Grenades & gravy: an ethnographic study of food in the canadian forces
Date
2012-09-13
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Abstract
The importance of feeding soldiers is frequently evoked using Napoleon’s oft-quoted
aphorism, “an army marches on its stomach”. While the biological necessity of fueling
troops is well documented there remain many questions about the social aspects of
military feeding and the individuals who produce it. This study’s aim is to explore the social aspects of soldier cooks and military food at CFB Wainwright using ethnographic methods: observation, participant-observation, and interviews. Drawing from the data I collected while living on base, I explore military feeding and the experience of soldier cooks with respect to the formal, front stage and informal, back stage areas. A theoretical
focus of the study is the intersection of military food, the physical senses, and troop
morale using the concept of ‘sensory models’. The goal of the study was to present and explore military feeding and the soldier cooks’ experience of their position in the CF.
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Keywords
Anthropology--Cultural
Citation
Esau, M. (2012). Grenades & gravy: an ethnographic study of food in the canadian forces (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26324