Food Education and Gastronomic Tradition in Japan and France: Ethical and Sociological Theories

215 Pages·2022·8.144 MB·English

by  Haruka Ueda

Food Education and Gastronomic
Tradition in Japan and France
Drawing on ethical and sociological theories of food, this book presents a new
approach to food education that moves beyond nutrition- centred education.
Food education has gained increasing scientific and political importance in
many countries as a promising way to change contemporary eating. However,
many practices fail to address two epistemological obstacles regarding its very
components – ‘ food’ and ‘ education’. Food has largely been thought of from a
nutritionistic viewpoint alone and the ethical issues over children’s freedom of
choice and well- b eing have been absent. This book resolves these problems by
applying ethical and sociological theories of food and analysing food education
in two pioneering countries: Japan and France. The book focuses on taste educa-
tion and gastronomy as two key concepts which have great potential to positively
impact food education. Taste education is a promising alternative to n utrition-
centred pedagogy which foregrounds the experience and pleasure of eating food,
creating an environment for taste sensibility and food curiosity. From taste educa-
tion, the picture can be broadened to examine the role and impact of gastronomy
in food education. Examining the cultural traditions of France and Japan reveals
how gastronomy can impact eating habits and food cultures and how these criteria
should be an intrinsic part of food education. The book concludes by construct-
ing an integrative theory for food education that moves beyond n utrition- c entred
education for the benefit of one’s well- being.
This book will greatly interest students, scholars, policymakers and educators
working on food education, food- r elated issues at the intersection between nutri-
tional and social sciences, and ‘ gastronomes’ searching for a pedagogical guide for
developing their capabilities to eat in a more humanistic way.
Haruka Ueda is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion
of Science and Nagoya University, Japan. He won the 2022 Young Researcher’s
Award of the Japanese Society of Agricultural Economics.
Routledge Food Studies
Food Education and Gastronomic Tradition in Japan and France
Ethical and Sociological Theories
Haruka Ueda
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/R outledge-
F ood- Studies/b ook-s eries/R FOODS
Food Education and
Gastronomic Tradition
in Japan and France
Ethical and Sociological Theories
Haruka Ueda
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Haruka Ueda
The right of Haruka Ueda to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Ueda, Haruka, author.
Title: Food education and gastronomic tradition in Japan and France :
ethical and sociological theories / Haruka Ueda.
Other titles: Shokuiku no riron to kyo¯juho¯. English
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | A translation and expansion
of the original Japanese edition, The Theory and Pedagogy of Food
Education. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022025197 (print) | LCCN 2022025198 (ebook) | ISBN
9781032377858 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032377865 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003341895 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Food habits—France. | Food habits—Japan. | Taste—Study
and teaching—France. | Taste—Study and teaching—Japan. | Food—Sensory
evaluation.
Classification: LCC GT2850 .U3313 2023 (print) | LCC GT2850 (ebook) |
DDC 394.1/20944—dc23/eng/20220623
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025197
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025198
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 37785- 8 ( hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 37786- 5 ( pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 34189- 5 ( ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003341895
Typeset in Goudy
by codeMantra
Contents
Preface vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 History of Food Education 9
2 Research Structure and Epistemological Obstacles 23
PART I
Taste Education as an Alternative Pedagogy 35
3 History and Pedagogical Nature 37
4 Educational Effects on Children 50
5 Institutionalisation in Japan, France and Italy 67
PART II
Gastronomy as Taste Education’s Philosophical Tradition 91
6 History of French Gastronomy 93
7 Contemporary French Gastronomy 106
8 Jacques Puisais’ Philosophy of Gastronomy and Taste Education 129
9 Sociology of Japanese Gastronomy: A Comparative Perspective 149
vi Contents
PART III
Theory Construction of Food Education 165
10 An Integrative Theory for Food Education: Food Ethics and
the Capability Approach 167
Conclusion 186
Appendix 193
Index 201
Preface
The objective of this book is to construct a theory and methods of food educa-
tion that can cultivate ‘ good eaters ( gastronomes)’, built upon the in- depth com-
parative analysis of food education in Japan and France. The earlier version of
this book, published in Japanese, The Theory and Pedagogy of Food Education, has
undergone a great deal of rewriting, with the addition of some new chapters, so
that the present version can have more universal implications for worldwide food
education. I thank Showado, the Japanese publisher, for allowing me to publish
this updated English version.
Two factors inspired me to go ahead with this publication. Despite an increas-
ing worldwide interest in food education politics, a comprehensive knowledge of
food education has still been absent. Moreover, it has often been confused with
traditional nutrition education, particularly in the English- s peaking countries.
I, thus, felt compelled to present holistic insights from food education in Japan
and France, two pioneering countries that have continued to serve as political
and theoretical ‘ prototypes’ for neighbouring countries, both in East Asia ( South
Korea, Taiwan and, partly, China) and the West ( Italy, the UK, Denmark, etc.).
The other reason, in addition to this geographical knowledge boundary, related
to the fact that, in the earlier version, an integrative theory of food education was
proposed based on emerging ethical and sociological theories in an embryotic
form. However, subsequent research ( on well- e ating and food poverty in contem-
porary societies) demonstrated its empirical validity, which became a strong sup-
port for this publication.
In publishing this book, I am deeply grateful to Emeritus Prof. Yoko Niiyama,
my former supervisor at Kyoto University, Japan. As a leading agricultural econo-
mist, she has advanced food ethics, consumer behaviour and risk communication
research in the face of two of the most imminent issues at the beginning of the
21st century in Japan – BSE ( bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and radioactive
contamination after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power accident. The idea
of applying ethical theories, particularly Amartya Sen’s capability approach, to
food education was originally derived from such academic and social contexts. I
am also extremely grateful to Prof. J ean-P ierre Poulain for hosting me as a visit-
ing researcher at the University of Toulouse J ean- J aurès, France ( 2017−2019) and
encouraging me with this publication. As a pioneer in this field, he provided me
viii Preface
with much precious advice on the sociology of food and the cultural context of
taste education and gastronomy in France. Three chapters ( C hapter 7 and, partly,
Chapters 6 and 9) originated more or less from joint research with these two men-
tors, although I am responsible for all the revisions and updates in these chapters.
This publication was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sci-
ence and the Lotte Foundation within the research framework of ‘ Well- Eating
and Food Education using Sen’s Capability Approach’ ( 21J01732), ‘ Food Poverty
in Contemporary Society’ ( 22K14956) and ‘ Philosophical Inquiry into Food Edu-
cation and Textbook Development’ ( LF000805). I extend my gratitude to the
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Kōnosuke Matsushita Memorial
Foundation, the Kyoto University and Education Foundation and the Global Sur-
vivability Studies Programme of Kyoto University, for supporting my field work in
France. My gratitude is also extended to Hannah Ferguson, the commissioning
editor of Routledge, for making this publication possible, as well as two anony-
mous reviewers for their constructive advice.
Lastly, I especially thank my wife, Y i- ting, and my family for their love and
encouragement throughout my research.
Haruka Ueda
Tokyo
Abbreviations
ANEGJ Association Nationale pour l’Education au Goût des
Jeunes
BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
CA Capability Approach
CCT Central Coordination Team
CEG Centro Educazione del Gusto
CNAC Conseil National des Arts Culinaires
CSGA Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation
DRAAF Direction Régionale de l’Alimentation, de l’Agriculture
et de la Forêt
EPODE Ensemble Prévenons l’Obésité des Enfants
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations
FCI Food Consciousness Institute
GMF Gastronomic Meal of the French
IDGE Institut de Développement du Goût chez l’Enfant
IFN Institut Français pour la Nutrition
INAO Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité
INRA Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
INSEE Institut National de la Statistique et de Etudes
Economiques
LAAF Loi d’Avenir pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et la
Forêt
LSG La Semaine du Goût
MAAF Ministère de l’Agriculture de l’Agroalimentaire et de la
Forêt
MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
MEN Ministère de l’Education Nationale, de la Jeunesse et de
la Vie Associative
MEXT Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology