Dr. Marianne E. LeGreco

Associate Professor, Communication Studies

Food as Communication/Communication as Food
by Janet Cramer, Carlnita Greene and Lynn Walters

My interest in food and communication comes from my sister and brother. They were working, respectively, as a nutritionist and a chef during my doctoral work, and I saw the importance that communication practice played in their everyday interactions with food. Based on those moments, I was hooked. I've spent over a decade studying the relationship between food and communication, and I believe now more than ever that food is intricately tied to issues of science, social justice, economy, and community, as well as the issues related to nutrition and culinary arts that initially drew me to the topic. The only way that we understand how all of those things come together is through communication. I chose "Food as Communication/Communication as Food" to mark my tenure and promotion, because this is one of the first books that calls attention to the importance of this relationship to our discipline. The essays in the edited volume are creative and engaging, and being a part of this book makes me feel honored to be a part of my field.