ABSTRACT | People around the world, especially younger generations, are obsessed with eating and cooking. In some ways, it is not surprising given that humans define themselves and others in part by what they eat and do not eat. Food identities are typically ascribed either based on medical or social definitions or chosen by individuals. But they can also be expressive dimensions of other identity traits such as race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, and socio-economic status, among others. What role does the law play in supporting or undermining certain food identities? This Article uses American and French legal cultures to show that though law recognizes food identity as an interest to be protected in certain contexts, it does so in an unsystematized way, contributing to systemic deprivation and discrimination in relation to foodways.
BIO | Mathilde Cohen is the George Williamson Crawford Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on understudied, embodied phenomena – such as eating, lactation, and childcare – that directly impact the health and safety of parents and children. Her published works examine these topics at the intersection of law, philosophy, and sociology in the United States and in France.