Food History, Culture, Heritage and Intellectual Property

Exeter Food members engage with the history and culture of food across the ages, as well as examining the place of food heritage in our world today.

Archaeologists include: Alex Pryor, whose research focuses on Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence practices, especially in cold northern climates, including the reconstruction of diet, climatic context to occupations, and the mobility patterns of humans and their prey; Alan Outram, whose work on ancient dietary reconstruction ranges from the study of early agriculture in the northern plains of North America to the origins of pastoralism and dairying in prehistoric Eurasia; and Martin Pitts, who studies drinking culture in the Roman Empire along with drinking vessels that offer evidence of Roman immersion in the wider Mediterranean region and cultural diversity within the empire.

Ancient Historian Claire Holleran has worked on ancient food supply, ancient food retail, ancient diet and nutrition, and Roman bars and inns. Classicist Katharine Earnshaw studies how classical texts affect the way readers expect landscapes to look, the way they value the produce of land, and how they make decisions about its use—whether in the past or today. Rebekah Welton, who is a Lecturer in Hebrew Bible, is interested in ancient foodways, gender and power in Hebrew texts, as well as excessive consumption, drunkenness, and other forms of “deviant consumption”.

Historians in the network focus on agriculture and food in the early modern period: Henry French has worked on agriculture, material culture, consumption and social status in early modern England; while Jane Whittle conducts research on topics including household economies and self-sufficiency; gendered patterns of work in agriculture and food processing in the English context; and field to plate approaches to English food consumption, including imported products such sugar and spices. Medical herbalist Anne Stobart has worked on domestic medicine and self-sufficiency in early modern England, considering relationships between plants, food, health and medical authority in the household.

Ayesha Mukherjee, who is Associate Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture, comparatively examines food insecurity in early modern India and Britain, as well as the decolonisation of diets in modern Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Dakar (Senegal). Paul Young, who is Associate Professor of Victorian Literature and Culture, has studied attitudes to dietary change and healthy eating in Victorian era adventure fiction, as well as the hopes and fears that arose as ever larger numbers of British people looked to distant parts of the earth to put meat on their tables; he also collaborated with Mukherjee in the study of decolonisation of diets in Dhaka and Dakar.

Anthropologist Harry G West studies food, heritage and the cultural economy, with a focus on artisan cheesemaking, the concept of terroir, and the dynamics of appellations and indications of geographical origin. Senior Lecturer in Law Mathilde Pavis is interested in food, intellectual property and intangible cultural heritage, including strategies and policies to protect the intellectual property of UK cheesemakers in both domestic and international contexts.