Japanese culture in/and food systems

1. Japanese culture in/and food systems

2. Definitions of “system” from OED (Oxford English Dictionary) I. An organized or connected group of objects. ... a. A set or assemblage of things connected, associated, or interdependent, so as to form a complex unity; a whole composed of parts in orderly arrangement according to some scheme or plan; rarely applied to a simple or small assemblage of things (nearly = ‘group’ or ‘set’). 4. In various scientific and technical uses: A group, set, or aggregate of things, natural or artificial, forming a connected or complex whole. How to be a “know-it-all” about Western foods “curry rice”—the complex unity of as a food system • the interface translation and systems of writing, graphics, color-coding • material objects / material culture recipe described as a food system (ingredients, process, servingsconsumption) • systems of knowledge food safety etiquette taste (as elegance, as yumminess)

3. Making curry rice • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Rxg67_xvtxU#! How a recipe (even without a “recipe”) is a food system

4. City of Seattle, food systems coordinator The City of Seattle's Food Initiative is a coordinated effort to increase access to healthy and affordable food for all, promote urban agriculture and foster the growth of local food economies.The Food Systems Coordinator will be responsible for advising the department Director, the Mayor and City Council on the development of strategic plans, policies, communications, and evaluation tools that will encourage a food system that promotes health, equity, and the environment.  Job Responsibilities: Policy Development and Coordination Provide strategic analysis of current and emerging policies to identify new initiatives. Coordinate development and implementation of food policy across City departments. Program Development and Implementation Lead food systems strategic planning processes to set goals, develop implementation plan, and identify programmatic activities Coordinate and monitor implementation of the City's food systems strategic plan Coordinate and prioritize food projects among City departments

5. NYU academic program in Food Studies Food Culture (FOOD-CUL) Food Systems (FOOD-SYS) explores food systems, tracing commodities and agricultural concerns from production through consumption;  it emphasizes international, national, and local food systems where students explore environmental, ethical, and economic factors in food production and distribution. • examines the social, economic, cultural, and psychological factors that have influenced food consumption practices and patterns in the past and present. Students research historical, sociological and anthropological aspects of food. 

6. Example:how rice grows “the wind stimulates the production of ethylene in plants” • chemical system (and names of its elements) • biological system (of plant growth) • narrative system ...of parts, wholes, networks, relations, narratives • a system of natural-technical objects ...parts, wholes, networks that connect different scales or types of objects (natural, technical) from 『稲：品種改良の系譜』、菅洋 The genealogy of how rice got standardized, SUGE Hiroshi

7. Fukuoka’s food mandala

8. 3 food thinkers on “systems” • Schlosser: the industrial food system from ground to mouth • genre: a biography of the fast food meal, broken into parts, followed through production to consumption • Issenberg: the “sushi” system from water to mouth • genre: story of how one object—a tuna– is transformed from fish to commodity, followed through processes of production to consumption • Fukuoka: the “natural” food system from ground to mouth...but also, independent of humans • genre: the story of a relationship with nature told through the lens of personal experience

9. relations to reader • each starts from a place of consumerism • each brings you closer to a system of production • each tries to describe and explain the significance of links in the “system”—commercial, human, transportation, etc. in terms of genre, each embeds “capsule histories” of industries, and portrait-biographies of stakeholders • US writers tend to be concerned with standardization and individual commodities (Salt, Cod); Japanese writers tend to be interested in mediation (networks) and media (what happens in translation)

10. ?s for My Year of Meats • What sorts of textual systems are at work? • How is “meat” involved in systems? • What communications systems are at work?