Eating in US National Parks

Cosmopolitan Taste and Food Tourism

By: Kathleen LeBesco

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Hardcover | 26 February 2024

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Hardcover
156 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 1.12

Hardcover

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This book presents a fascinating exploration of eating experiences within US national parks, explaining how, on what, and why people eat in national parks and how this has changed over the last century.

National parks are enjoying unprecedented popularity, and they are especially popular sites for the expression of cosmopolitanism, an ideological outlook descended from the Romantics on whose vision the parks were originally founded. The book explores the constructed foodscape within US national parks, situating the romantic consumption ethos within the context of sociological work on distinction, culinary tourism, and culinary capital. It analyzes and problematizes elements of cosmopolitan taste and desire, examining food tourism in wilderness spaces that satisfies cosmopolitan hunger for authenticity and a certain type of self-making. Weaving together strands of research that have not been previously integrated, the book gleans meaning from concessions menus and park restaurant web pages and employs audience analysis to take stock of park restaurant visitors' contributions to restaurant review websites, as well as to understand how they represent their park eating experiences on social media. The book examines how satisfying cosmopolitan tastes in the parks creates profit for corporate concessioners, but also may produce bioregionalist successes and a re-centering of Indigenous foodways. The book concludes by exploring inroads to a better food experience in the parks, involving food products and processes that are regionally/locally specific, where tourists witness and participate in food production and enjoy commensality, but that are also non-extractive and show care for the environment and the people who inhabit it.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food studies, tourism and hospitality, sociology of culture, parks and recreation, American studies and environmental studies. The book will also be of interest to parks and recreation decision makers, sustainable tourism leaders and hospitality managers.

Industry Reviews

"A fascinating exploration of food in American national parks, and why menu options are so lackluster. Far more than a study of corporate concessions, LeBesco's Eating in US National Parks reveals how food eaten while camping, hiking, and sightseeing shapes the history and future of cosmopolitanism, taste, land, climate, and sovereignty."

Emily Contois, University of Tulsa

"Original and engaging, LeBesco's book offers a timely perspective on food in natural parks from "sad quesadillas" in visitor centers' cafes to high-end restaurants. Drawing on an impressive empirical material, the book elegantly connects the theme to discussions of cosmopolitanism, indigeneity, and alternative food experiences for the parklands of tomorrow."

Jonatan Leer, University of Aalborg

"Although many Americans frequently visit national parks and eat in them, little critical attention has been paid to what kind of food is available and under what circumstances it is consumed. In this book, Kathleen LeBesco asks uncomfortable questions: why isn't the food offer better and why isn't it in tune with the apparent mission of the parks, the local environments, and the indigenous communities that inhabit them? LeBesco takes us on a nation-wide tour to understand the motivations and the modus operandi of a variety of actors ranging from government agencies to corporate concessioners, and, of course, the park visitors themselves, who unintentionally treat their meals as arenas to negotiate taste, status, and identity."

Fabio Parasecoli, New York University

"Should a visitor to a national park expect specular food alongside a spectacular view? LeBesco's lively book answers this question by unpacking the salient intersections between beloved American landscapes and food hierarchies. The reader gains a fresh perspective on the paradoxes of park dining, which involve a delicate balancing act between taste and tackiness, conservation and pleasure-seeking, cheap concession-stands and upscale cosmopolitanism. A must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of nature, culture, and cuisine."

Josee Johnston, University of Toronto

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