Food, Race the French Empire

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course explores how the production, consumption, and circulation of specific crops, foodstuffs, food technology, cuisines, and recipes were essential to the establishment and maintenance of empire in France and its colonies, from early colonization to the post-independence era. Through the study of texts from various genres and disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, we’ll examine how ubiquitous food brands such as Banania and Picon advertised for the empire and normalized systemic racism, while the production of commodity crops such as rice, cacao, and wine put in place enduring systems of exploitation. Food branding and advertisement shaped French discussions and perceptions of empire as resource, while racializing food in ways that continue to contribute to how race itself is socially constructed through food in various contexts to this day. The main premise of this course is that the colonial legacy and its racial constructions continue to be fed to eaters via food in ways that require examination.