Thursday, August 15, 2013

New book from faculty member

Associate professor, Aya H. Kimura's new book was released by Cornell University Press. 

For decades, NGOs targeting world hunger focused on ensuring that adequate quantities of food were being sent to those in need. In the 1990s, the international food policy community turned its focus to the "hidden hunger" of micronutrient deficiencies, a problem that resulted in two scientific solutions: fortification, the addition of nutrients to processed foods, and biofortification, the modification of crops to produce more nutritious yields. This hidden hunger was presented as a scientific problem to be solved by "experts" and scientifically engineered smart foods rather than through local knowledge, which was deemed unscientific and, hence, irrelevant.

In Hidden Hunger, Aya Hirata Kimura explores this recent emphasis on micronutrients and smart foods within the international development community and, in particular, how the voices of women were silenced despite their expertise in food purchasing and preparation. Kimura grounds her analysis in case studies of attempts to enrich and market three basic foods—rice, wheat flour, and baby food—in Indonesia. She shows the power of nutritionism and how its technical focus enhanced the power of corporations as a government partner while restricting public participation in the making of policy for public health and food. She also analyzes the role of advertising to promote fortified foodstuffs and traces the history of Golden Rice, a crop genetically engineered to alleviate vitamin A deficiencies. Situating the recent turn to smart food in Indonesia and elsewhere as part of a long history of technical attempts to solve the Third World food problem, Kimura deftly analyzes the intersection of scientific expertise, market forces, and gendered knowledge to illuminate how hidden hunger ultimately defined women as victims rather than as active agents.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Japan After 3.11: Change and Hope from the Center of Triple Disasters

March 10 (Sunday) 2:00-4:30 Center for Korean Studies Auditorium


The Departments of Women’s Studies and Religion along with participating community groups will host a special event, Japan After 3.11: Change and
Hope from the Center of Triple Disasters
, a public symposium to commemorate the second anniversary of the 3.11 triple disasters (earthquake, tsunami,
and nuclear crisis) that devastated the North Eastern region of Japan.

Speakers will include Yuko Nishiyama, a Fukushima mother and activist, who will discuss her experience of the nuclear crisis and the struggles evacuees face. Kelsey Soma Turek, from the Japan-America Society of Hawaii, will address Rainbow for Japan Kids, a program that brings children from the effected regions of Japan to Hawaii for respite. We will also have a
video message from Senator Mazie Hirono who was born in Fukushima Prefecture.


Donations for Rainbow for Japan Kids and Minna no Te will be accepted.

Free and open to public.
Light refreshments will be served.
Parking on campus is free. 


Cosponsored by College of Social Science, Departments of Religion, Women’s Studies, Center for Japanese Studies,  and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

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