Nancy McHugh, professor of philosophy at Wittenberg University in Ohio, says the fear of bacteria, hormones, and antibiotics is rampant in our society. She is interested in the ways we go about making knowledge and ignorance about food and its relationship to health and argues that these practices have led to a new food movement, "clean eating," which in turn has generated a new eating disorder, orthorexia, or righteous eating.
Nancy McHugh will give two presentations at Utah State University:
She will explore how what we see in the media and popular culture influences what we eat every day in her lecture titled "Food Fear" on Thursday at noon in Merrill-Cazier Library 101 as a part of the Tanner Talks series presented by USU's College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The 2014-15 Tanner Talks is a series of cross-disciplinary events focusing on the theme "Food: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow."
The USU Center for Women and Gender is sponsoring a brown bag lunch presentation titled "Mothers, Community Activism, and Toxic Waste" on Fridayat 11:30 a.m. in Merrill-Cazier Library 208. Professor McHugh will lead a discussion of her recent research examining a community in California with high rates of illness related to environmental hazards.
Nancy McHugh is author of articles on feminist philosophy of science. Her book "The Limits of Knowledge" will be published later this year by SUNY Press
