Fourth edition of the biennial Perugia Food & Sustainability Studies Conference entitled “Food Movements – Moving Food”, June 2022, The Umbra Institute in Perugia

Food Movements / Moving Food
Conference on Food, Sustainability, & the Environment
at The Umbra Institute
Perugia, Italy
June 9-12, 2022

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Krishnendu Ray, New York University

Call for Papers

People, food and agricultural products are in constant movement, affecting landscapes, material practices, and cultural representations. This conference aims to address what happens when people and food products move through regional, national, and international networks. What are the effects of these movements on local, regional, national, and international communities and cultures? What additional actions and reactions do they precipitate? How has the Covid pandemic altered (or shaped) these movements?

In posing these questions, the conference seeks to understand continuities/discontinuities in current and past long-distance food exchanges, the relationships between “authentic” and diasporic foodways, the forced movement of agricultural workers and their crops in the face of climate change and a global pandemic, and the impact of economic and social disparities on current and future food movements.

The conference will explore how food practices and representations can be better understood when viewed through the lens of movement, including consideration of those who promote it and those who resist it. It will look at contemporary and historical issues surrounding food, people and movement (or lack thereof), including but not limited to the following topics:

Food tourism
The Pandemic
Food and migration
Social movements
Climate change
Populism and gastronationalism
Food systems
Relocalization
Biodiversity
Food and emotions: being “moved” by food
Mapping food: stasis and movement
Archival silences
Socio-economic drivers of movement (e.g. gentrification)

We welcome papers and panels that focus on different historical and geographical settings. We are also interested in papers on teaching food, best practices in pedagogy, and integrating experiential learning and community-engaged projects into food studies courses.

We are soliciting individual papers, full panels, and roundtables. If you’re a junior scholar and need help with your abstract, contact the conference organizers at foodconference@umbra.org.

For individual papers please submit the following through the form below:
- an abstract, with title, in English of no more than 250 words that summarizes the focus and content of the paper;
- three to five keywords;
- contact information and a brief academic bio of no more than 100 words.

For panel presentations (3-4 papers) please submit the following through the form below:
- an abstract, with title, in English of no more than 250 words that summarizes the overall focus of the panel;
- an abstract, with title, in English of no more than 250 words that summarizes the focus and content of each paper;
- three to five keywords for the panel;
- contact information and brief academic bios of no more than 100 words for all panel participants.

Please use this submission form to submit your proposal by December 15, 2021.

Notifications of acceptance status will be made by January 31, 2022.

Participants are expected to be physically present at the conference, unless the international epidemiological situation deteriorates. For more information on fees and registration, please see the conference’s website.