Hypotheses on Food and Peace: Five Ways to Use Social Gastronomy for Peacebuilding

Social gastronomy—using food initiatives for social good—is a promising tool for peacebuilders in contexts of inter-group conflict. Building on a broad-based review of both scholarly literature and popular sources, as well as qualitative interviews with food scholars and people who work in social gastronomy efforts in the US, France, Israel and Palestine, I argue not only that food matters as a cultural space for peacebuilding - including in nation building and ethnic identity—but also how, proposing five pathways through which social gastronomy may shift groups toward inclusion and belonging. These theories of change, paired with a discussion of limitations and challenges, lay the groundwork for future empirical study.