Infusing Sustainability in a Course on the Culinary Cultures of the Middle

EastJuan E. Campo

University of California at Santa Barbara

CHESC 2018

Course Overview Purpose

History: 2001 to 2018 Introducing sustainability & food security Conditions of precarity

Structure

Enrollments

FoodLab: Fridays at Multicultural Center Kitchen

Key Issues Addressed in the Course

1. Relations between foods and religions in the Middle East & Mediterranean in historical perspective

•Judaism, Christianity & Islam2. Role of cuisine in shaping religious, ethnic, national &

personal identities•Focus on Arab Muslim Culinary Cultures

•Regional focus: Iraq & Gaza•Interactions with Persian, Turkish, & Euro-American foodways

3. Culinary Ecology & the Conditions of Precarity: Alimentary Diversity, Sustainability, Food Sovereignty

Course Readings & Resources

• Required Texts– May Bsisu, The Arab Table– Nawal Nasrallah, Delights from the Garden of Eden, 2d ed. (iBooks

edition)– Leila El-Haddad & Maggie Schmitt, The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian

Culinary Journey, 2d ed. 2016– S. Zubaida & R. Tapper, A Taste of Thyme

• Other readings: select scholarly articles, periodicals, primary texts

• Middle East Food Sustainability Resources Database

• Gaucho Space Gaucho Space

Assignments• GS Forum Posts & Class Discussion: 20%

• Sample topics: IV Foodscape & sustainability; key components in Middle Eastern foodscapes; relations between humans, food & ecology as portrayed in readings; brainstorming sessions for sustainability essays

• Map Assignment: 6%• 2 Quizzes: 20%• Food & Sustainability Essays: 24%

• Prompts: Recipe sustainability; Food & Identity• PowerPoint Team Presentations

• Sample topics: Coffee Production & Sustainability in Yemen; Sustainability of Hajj Sacrifices in Mecca; Impact of Aswan Dam on Wheat Production in Egypt; Sustainability and the Israeli Kubbutz Movement; Food Security of Refugees in Jordan; Comparative Study of Nut Production in California & Iran

• Event Essay: 5%• Final Exam (objective & essay): 25%

Learning Outcomes

• Acquiring foundations for thinking critically about Middle Eastern Culinary Cultures and their sustainability

• Learning how to assess culinary cultures as historical phenomena

• Developing awareness about how Middle Eastern cultures address issues of food sustainability and security in the contexts of population growth, regional conflicts, mass displacement and migration, climate change & globalization

• Course survey results