During my master’s programme in Cultural History at Utrecht University I became fascinated by food history. Consequently, I wrote my thesis on Dutch food habits of the past. Its main question: why did it take so long for ready-made meals to become a success?
After my master’s, I did a number of research projects at different universities. This lead to several presentations and publications on food history. During these years, I focused on several questions: how much do people care about convenience, and why is a healthy diet so important to many? And what is the appeal of ‘exotic’ foods? The main point, though, was always : why do we eat what we eat? If you want answers to these questions, you can find out more in the menu above.
I received my PhD from Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen in June of 2022. My PhD project (2017-2021) expanded my interest in food with a more general aim at analyzing the history of everyday life. It focuses on the promotion of ‘healthy’ lifestyles, thereby showing how our most basic choices in life are influenced by important ideas and values. You can learn more about this project by…
…reading this interview for Brainwash.
…listening to this segment of OVT on Dutch radio (20 min.).
…listening to this episode of the Onder Doctoren podcast (113 min (!)).
(all in Dutch)
…or reading the entire dissertation, here! (in English)
