Download or read book A Taste of Progress: Food at International and World Exhibitions in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries written by Professor Peter Scholliers and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2015-11-28 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World exhibitions have been widely acknowledged as important sources for understanding the development of the modern consumer and urbanized society, yet whilst the function and purpose of architecture at these major events has been well-studied, the place of food has received very little attention. Food stood as a powerful semiotic device for communicating and maintaining conceptions of identity, history, traditions and progress, of inclusion and exclusion, making it a valuable tool for researching the construction of national or corporate sentiments. Combining recent developments in food studies and the history of major international exhibitions, this volume provides a refreshing alternative view of these international and intercultural spectacles.