU)"How the European Commission ensures the safety and quality of agricultural and food products, supports producers and communities, and promotes sustainable practices."
Maps & GIS Resources
Maps and GIS Resources
- Indiana Soil Surveys at IUB 1899-1990Soil survey maps, many of which are available online.
- GeoRefIndex to earth science articles in journals and books, as well as books, maps, government publications, conference proceedings, technical reports, theses and dissertations.
- Indiana Spatial Data PortalThe Indiana Spatial Data Portal (ISDP) provides access to more than 30 terabytes of Indiana geospatial data. Available statewide datasets include aerial photos, topographic maps, LiDAR and elevation data, and Sanborn historic maps. In addition, the ISDP hosts several local datasets for Allen, Bartholomew, Boone, Dearborn, Gibson, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Monroe, Morgan, Posey, Shelby and Wayne Counties.
- Big Ten Academic Alliance GeoportalThe Big Ten Academic Alliance Geoportal provides discoverability and facilitates access to geospatial resources. The resources in the portal are selected and curated by librarians and geospatial specialists at ten research institutions in the Big Ten Academic Alliance.
The resources include GIS datasets, web services, and digitized historical maps. - SimplyAnalyticsWeb-based mapping application that lets users create professional-quality thematic maps and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data.
Microform Services
Why microforms?
Many of our materials are available on microform, sometimes only so. Do not be afraid! GIMMS equipment views and scans microfilm, microfiche, and microopaques. Images can be scanned in PDF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG and BMP formats and saved to CD, flash drive, or any Internet file storage service. Scans can also be printed like any other document.
Selections from the Microform Collection
Our microform collections are, for the most part, cataloged, so you shouldn't need to seek them out specifically, but here's a small sampling of the kinds of things you might come across in your search.
Other Food Resources
General Food Resources
For non-governmental resources, see this list of databases, journals, and books. It was compiled by Theresa Quill for a "Geography of Food" course.
Food & Agriculture
- AgricolaAGRICOLA is a database produced by the National Agricultural Library (NAL). It contains over 6 million records encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied discipline.
- Agricultural and Environmental Science DatabaseCollection of resources related to environmental science, engineering, biotechnology, bacteriology, atmospheric science, ecology, and biology.
- Food Studies OnlineProvides researchers with archival content, visual ephemera, books, and videos that explore how food shapes the world.
- Food and Drink in HistoryDigital access to primary source material covering the evolution of food and drink within everyday life and the public sphere. Includes printed and manuscript cookbooks, advertising ephemera, government reports, films, and illustrated content.
- Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in AmericaCovers the significant events, inventions, and social movements in American history that have affected the way Americans view, prepare, and consume food and drink.
- USA.govThe official U.S. government portal to 47 million pages of information on federal and state government programs, benefits, and services.
- SimplyAnalyticsWeb-based mapping application that lets users create professional-quality thematic maps and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data. PLEASE NOTE: Users may "sign in as guest," or register for an individual account if they would like to save their work.
Recommended Journals and websites
While Databases aggregate articles from many journals, sometimes going directly to a relevant journal is a good way to keep up on current literature and find articles. For each of these IUCAT (IU Libraries' catalog) records, you'll need to click on the [BLOOMINGTON] link to get access.
- Food and Foodways"Food and Foodways is a refereed, interdisciplinary, and international journal devoted to publishing original scholarly articles on the history and culture of human nourishment.
By reflecting on the role food plays in human relations from the perspectives of social sciences and humanities, this unique journal explores the powerful but often subtle ways in which food has shaped, and shapes, our lives socially, economically, politically, mentally, nutritionally, and morally." - Global food history"Global Food History is the preeminent peer-reviewed journal for authors who wish to write about food and drink using history as their primary disciplinary perspective."
- Gastronomica"Gastronomica is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, international journal publishing critical, translational studies on food. In the pages of Gastronomica, you will find examinations of historical trends and transformations in food and eating; analyses of the political, economic, and social dimensions of food production and consumption; research briefs on emerging issues in fields related to food research and innovation; and interviews with key figures in the world of food (scholars, activists, producers, and consumers). With cutting-edge research and explorations of the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of food studies, Gastronomica is your go-to resource for understanding the social, cultural, and historical dimensions of food"
- Food, culture, & societyFood, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research is an international peer-reviewed publication dedicated to exploring the complex relationships among food, culture, and society from numerous disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as in the world of food beyond the academy.
- International Journal of Gastronomy and Food ScienceIJGFS explores all aspects related to the growing field of the interaction of gastronomy and food science, in areas such as, but not limited to:
Food Science in relation to Gastronomy: food chemistry and physics, food technology, food microbiology and enzymology, genetics/genomics, new ingredients, health and nutrition, new product development
Sensory experiences related to food: sensory science, perception, preferences, chemesthesis, enhancing sensory properties of food, neuroscience, psychology (pleasure, interoception...)
Innovation in Gastronomy: culinary concepts, creativity in gastronomy, culinary trends, work systems & protocols, culinary performance, culinary techniques, gastronomic experience (interaction exercises, environment, plating etc.)
Gastronomy in perspective: gastronomic tourism, sustainability in gastronomy, social and cultural aspects of gastronomy, culinary traditions, culinary history, bibliographic studies on culinary books (recipes, cook books and menus) - Civil EatsCivil Eats is a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. We publish stories that shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities.
Founded in January 2009, Civil Eats is a nonprofit news organization with more 150 contributors who report on the evolving food landscape from Capitol Hill to Main Street. - The SaltThe Salt is a blog from the NPR Science Desk about what we eat and why we eat it.
- Sustainable Food Systems Science (SFSS)"This research initiative couples field, lab-based, and big-data research between IU’s accomplished food, nutrition, agro-ecological, decision sciences, and systems scholars to forge a networked effort in the study of Sustainable Food Systems Science (SFSS). Our integrated approach seeks to understand sustainable food system development, from farm to fork, by studying the leverage points that can be used to build more resilient and sustainable food systems that support food justice, public health and well-being, sustain more livelihoods, and improve civic and community life."
- Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development"The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) is the world's only peer-reviewed, transdisciplinary journal focused solely on food and farming-related community development. JAFSCD uses a double-blind peer review process, with expert reviewers who include researchers, scholars, and food systems professionals in the field.
JAFSCD emphasizes best practices and tools related to the planning, community economic development, and ecological protection of local and regional agriculture and food systems, and works to bridge the interests of practitioners and academics."
A selection of ebooks
Conversations in Food Studies
Few things are as important as the food we eat. "Conversations in Food Studies" demonstrates the value of interdisciplinary research through the cross-pollination of disciplinary, epistemological, and methodological perspectives. Widely diverse essays, ranging from the meaning of milk, to the bring-your-own-wine movement, to urban household waste, are theproduct of collaborating teams of interdisciplinary authors. Readers are invited to engage and reflect on the theories and practices underlying some of the most important issues facing the emerging field of foodstudies today.Conversations in Food Studies brings to the table thirteen original contributions organized around the themes of representation, governance, disciplinary boundaries, and, finally, learning through food. This collection offers an important and groundbreaking approach to food studies as it examines and reworks the boundaries that have traditionally structured the academy and that underlie much of food studies literature.
ISBN: 9780887557873Publication Date: 2016-09-30
Black Food Geographies by
In this book, Ashante M. Reese makes clear the structural forces that determine food access in urban areas, highlighting Black residents' navigation of and resistance to unequal food distribution systems. Linking these local food issues to the national problem of systemic racism, Reese examines the history of the majority-Black Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Reese not only documents racism and residential segregation in the nation's capital but also tracks the ways transnational food corporations have shaped food availability. By connecting community members' stories to the larger issues of racism and gentrification, Reese shows there are hundreds of Deanwoods across the country. Reese's geographies of self-reliance offer an alternative to models that depict Black residents as lacking agency, demonstrating how an ethnographically grounded study can locate and amplify nuances in how Black life unfolds within the context of unequal food access.
ISBN: 9781469651491Publication Date: 2019-04-29
Sustainable Food System Assessment by
Sustainable Food System Assessment provides both practical and theoretical insights about the growing interest in and response to measuring food system sustainability. Bringing together research from the Global North and South, this book shares lessons learned, explores intended and actual project outcomes, and highlights points of conceptual and methodological convergence. Interest in assessing food system sustainability is growing, as evidenced by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and the importance food systems initiatives have taken in serving as a lever for attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This book opens by looking at the conceptual considerations of food systems indicators, including the place-based dimensions of food systems indicators and how measurements are implicated in sense-making and visioning processes. Chapters in the second part cover operationalizing metrics, including the development of food systems indicator frameworks, degrees of indicator complexities, and practical constraints to assessment. The final part focuses on the outcomes of assessment projects, including impacts on food policy and communities involved, highlighting the importance of building connections between sustainable food systems initiatives. The global coverage and multi-scalar perspectives, including both conceptual and practical aspects, makes this a key resource for academics and practitioners across planning, geography, urban studies, food studies, and research methods. It will also be of interest to government officials and those working within NGOs.
ISBN: 9781138341951Publication Date: 2019-12-12
Modern Food, Moral Food by
American eating changed dramatically in the early twentieth century. As food production became more industrialized, nutritionists, home economists, and so-called racial scientists were all pointing Americans toward a newly scientific approach to diet. Food faddists were rewriting the most basic rules surrounding eating, while reformers were working to reshape the diets of immigrants and the poor. And by the time of World War I, the country's first international aid program was bringing moral advice about food conservation into kitchens around the country. In Modern Food, Moral Food, Helen Zoe Veit argues that the twentieth-century food revolution was fueled by a powerful conviction that Americans had a moral obligation to use self-discipline and reason, rather than taste and tradition, in choosing what to eat. Veit weaves together cultural history and the history of science to bring readers into the strange and complex world of the American Progressive Era. The era's emphasis on science and self-control left a profound mark on American eating, one that remains today in everything from the ubiquity of science-based dietary advice to the tenacious idealization of thinness.
ISBN: 9781469607702Publication Date: 2013-08-01
Food by
When did we first serve meals at regular hours? Why did we begin using individual plates and utensils to eat? When did "cuisine" become a concept and how did we come to judge food by its method of preparation, manner of consumption, and gastronomic merit? Food: A Culinary History explores culinary evolution and eating habits from prehistoric times to the present, offering surprising insights into our social and agricultural practices, religious beliefs, and most unreflected habits. The volume dispels myths such as the tale that Marco Polo brought pasta to Europe from China, that the original recipe for chocolate contained chili instead of sugar, and more. As it builds its history, the text also reveals the dietary rules of the ancient Hebrews, the contributions of Arabic cookery to European cuisine, the table etiquette of the Middle Ages, and the evolution of beverage styles in early America. It concludes with a discussion on the McDonaldization of food and growing popularity of foreign foods today.
ISBN: 9780231111553Publication Date: 2013-05-07
Bountiful Empire by
The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest-lasting empires in history--and one of the most culinarily inclined. In this powerful and complex concoction of politics, culture, and cuisine, the production and consumption of food reflected the lives of the empire's citizens from sultans to soldiers. Food bound people of different classes and backgrounds together, defining identity and serving symbolic functions in the social, religious, political, and military spheres. In Bountiful Empire, Priscilla Mary Işın examines the changing meanings of the Ottoman Empire's foodways as they evolved over more than five centuries. Işın begins with the essential ingredients of this fascinating history, examining the earlier culinary traditions in which Ottoman cuisine was rooted, such as those of the Central Asian Turks, Abbasids, Seljuks, and Byzantines. She goes on to explore the diverse aspects of this rich culinary culture, including etiquette, cooks, restaurants, military food, food laws, and food trade. Drawing on everything from archival documents to poetry and featuring more than one hundred delectable illustrations, this meticulously researched, beautiful volume offers fresh and lively insight into an empire and cuisine that until recent decades have been too narrowly viewed through orientalist spectacles.
ISBN: 9781780239040Publication Date: 2018-06-15
Gifts of the Gods by
What do we think about when we think about Greek food? For many, it is the meze and the traditional plates of a Greek island taverna at the height of summer. In Gifts of the Gods, Andrew and Rachel Dalby take us into and beyond the taverna in our minds to offer us a unique and comprehensive history of the foods of Greece. Greek food is brimming with thousands of years of history, lore, and culture. The country has one of the most varied landscapes of Europe, where steep mountains, low-lying plains, rocky islands, and crystal-blue seas jostle one another and produce food and wine of immense quality and distinctive taste. The book discusses how the land was settled, what was grown in different regions, and how certain fruits, herbs, and vegetables became a part of local cuisines. Moving through history--from classical to modern--the book explores the country's regional food identities as well as the export of Greek food to communities all over the world. The book culminates with a look at one of the most distinctive features of Greece's food tradition--the country's world renown hospitality. Illustrated throughout and featuring traditional recipes that blend historical and modern flavors, Gifts of the Gods is a mouth-watering account of a rich and ancient cuisine.
ISBN: 9781780238548Publication Date: 2018-01-15
Burek by
"As simple as burek" is a popular phrase used by many young people in Slovenia. In this book Jernej Mlekuz maintains that the truth is just the opposite. The burek is a pie made of pastry dough filled with various fillings that is well-known in the Balkans, and also in Turkey and the Near East by other names. Whether on the plate or as a cultural artifact, it is in fact, not that simple. After a brief stroll through its innocent history, Mlekuz focuses on the present state of the burek, after parasitical ideologies had attached themselves to it and poisoned its discourses. In Slovenia, the burek has become a loaded metaphor for the Balkans and immigrants from the republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Without the burek it would be equally difficult to consider the jargon of Slovenian youth, the imagined world of Slovenian chauvinism and the rhetorical arsenal of advertising agents when promoting healthy foods. keywords: 1. Discourse analysis--Slovenia. 2. Political culture--Slovenia. 3. Popular culture--Slovenia. 4. Nationalism--Slovenia. 5. Immigrants--Slovenia--Public opinion. 6. Pies--Slovenia. 7. Food--Symbolic aspects--Slovenia. 8. Metaphor--Political aspects--Slovenia. 9. Slovenia--Politics and government. 10. Slovenia--Social life andcustoms.
ISBN: 9789633860892Publication Date: 2015-08-01
Secrets from the Greek Kitchen by
Secrets from the Greek Kitchen explores how cooking skills, practices, and knowledge on the island of Kalymnos are reinforced or transformed by contemporary events. Based on more than twenty years of research and the author’s videos of everyday cooking techniques, this rich ethnography treats the kitchen as an environment in which people pursue tasks, display expertise, and confront culturally defined risks. Kalymnian islanders, both women and men, use food as a way of evoking personal and collective memory, creating an elaborate discourse on ingredients, tastes, and recipes. Author David E. Sutton focuses on micropractices in the kitchen, such as the cutting of onions, the use of a can opener, and the rolling of phyllo dough, along with cultural changes, such as the rise of televised cooking shows, to reveal new perspectives on the anthropology of everyday living.
ISBN: 9780520280540Publication Date: 2014-09-19
- Greek CookeryThis book is available through Hathi Trust Emergency Temporary Access. Click on the yellow "Access Full Text at Hathi Trust" button on the left side of the IUCAT record to check out an electronic version of this book.
IU Libraries has many print books about Greek food and cooking. Below are a couple of recommended titles.
The Glorious Foods of Greece by ISBN: 0688154573Publication Date: 2001-04-01Transporting readers deep into the heart of a country steeped in 3,000 years of history, culture, legend, and food, The Glorious Foods of Greece is a sumptuous collection of 400 authentic and classic recipes from every region.
Ikaria by ISBN: 9781623362959Publication Date: 2014-10-14The remote and lush island of Ikaria in the northeastern Aegean is home to one of the longest-living populations on the planet, making it a "blue zone." Much of this has been attributed to Ikaria's stress-free lifestyle and Mediterranean diet-daily naps, frequent sex, a little fish and meat, free-flowing wine, mindless exercise like walking and gardening, hyper-local food, strong friendships, and a deep-rooted disregard for the clock. No one knows the Ikarian lifestyle better than Chef Diane Kochilas, who has spent much of her life on the island. Part cookbook, part travelogue, Kochilas's Ikaria is an introduction to the food-as-life philosophy and a culinary journey through luscious recipes, gorgeous photography, and captivating stories from locals. Capturing the true spirit of the island, Kochilas explains the importance of shared food, the health benefits of raw and cooked salads, the bean dishes that are passed down through generations, the greens and herbal teas that are used in the kitchen and in the teapot as "medicine," and the nutritional wisdom inherent in the ingredients and recipes that have kept Ikarians healthy for so long. Ikaria is more than a cookbook. It's a portrait of the people who have achieved what so many of us yearn for- a fuller, more meaningful and joyful life, lived simply and nourished on real, delicious, seasonal foods that you can access anywhere.
