Media Advisory

Sidney Mintz, the IACP's 2004 scholar-in-residence, will address the global diffusion of plants, animals, food ingredients and foods over time, and the heavy emotional load that food carries for most of us. Subtitled "Why Food Travels Faster Than Love," Mintz will discuss how food can bring people together, but it can also divide them when prohibitions and taboos are part of a culture.

At 2 p.m., Mintz will participate in an informal conversation taking an anthropological look at food behavior, discussing the relationship between food and human culture.

Mintz is professor emeritus of anthropology at The Johns Hopkins University. He has spent more than a half century studying topics as diverse as the rise of Afro-American cuisine in the Americas, the history of sugar and the place of soybeans and soy foods in the U.S. food system. A full bio of Mintz is available online at www.iacp.com/events/national/scholar.html.

To speak with Mintz, contact Amy Cowles at 443-287-9904. The IACP's Web site is www.iacp.com/.