Conservation strategy for food-based perishable art: preservation versus reconstruction illustrated by Piece in Ghent by Jason Rhoades (1994)

The aim of this paper was to discuss the role of food preservation science and technology in the conservation of complex food-based installations. By introducing the principles of food science and food preservation into the decision-making process for the conservation of contemporary art, more insight on conservation and presentation possibilities was created. Considering the installation Piece in Ghent (P.I.G.) by Jason Rhoades, which contains French fries, the principles of food preservation science were evaluated. The preservation of the original foods was discussed against the potential of a reproduction of the foods. The context for conservation was determined by analysing the artist's intention, the production method of the artwork, and the degradation processes of the food materials. From the results obtained, guidelines to preserve the ‘original’ foods were proposed, as well as guidelines to reproduce foods that can last longer. The study demonstrated that food preservation science contributed to the development of effective strategies for the conservation of contemporary food-based art.     

Visiting the Mexican American Family: Tortilla Soup as Culinary Tourism

This essay argues that the film Tortilla Soup constructs a mediated culinary touristic experience for mainstream spectators who are invited to vicariously visit a Mexican American family. Analysis of the film's neocolonialist discourse demonstrates how the commercialization and appropriation of food culture mirror hegemonic tendencies to market and consume ethnicity. Tortilla Soup attempts to deconstruct homogenizing notions of Latinidad. Yet it straddles and ultimately collapses these divergent discourses through its treatment of food, sound, gender, and space. Ultimately, Tortilla Soup reaffirms hegemonic ideologies about Latinos/as that privilege whiteness and contain ethnic “otherness.”     

Cognitive and affective risk perceptions toward food safety outbreaks: mediating the relation between news use and food consumption intention

Much research on risk perception and health behavior has examined cognitive dimensions of risk but not affective dimensions. To address this gap, this study examines both cognitive risk perception (perceived risk of susceptibility and severity) and affective risk perception (worry) in the context of food safety risks in East Asia. We investigate their roles in independently and jointly predicting intention to consume outbreak-associated food products, as well as mediating the influences of news exposure and attention on intention. Data from a nationwide survey in South Korea (N = 1500) lent overall support for our hypotheses in both cases of processed food from China and seafood from Japan. Our findings show: (1) both perceived risk and worry were negatively associated with food consumption intention, and the association between perceived risk and intention was stronger among those higher in worry; (2) news attention had stronger associations with perceived risk and worry than news exposure, and attention moderated the relationship between news exposure and perceived risk; and (3) perceived risk and worry mediated the associations between news use and food consumption intention. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.     

Food as social justice: Critical ethnography as a lens for communication activism

Courses: Public Speaking.

Objectives: This semester-long service-learning activity examines access to affordable healthy food as a social justice issue, using critical ethnography as a framework to help students understand the link between activism and public speaking skills. After completing the project, students will be able to: (1) develop a narrative speech that links their respective identities to food justice; (2) adapt a persuasive message that connects a community partner's food justice goals to a target audience; and (3) communicate ethically with a public while participating in a food justice campaign.     

The Next Forty‐Nine Years

This article is expanded from a commencement address delivered by author Wes Jackson to graduating seniors at Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland, May 20, 2007. It adds detail to his longstanding argument that the environmental majority is mendaciously optimistic in suggesting that new—and sometimes still uninvented—technology will solve the world's food and energy problems. Jackson lays out statistics on how fast the world is using up its energy sources, noting that biofuels such as agriculture‐based ethanol will provide insufficient energy to power U.S. cars and trucks even if we use all of the food in the world to produce motive power. Jackson's previous article, “Conceptual Revolutions: Who Needs Them? Why?” was published in Public Library Quarterly 24‐3 (2005). The two articles form an intertwined statement on world resource limitations and opportunities. These articles were selected for inclusion in PLQ for the fundamentally different view they offer library professionals on the biofuels‐and‐ecology debate, in the hopes of balancing competing points of view in library collections.     

Beverages in the Library

ABSTRACT

In the current era the policy of “Just say NO!” to food and beverages in the library ought to be re-examined. Beginning with the Medical Sciences Library, a new and more liberal policy regarding food in the library was adopted by the Sterling C. Evans Library. The process of development has ensured that student concerns were addressed while the library's principle concern, the integrety of the collection, was also met.     

Linking webbing clothes moths to infested objects or other food sources in museums

The webbing clothes moth Tineola bisselliella (Hummel, 1823) is one of the most common museum pests and can be found all over the world. The larvae damages objects made of feather, wool, fur, and other keratinaceous materials. Pheromone traps are important tools in integrated pest management, which allow the detection of infestations and evaluation of their extent. Organic-rich dust (detritus) or other materials of animal origin, such as dead birds, can be an alternative food source for the moths. This paper analyzes monitoring data collected with pheromone traps from six different museums in Vienna and Berlin and tries to differentiate between moths resulting from infested objects or moths coming from other food sources, such as organic-rich dust. Annual totals of moths trapped and catch rate (moths per trap) are important guides for selecting appropriate remedial measures. Long-term data (over six years) enabled us to interpret monitoring results and differentiate between active infestation of objects and cleaning or housekeeping problems. However, detailed knowledge of the site and buildings, availability of high-quality food for the larvae, and lack of regular cleaning are also important factors to consider when interpreting the data.     

Food for Thought in Restaurant Reviews

Coverage of food journalism has increased in contemporary media and restaurant reviews are a regular feature in newspapers. The reaction to a rating of zero for a restaurant in The Weekend Australian newspaper in 2016 highlighted the role and expectations of critics. It also raised the issue of whether this form of lifestyle journalism included traditional journalistic objectives, or was influenced more by commercial factors. In this environment, it is therefore valuable to explore whether restaurant reviews are more aligned with detached journalism or an extension of marketing. Utilising a content analysis, this pilot study examines the ratings of food critics in four broadsheet/quality newspapers in Australia and the United Kingdom. During the three years of the data collection, 550 restaurant reviews were coded. The pattern of review marks suggested more supportive judgements than critical ones, and was consistent with the softer side of journalism.     

“A banquet for all the world”: democracy and consumerism in Disney’s Food Will Win the War

This essay considers Food Will Win the War, an animated short made early in World War II by Disney Studios for the United States Department of Agriculture. Through a fantastical catalogue of hyperbolic images, the film shows how the mass production of American agriculture becomes the first wave of a new American-style consumerism of plenty that will transform the social order. The analysis blends contemporary theories of affective politics to show Food Will Win the War as a threshold text, revealing the post-war economy at its formation. Using food as a symbolic field, this film ultimately links the endless expansion of consumer desire to national identity and global colonization.     

Meet the press

Objective: To field questions from a room of students simulating a press conference Type of speech: Impromptu Point value: 10 participation points. To receive all 10 points, students must (1) address three questions from the lectern and ask three questions from their seat (3 points), (2) respond thoroughly to each question by providing a supportive explanation (5 points), and (3) remain composed at the lectern (2 points) Requirements: (a) References: 0; (b) Length: 1–2 minutes, (c) Visual aid: No; (d) Outline: No; (e) Prerequisite reading: No; (f) Additional requirements: None This activity requires students to think on their feet while challenging them to remain composed when addressing controversial topics derived by their classmates. The purpose of this activity is to orient students to impromptu speaking while having them engage in a speaking environment seldom rehearsed in the classroom, yet one that exists within society.     

Biological Pest Control of a Biscuit Beetle (Stegobium paniceum) Infestation in an Old Masters Paintings Storage Area

ABSTRACT

We report on biological control of an active infestation by biscuit beetles (Stegobium paniceum) of museum objects (Old Masters paintings) in the storage facilities of the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna. Because chemical and non-chemical treatment methods would have been very problematic, the release of parasitic wasps (Lariophagus distinguendus) was discussed and accepted by the director of the collection. We released 3000 wasps every month from August 2013 until September 2014 in the two infested storage rooms and monitored the activity of biscuit beetles on sticky blunder traps and light traps, and also by visual inspection. In the insect monitoring of 2014 until 2018 no more biscuit beetles were found in the two storage depositories, showing that the treatment was 100% successful. To our knowledge, this is the first proof of a fully successful biological control of a museum pest using parasitoids only, and also of stored product/food pest, outside a laboratory experimental setup. This biological pest control method allowed avoiding negative side effects such as contamination from treatments with biocides, or costly logistics in case of chemical-free methods.     

Food (in)security communication: a Journal of Applied Communication Research forum addressing current challenges and future possibilities

ABSTRACT

This forum brings together food, (in)security, and communication. The authors participating in this forum center communication as both process and tool for understanding, mitigating, and making meaning of food (in)security. The nine authors together discuss the role of communication in food (in)security, the central challenges for scholars and practitioners working on food (in)security, and the creative possibilities and impacts influencing the future of food (in)security. The forum produces a call for applied scholars to re-imagine communication frameworks in order to make meaningful differences in their communities.     

The persuasive effects of statistical evidence in the presence of exemplars

This paper explores the impact of statistical evidence by varying it while pairing it with a constant set of exemplars. The resulting design includes a condition in which the statistical information and the exemplars advocate the same position (consistent condition), one in which statistical information and the exemplars advocate different positions (inconsistent condition), and a third condition in which only exemplars are presented (control condition). The data indicate that statistical evidence has a substantial effect on judgments, and that the impact of statistical evidence on attitudes is indirect. Specifically, it is mediated by judgments.     

Mitigating Colorblind Racism in the Postnetwork Era: Class-Inflected Masculinities in The Shield,Sons of Anarchy,and Justified

This analysis explores the relation between class-stratified White masculinities and moral ambiguity in FX crime drama. Conflicts between morally ambiguous White men in The Shield (2002–2008), Sons of Anarchy (2008–present), and Justified (2010–present) support colorblind racial ideology by positioning a central antiheroic protagonist in opposition to overtly racist characters who embody stereotypes associated with the White underclass. In comparison with traditional crime dramas, these juxtapositions provide realistic depictions of contemporary America by acknowledging the existence of racial prejudice while the antihero’s ultimate victory stands as a rejection of anachronistic racial sensibilities drawing attention away from issues related to systemic inequality.     

Delineating responsibility,decisions and compromises: a frame analysis of the fast food industry’s online CSR communication

This paper uses a frame analysis method to highlight the ways in which the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry – or fast food restaurant industry – uses official websites to communicate messages about nutrition and health to consumers and other relevant publics, especially using the language of corporate social responsibility. In the context of the increasing association of QSR industry food to the obesity epidemic in the U.S.A., several large fast-food chains have developed elaborate communication strategies to address the health concerns among the general public of their foods. Using a frame analysis method, I demonstrate that the industry consistently draws on metaphors of ‘individual responsibility’ and ‘personal choice’ in choosing healthy food, while establishing the primary role of moderation and exercise in preventing obesity. As a contribution to the field of PR, this emic frame analysis features an integrative approach that combines both message features in context with message intention. I also discuss practical applications of the study findings.     

Conceptual Revolutions: Who Needs Them and Why?

ABSTRACT

This article, rationale for the lifelong professional work of the author, shows how conceptual revolutions have changed the way we view our world. The author believes that another conceptual revolution is needed as we “learn how to live within the limits of the ecosphere that gave birth to us.” That means replacing the 10,000-year-old block-field agriculture system with perennial food and soil-building crops system. This change is needed to replace the energy-intensive planting, fertilizing, and harvesting of single annual crops by the application and use of expensive hydrocarbons that pollute the air, soil, and water. The 35th anniversary (November 2005) issue of Smithsonian magazine profiles Jackson as one of “35 Who Made Difference” in shaping our present and future world. This article is presented in PLQ because it lays out proactive alternative to an energy-intensive agriculture and modest, piecemeal environmentalism. The author's citations of scholars and ecological movements lead readers to numerous individuals and organizations working to create viable food-production pathway to achieve bright future for our world.     

Media Concentration With Free Entry

This study develops a free-entry model of competition between media firms, characterizes its equilibrium, and establishes that the industry displays a natural tendency to concentrate. A merger of any 2 firms is strictly profit increasing. Therefore, incentives to consolidate, while maintaining distinct, costly locations (i.e., production units or content), exist. This study distinguishes between post-entry and ex ante consolidation and investigates the properties of the post-consolidation equilibrium. Some firms not involved in any merger may be forced to exit. So, although media mergers may not result in shutting down any of the merging outlets, they still may indirectly affect diversity.     

Profiling Younger Adults’ Communication About Aging

According to the Communicative Ecology Model of Successful Aging (CEMSA), how people talk about age can have implications for how they cope with aging later in life. However, most research on communication and successful aging has focused on older adults. In this study, we use latent class analysis to profile how younger adults (age 18–39) communicate about aging and examine how these profiles relate to their attitudes toward aging (affect, efficacy, anxiety, and perceptions of successful aging). Consistent with past research on older adults, we found three distinct profiles of communication behavior (disengaged, engaged, and bantering). An engaged profile was clearly associated with the most positive attitudes toward aging, while a disengaged profile was associated with the least positive attitudes. These findings suggest that patterns of talk about aging may start early in life, underscoring the importance of studying communication about aging across the lifespan.