essay

Production and circulation of food in Yap

[s.n.][S.L.] • Published In 9999 • Pages:

By: Egan, James A., Burton, Michael L., Nero, Karen L..

Abstract
This is a study of Yap diet and nutrition under the MIRAB economy. Since the initiation of the Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1986, Yap has received large annual subsidies from the U.S. government in exchange for use of a military base. These subsidies along with remittances from family members working abroad have funneled cash into the Yap economy with a resultant surge in imports, including food. Imported foods have been incorporated into the Yap gift exchange system and become part of the basic subsistence economy. The downside is that imported foods have had negative nutritional and health consequences, resulting in diabetes, obesity, hypertension, etc. The authors examine patterns of food production, transfer, and consumption in relation to household size, household development stage, wealth, wage labor, and urbanity. They present a complex picture of Yapese modernity in which both imported and locally produced food continue to play a central role in mediating property, gender and hierarchical relationships.
Subjects
Acculturation and culture contact
Diet
Real property
Gift giving
External trade
Standard of living
Household
Kin relationships
culture
Yapese
HRAF PubDate
2000
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Micronesia
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ; 2005
Field Date
1992
Coverage Date
1986-2001
Coverage Place
Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia
Notes
James A. Egan, Michael L. Burton, and Karen L. Nero
This is an unpublished manuscript scheduled to appear in FAST FOOD/SLOW FOOD: THE ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM, edited by Richard Wilk, in the monograph series of the Society for Economic Anthropology, to be published by Altamira Press.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-24)
LCSH
Yapese (Micronesian people)/Yap (Micronesia)