Drinking and eating have always been used to demarcate social and cultural boundaries: who gets to eat what is a marker of an individual’s place in society (Douglas, 1972). From sumptuary laws in medieval Europe to edible taboos among Islamic and Jewish communities, eating choices have historically reinforced boundaries. Yet food also facilitated unexpected connections. The Columbian Exchange (Crosby, 1982), which introduced potatoes to Europe and chili peppers to Asia, illustrates how culinary hybridity emerged from colonial violence and exploitation. These exchanges were rarely egalitarian—sugar plantations enslaved millions, and the British Empire’s tea trade reshaped global economies—yet they irrevocably transformed local cuisines and identities. Even notions of “taste” as Pierre Bourdieu (1979) noted, are socially constructed and reflect power dynamics. Today, these issues persist: quinoa’s globalization raises ethical questions about Indigenous rights (Mcdonnell, 2021), while “food deserts” in urban centres highlight class and racial disparities in access to nutrition (Sadler et al, 2017).  

Equally critical is the relationship between food, bodies, and identities. Societies have long used food to mould “ideal” bodies. The body itself becomes a site where food materializes identity. Beyond medieval humoral theories, 20th-century diet culture has weaponized food to enforce gendered ideals of thinness, paralleling Renaissance debates about moderation and excess (Jovanoski, 2022). Food has always had a place in our homes, but also in our beliefs, from the Eucharist’s consumption of Christ to the aesthetics of Japanese kaiseki cuisine (Tanaka, 2024). Gender roles, too, are cooked into domestic practices: the kitchen has historically been framed as a feminine space, reinforcing notions of care and labour (Lewellyn, 2004).  

These practices are not static. The materiality of eating reveals links to status, belonging, and resistance. Industrial tin cans and plastic packaging democratized food access but also alienated consumers. Today, reusable containers and farm-to-table aesthetics reflect growing anxieties about sustainability and ethics. As Massimo Montanari (2006) argues, food is a “language” that communicates values, and its material forms—utensils, kitchens, brands—are the grammar of this dialogue.  

This conference aims to ground theoretical discussions on food, production, eating and drinking into concrete spaces and social actors. In a world grappling with cultural fragmentation and ecological precarity, food remains a universal language—one that carries the flavours of history and the seeds of change. Edible Boundaries invites participants to savour this complexity, exploring how the simple act of eating reveals the deepest layers of human experience. Potential topics include but are not limited to:  

• Medieval guild feasts and modern culinary tourism as performances of identity  

• The role of food in colonial conquest and its contemporary reckonings  

• Gender, labour, and the material culture of kitchens across eras  

• Climate anxiety and the revival of historical preservation techniques  

• The paradox of “authenticity” in globalized foodscapes  

• Food heritage, national cuisines and nationalism in the 21st century  

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Selected contributions may be included in the edited collection Warwick Series in the Humanities (with Routledge), extending the conversation beyond the conference.