Canceled New date TBA **** Susanne Freidberg, "Refrigeration’s Moral History" [UPDATE: Note new topic!]

Susanne Freidberg  is Professor and Chair of Geography at Dartmouth College.  Her work spans the fields of political ecology, cultural economy and science and technology studies (STS). Much of this research has centered on the politics and cultural meanings of food provisioning, in and between different parts of the world.  She has completed fieldwork in Burkina Faso, for example, studying the impact on local farmers caused by the adoption of "freshness" rules by the European Union in the wake of the Mad Cow Disease scare.

"Refrigeration's Moral History"

Public Lecture, Wed. April 8, from 2-3:15 PM in Cone 210. Free and open to the public.

Abstract: Today’s food supply depends on the refrigerated transport and storage we know as the cold chain. Yet this ubiquitous technology was once extraordinarily controversial. I revisit episodes of popular opposition to early refrigeration, and consider their relevance to ongoing debates about how best to procure good food at a fair price. I show that the cold chain proved controversial not simply because it helped de-localize and industrialize food supply. It also challenged norms that had previously governed trade in perishables, especially those concerning transparency, naturalness and freshness.

Cosponsored by the College of Health and Human Services and the NC Biotech Center