INVITE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS – Food Issues: An Encyclopedia

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foodThose with relevant expertise are invited to contribute to what may become the standard reference work on food policy. It is an ambitious, three-volume, one million-word encyclopedia on Food Issues. The editors seek experts on every possible food topic ranging from agricultural subsidies to GMOs, food deserts to nutrition guidelines, home cooking to fine dining and everything in between. These are topics about which students, the public, and policy makers need to be informed with balanced authoritative entries.

Below is a more in-depth project description and the list of the remaining available topics. If you are interested in contributing, contact the editors of the volume via email:

Project Description

This reference work explores the topic of food across multiple disciplines within the social sciences and related areas including business, consumerism, marketing, and environmentalism. A carefully balanced academic work focusing on social and policy aspects of food production, safety, regulation, labeling, marketing, distribution, and consumption, this work will draw contributions from across the social sciences and related fields. Through this 3-volume encyclopedia, students will be introduced to this fascinating, at times contentious, and ever-so-vital field. A sampling of general topic areas to be covered includes the following: Agriculture, Labor, Food Processing, Marketing and Advertising, Trade and Distribution, Retail and Shopping, Consumption, Food Ideologies, Food in Popular Media, Food Safety, Environment, Health, Government Policy, Hunger and Poverty.

Available Topics

  1. Agricultural Check Points
  2. Agriculture, U.S. Department of
  3. Alar
  4. Animal Feed
  5. Anti-Trust Laws
  6. Aquaponics
  7. Baby Food
  8. Bacillus Thuringensis
  9. Balance of Trade
  10. Bankruptcy Laws
  11. Bans
  12. Barriers
  13. Beverage Industries
  14. Big Box Stores/Walmart/Clubs
  15. Billboards
  16. Bioactive Food Components
  17. Biodiversity
  18. Body Building Diets
  19. Botulism Branding (stickers on fruit, etc.)
  20. Carbon Footprints of the Food Industry
  21. Catering Business
  22. Cattle Industry
  23. Chemical Fertilizers
  24. Chemical Fertilizers, Effect on Environment
  25. Cloning
  26. Clubs and Membership Cards (shopping)
  27. Commercial Food Processors and Manufacturers
  28. Consistency of Food Products/Ingredients
  29. Consolidation of Wholesale and Retail Firms
  30. Convenience Stores
  31. Cooking Temperature Recommendations
  32. Coupons and Groupons
  33. Crop Insurance
  34. Culinary Diplomacy
  35. Day-Old Sales
  36. Dead Zones (in fisheries as a result of agricultural run-off)
  37. Demonination of Origin Laws
  38. Deregulation
  39. Distribution Centers
  40. E coli
  41. Economics of Food Commodities and Commodity Prices
  42. Embargoes Employment: Mandatory Breaks, Hours, Shift Work
  43. Equal Opportunity Employment/Discrimination
  44. Exports
  45. Fats Role in Diet
  46. Federal Trade Commission
  47. Fiber
  48. Food Additives
  49. Food Aid
  50. Food Fairs/Festivals
  51. Food Lobbying
  52. Food Quality
  53. Food Safety / Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
  54. Food Science Departments/Programs in Universities
  55. Food Service Industries
  56. Food Stamps/WIC
  57. Forestry Management
  58. Fraud
  59. Frozen Food
  60. Frozen Foods: Processing
  61. Generic Brands
  62. Genetically Modified/Bioengineered Crops and Animals (SAFETY)
  63. Heirloom Varieties
  64. Herbicide Resistance
  65. Hydroponics Import and Export Duties
  66. Imported Food
  1. Industry Labor/Unions
  2. Inspection and Testing
  3. Interstate Commerce
  4. Invasive Pests: Containment/Prevention of
  5. Inventory Management
  6. Irradiation
  7. Just-in-Time Delivery
  8. Lactobacilli
  9. Locust Infestations/Plagues
  10. Low-Fat Foods
  11. Milling
  12. Minerals, in Nutrition
  13. Mini-Marts (in gas stations, pharmacies, etc)
  14. Monopolies
  15. Multinational Conglomerates
  16. Natural and Artifical Flavors and Fragrances
  17. Online Advertising
  18. Online Shopping
  19. Packaged Foods and Preservatives
  20. Patents and Trademark Litigation
  21. Pest Control (rodents, birds, wild animals, etc)
  22. Pesticide- and Chemical-laden Produce, Safety of
  23. Pesticide and Fertilizer Run-Off
  24. Pesticides – from farmer’s perspective
  25. Plant Breeding/Hybridization
  26. PLU (Price Look-Up) Codes
  27. Pollinators
  28. Population and Food Supply
  29. Port Inspections
  30. Preservatives
  31. Price Fixing (Sherman Act)
  32. Price Wars
  33. Pricing and Price Volatility
  34. Produce
  35. Quick Response or QR Codes (for scanning with phone)
  36. Rationing Recalls (and systems of recall)
  37. Regulation (industry, government, self)
  38. Research and Development
  39. Retail/Groceries, Labor in
  40. Seed Banks
  41. Self Check Out in Groceries
  42. Self-Distributing Chains
  43. Sell-By Dates
  44. Seventh Day Adventist Food Practices
  45. Shelf Life
  46. Smuggling
  47. Soil Degradation and Conservation
  48. Sprouting (grains, beans, etc.)
  49. Standards and Measures
  50. Steroids in Food Subsidies
  51. Tagging and Tracking Foods (from origins to point of retail sale)
  52. Tampering Tarrifs
  53. Taxation: General
  54. Technology and Machinery of Food Processing
  55. Terrorist Threats to Food and Drinking Supplies
  56. Threats to Clean Drinking Water
  57. Torts and Civil Litigation for Damages/ Class Action Suits
  58. Toxicity Testing
  59. Trade Wars
  60. University-Industry Relationships in Research
  61. Urbanization of Agricultural Land
  62. Vending Machines
  63. Whole Grains
  64. Worker Safety
  65. World Trade Organization
  66. Xerophthalmia