A Virtual Book Talk on Food and Inequality with Dr. Priya Fielding-Singh

Inequality in America manifests in many ways, but perhaps nowhere more than in how we eat. In this virtual presentation, sociologist and ethnographer Priya Fielding-Singh will draw on her years of field research to bring us into the kitchens of dozens of families to explore how—and why—we eat the way we do.

At the heart of Fielding-Singh's talk will be covering her powerful and timely new book, How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America. The book unpacks nutritional inequality in America through an examination of class, race and health, intimately following four families across the income spectrum in an exploration of the meaning of food itself. By diving into the nuances of these families’ lives, Fielding-Singh lays bare the limits of efforts narrowly focused on improving families’ diets through increasing their access to healthy food. Instead, she reveals how being rich or poor in America impacts something even more fundamental than the food families can afford: these experiences impact the very meaning of food itself.

About the Author

Dr. Priya Fielding-Singh an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah. She received her PhD in Sociology from Stanford University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship as a National Institutes of Health scholar at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Fielding-Singh's research is focused on identifying mechanisms underlying the reproduction of health inequities in America. In particular, she brings a sociological lens to examining the structural and social determinants of nutritional inequality, and disparities in diet and diet-related disease across race and class. Her research and writing have been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Harvard Business Review.

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Co-hosted with: MPA in Development Practice, Urban and Social Policy Concentration, United States Regional Specialization (OWNER), Economic and Political Development Concentration, Executive Masters of Public Administration

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