OK, this is not exactly about local food, but it's obliquely related. The anthropology department at Indiana University (one of my alma maters) is introducing a PhD in Food Studies, the first such program in the country. There was a nice article in the latest College of Arts and Sciences magazine, and Professor Stacie King had this to say:
Students will read ethnographic studies of the importance of food in contemporary cultures and then touch on a variety of topics to explore these same issues across time... We'll be able to look at how people have used food to create identity and meaning in their everyday existence.
Professors in the program also plan to have students do field work in the community, "researching a solution to a real, local, food-related problem." Political science professor and co-director of Slow Food Bloomington Christine Barbour says that "Many people become farmers or chefs because they feel passionately about food and the land. They may be very good at farming or cooking, but they do not necessarily have great organizational or marketing skills. If the food studies program can provide interns to assist with matters such as these, it has the potential to greatly benefit the community."
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