- Claire Menck
- Visiting Scholar @NCCROW 2009-10 TOPIC: Critical Change and the Food System
- Posted October 3, 2009
Claire Menck, M.B.A. and Chef, is currently completing research for her Ph. D. in Leadership and Change at Antioch University.
Her topic: Critical Change and the Food System
Her blog: gourmetgypsy.blogspot.com
Claire Menck and Kevin McCaffrey review interview footage, October 2009
Listen: Claire Menck and Kevin McCaffrey: A First Conversation About Food Cultures, Food Systems, Food Policy, Food Media @ Sophielab 09 14 2009 (45:47/MP3/49.1 MB)
Work Plan: Claire Menck, NCCROW Visiting
Scholar, Academic Year 2009-201
My work as a
visiting scholar at Newcomb College Center for Research on Women is focused on critical change and
the food system. The food system
is composed of five critical processes (Goody): production, distribution,
fabrication, consumption and disposal.
The spaces of the food system, such as restaurants, farms, markets, and
home kitchens are densely networked nodes of activity in the social system
where one or more of these processes are engaged. The goal of my work is to
examine such spaces and their response to a critical change event, in this
case- hurricane Katrina. I intend
to engage in three case studies that, when strung together, will touch on all
five processes of the food system.
This will be both a historical investigation, looking at the system
prior to Katrina, as well as a present representation of how Katrina has
affected these places and the people who inhabit them, and how they have
responded to such an event. It is
my ultimate hope to shed light on how the process of change impacts the food
system and the social networks that support it.
Central to this work is involvement in the food community. Using my own contacts in the food service community, and tapping into more through NCCROW, I will establish the sites for three case studies within the first three months of my residency. These sites will draw on restaurants, local farms and markets, and home kitchens and public food space such as churches and community centers.
Once established on site, the second phase of my work will involve fieldwork consisting of participant observation, interviews, and photography (still and video). I expect to begin this work during the Fall/Winter of my residency and continue this work through the end of my term. At the same time, I will use the library and archival resources at Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, as well as those in other Tulane and New Orleans collections to gather historical data for the project.
