Anna Zeide is an American professor of history at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

and an author who was written about food,

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

, and

food systems The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition, food, health, community development, and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: grow ...

. She wrote ''Canned: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry''. She previously worked at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

Early life and education

Zeide was born on April 23, 1984, and raised in a rural and forested region of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Her family were the only Jews in their town. The nearest synagogue was over two hours away in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. Zeide's father was a Russian-Jewish immigrant. She received a bachelor's degree and master's degree from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

and Doctor of Philosophy in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Career

After receiving her doctorate in 2014, Zeide became an assistant professor of history at

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

and wrote on food,

, and

. She won a

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

in the Reference, History, and Scholarship category for ''Canned: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry''. Zeide and her work has been featured on

WORT Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be Ethanol fermentation, fermented by the brewing yeast to prod ...

KPFA KPFA (94.1 FM) is a public, listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed o ...

, BYU Radio,

WYPR WYPR (88.1 FM) is a public radio station serving the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. Its studio is in the Charles Village neighborhood of northern Baltimore, while its transmitter is in Park Heights. The station is simulcast in the F ...

, KERA, and the New Books Network, and in the ''Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies'', '' Stillwater News-Press'' and '' The O'Colly''. Her work about

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, Fatigue (medical), feeling tired, and trouble speaking. ...

has been published in the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' and '' Smithsonian''. In 2020, Zeide left Oklahoma to become an associate professor of history at

and the founding director of their Food Studies Program.

Selected works

*''Canned: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry''. Berkeley: University of California Press (2019). *''US History in 15 Foods''. Bloomsbury Academic (2023).

References

External links

*
Her former blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeide, Anna James Beard Foundation Award winners Oklahoma State University faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 1984 births Living people Academics from Arkansas American people of Russian-Jewish descent American writers of Russian descent American women academics 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Jewish women writers Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American historians Virginia Tech faculty