Framing Taste: Digital Food Policy Archive and Food Stories Project

Partially supported by a NULab Seedling Grant.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a prominent food assistance program in the United States, feeding around 42.7 million people annually (12.5% of the U.S. population) (USDA 2024). The original Food Stamp Plan of 1939 limited eligible food items to surplus items, like butter, pork lard, and cornmeal; however, the Food Stamp Act of 1964 broadened eligible food items to “any domestically produced food” to empower participant autonomy. This broadening of food choice ignited debate from program opponents around the types of foods that are an “appropriate” use of program funds. Amendments to the Food Stamp Act of 1964 sought to restrict the purchase of soft drinks and luxury foods, and later amendments proposed for the Food Stamp Act of 1977 sought to restrict the purchase of junk foods. These restriction attempts have persisted to present day policy proposals such as the “Healthy SNAP Act of 2023” which seek to limit SNAP purchases of “soda, chips, ice cream or cake”, or state policies, like 2015-2016 bills proposed by New York and Missouri which sought to limit SNAP purchases of luxury foods, like “steak and seafood” (Brechneen 2023; Ritchie 2016; Brooks 2015). Although unsuccessful, these policies illuminate cultural beliefs about food assistance recipients, “ideal” dietary behaviors, and those worthy of “luxury”.

Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of habitus, field, and the exchange of cultural, social, and symbolic capital provide useful theoretical tools to examine how unequal social structures and power relations are obscured through the production of belief and materialized perception of individual “taste” or preference (Bourdieu 1993; Bourdieu 1984). This provides opportunities for multiple layers of symbolic oppression, as dominant groups with more and varying forms of capital assert their lifestyle as superior through virtue and status signaling and cast lifestyle judgements upon non-dominant groups while disregarding structural and social factors of experience (Bourdieu 1984). Political discourse around these topics often overlooks structural barriers, access, and intersecting aspects of culture related to social position and geographic location (Dinos 2015). Additionally, program participants bear societal expectations to make healthy, cost-effective choices, irrespective of time burden or enjoyment, amidst a U.S. commercialized foodscape which is filled with ultra-processed foods engineered for taste and convenience. This project combines content analysis of congressional hearings discussing SNAP policy with digital storytelling of SNAP recipient experiences in the program to explore how taste is constructed, framed, and politicized.

Framing Taste will serve three 3 key aims:

Archive: The platform contains archival materials related to U.S. food policy.
Education: Resources provided can help visitors learn about U.S. food assistance policies and gain a basic understanding of the policy making process.
Digital Storytelling: This platform will house digital stories and food diaries of SNAP recipients. While this first wave will focus primarily on SNAP, participation will be broadened in the future.