Frits Heinrich

This introduction to the thematic issue Urban Food Cultures: Towards an Integrative Approach to the Urban Food System is an invitation to further widen the perspective of urban food culture research. The understanding of urban food cultures should start from an integrated exploration of food practices in every part of the urban food system: from food production and processing to retail and consumption and to disposal, potential circular reuse, recycling to upcycling of food and its ingredients. Investigating the different aspects of the urban food system helps nuance the too self-evident town-country and local-global dichotomies often dominant in previous research. Interdisciplinary and integrated approaches to urban food systems may help bridge both knowledge gaps and offer relevant insights for many of the future challenges urban food systems face.

Contemporary views on meat reflect an ambiguous status of appreciation and rejection, especially
in the urbanised West, and tend to come with strong moral overtones. The portrayal of
(red) meat as an intrinsically harmful food choice by certain academics, non-governmental
organisations, mass media, and public-private partnerships contributes to this tension. Although
most of these voices are merely calling for a moderation of the consumption of meat in areas
with high intake, others are radical and demand a drastic reduction or even elimination, as will
be documented in this article. Some scientists are beginning to articulate their concern about
an ongoing trend towards unbalanced communications and anti-meat militancy in both academic
and policy circles. The perceived threat is not only that the vilification of meat may add
to the ongoing moralisation of dietary choices and societal polarisation, but also that it may further
undermine an already precarious situation of public health and a fragile food system, especially
(but not only) in the Global South. Minimising livestock may also come with unintended
harmful effects on ecosystems and livelihoods. The ‘Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the
Societal Role of Livestock’, issued in October 2022, exemplifies such concern. Together with the
body of evidence to which it refers, the Dublin Declaration is to be read as a petition for pragmatism,
demanding sufficiently high standards of evidence, and more respect for the principle
of caution when it comes to policies that have the intention to severely challenge the role of
meat and other animal source foods in future diets.
HIGHLIGHTS
  There is an ongoing trend towards unbalanced communications and anti-meat militancy in
media and academic and policy circles
  Minimising livestock beyond a critical threshold may come with unintended harmful effects
on nutrient security, ecosystems, and livelihoods
  The ‘Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestock’ serves as petition for
pragmatism, caution, and evidence-based policies

Full citation:
Zocchi, D.M., Bondioli, C., Hosseini, S.H., Miara, D.J., Musarella, C.M., Mohammadi, D., Manduzai, A.K., Issa, K.D., Sulaiman, N., Khatib, C., Ahmed, H.M., Faraj, T.A., Amin, H.I.M., Hussain, F.H.S, Faiz, A., Pasqualone, A., Heinrich, F., Fontefrancesco, M.F., & Pieroni, A. ''Food Security beyond Cereals: A Cross-Geographical Comparative Study on Acorn Bread Heritage in the Mediterranean and the Middle East'' in: Foods, vol. 11., article 3898 (pp.1-39).

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11233898

This brief contribution uses archaeobotanical data to quantify the edible weight and energetic value of a khar of emmer wheat and
a khar of barley. It then combines these data with emmer and barley prices from late New Kingdom Deir el-Medina to argue that,
contrary to conventional wisdom, emmer wheat was more expensive per calorie than barley during most of this period. It furthermore
argues that emmer wheat and barley were delivered to the workers in almost equal quantities.

Among classicists, archaeobotanists and agricultural historians, the meaning of the word phasolus (ϕασηλος
in Greek) is ambiguous. While Latin scholars have agreed that the word refers to a type of pulse or bean, there are various interpretations and subsequent identifications as to which botanical species is meant. The current paper aims to address this ambiguity by assessing the validity of the proposed interpretations. This will be done on three levels. First, the a priori feasibility of the interpretations will be ascertained. Second, all classical mentions of phasolus, both in Greek and Latin, will be reviewed and analysed. The aim of this step is to find what biological traits and characteristics were associated with phasolus, which may aid in confirming or rebuking an identification. Thirdly, we will assess the archaeobotanical evidence pertaining to the proposed interpretations for the Roman period. This paper includes the assessment of several classical sources previously absent from the debate as well as a new botanical identification of a key archaeobotanical
sample previously used to prove the presence of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) in the Mediterranean during Antiquity.

F.B.J. Heinrich & W.P. van Pelt, Tijdschrift voor Mediterrane Archeologie 56 (2017) 1-12

For a good understanding of ancient food economies, quantitative data are indispensable. Quantitative data on variables
such as income, taxes and food prices can aid us in reconstructing living standards, socioeconomic inequality and economic
performance in past societies, and even allow comparisons through time and space. This contribution quantifies
data on grain shipments and sailors’ rations from the recto of P. Amiens + P. Baldwin (Ramesside period, mid-20th
Dynasty). The text records the transport of grain by a fleet of 21 cargo vessels belonging to the temple of Amen-Re at
Karnak that was supplied by various domains. This paper quantifies the volume, weight, edible weight and corresponding
energetic value of the cargo and calculates the minimum size of the domains and number of individuals that could
be fed with these grain deliveries. The rations of the sailors are also quantified and compared with wages and prices
from Deir el Medina. This paper also demonstrates that, contrary to common scholarly opinion, emmer wheat was more
expensive than barley during the Ramesside period.

The archaeobotanical remains of an 18th-century cesspit from Tiel (province of Gelderland, The Netherlands) have been analyzed on the level of the energetic value by combining the number of sub-fossil seeds per species, the weight of the fruit and the energetic value per 100 g weight of the fruit. Food items that represent the highest energy intake are grape (or raisin or currant), fig, plum and cherry. Depending on the method of food preparation, seeds usually end up in the cesspit as kitchen waste or as night soil. The data is biased, however, since kitchen waste may also be dumped elsewhere. Since 18th-century meals are known to have mainly consisted of bread, dairy products, potatoes, bacon, legumes and soups, it is assumed that most of the recovered species served to flavor or garnish dishes.

This article deals with public constructions in Roman Africa (between 50 B.C. and A.D. 425) from an economic-archaeological and conjectural perspective. Economic archaeologists and historians are always interested in conjectures of past production and consumption as to gain insights into the structure, scale and degree of successfulness of the ancient economy and its changes through time. As to reconstruct such a conjecture, the author has chronologically ordered all instances of public constructions from a large dataset by Hélène Jouffroy (Jouffroy, 1986). This he could do, due to some methodological improvements, with greater precision and far more data than was possible in previous assessments of the same dataset by others. In his article the author describes and interprets the reconstructed curves of both the African construction volumes and the changes in the total stock of public buildings. An increase in the African construction volumes starts to be significant from the late first century A.D. on, reaching a peak in the mid-second century; after a short period of moderation an absolute zenith is reached during the reign of Septimus Severus. Then, after the Severian period, the African construction volumes plunge into what seems to be the Third Century Crisis. , A new high-tide initiates during the late fourth century however; thereafter there’s but a steep decline. Interestingly an absolute zenith in the total stock of buildings is reached at the height of the construction volume ‘crisis’. Lastly, the author compares the results presented in this article with those that were recently published on public constructions in Roman Italy in his contribution to TMA 45, titled Public Constructions in Roman Italy (225 B.C. – A.D. 425) a conjectural approach.

Socioeconomic archaeologists and historians are often interested in the reconstruction of conjectures of past production and consumption, as such conjectures may provide us with better insights into the structure, scale and nature of the ancient economy and inform us about levels of prosperity. In this article the author has teamed up with this school of thought, and has constructed a conjecture of public constructions in Roman Italy for the period between 225 BC and AD 425. The reconstruction of this conjecture was essentially achieved by placing many (dated) occurrences of public constructions from a large dataset by Hélène Jouffroy (Jouffroy 1986) in a chronological order. Because of some methodological improvements such a thing could be done with far greater precision and much more data than in past assessments of the data by, amongst others, Hélène Jouffroy and Richard Duncan Jones (Duncan Jones 1974;1990). In addition the author discusses and counters various possible biases in both the data and his method and presents the reader with some interpretative concepts, most notably ‘the temporality of consumption’. Though a conjectural approach from its outset is economic, the author interprets his results not solely from an economic perspective but firstly from within the socio-cultural and political context of euergetism. In his article Frits Heinrich shows that the number of new public constructions in Italy reached its zenith during Augustus’ reign, while the enjoyment of the services public buildings offered may have been greatest during the reign of Antoninus Pius. He furthermore shows, as far as public constructions are concerned, that that which is usually referred to as the ‘third century crisis’ seems to commence as early as the second half of the second century A.D.