New Books in Animal Studies

A Mellified Redemption? Learning to Live with a Pest Through Spotted Lanternfly Honey

Episode Summary

Rosi Song of Gastronomica’s Editorial Collective hosts authors Eve Z. Bratman and Anna Purchase in a discussion of their newly published research article on lanternfly honey. Eve and Anna bring a social science perspective to their study of the spotted lanternfly. Noting the spotted lanternfly’s arrival to Pennsylvania a little over a decade ago and its spread in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, they highlight the complexity of insect invasivity, its impacts on local economies and ecologies, and the range of responses. Drawing from their research on bees and beekeeping, they share how a novel food product, honeydew honey from the spotted lanternfly, provided insight into the changing relationships between different species. The conversation details the qualities of lanternfly honey and the context that led to its commercial production, and concludes on a hopeful note for human-nature relations amidst uncertainty. “A Mellified Redemption? Learning to Live with a Pest Through Spotted Lanternfly Honey,” by Eve Z. Bratman and Anna Purchase, appears in the latest issue of Gastronomica (26.3). Read the article here. Eve Z. Bratman is an associate professor of Environmental Studies at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and author of the award-winning book Governing the Rainforest: Sustainable Development Politics in the Brazilian Amazon (Oxford University Press, 2019). She is currently writing a book on the politics of saving the bees. Anna Purchase studied Government and Environmental Studies at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is now completing a Master’s degree in Environmental Management at the National University of Singapore. H. Rosi Song is a professor of Hispanic Studies at Durham University in the U.K., co-author of A Taste of Barcelona: The History of Catalan Cooking and Eating (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), and a member of the Editorial Collective at Gastronomica. She leads a Horizon Europe project on food, culture, and recipes titled RELISH (Reframing European Gastronomy Legacy through Innovation, Sustainability, and Heritage). Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies is published by the University of California Press. Quarterly issues are available in print and online. Listeners can now find the Gastronomica podcast on the New Books Network. Subscribe to Gastronomica’s podcast feed to stay updated on the newest episodes.

Episode Notes

Rosi Song of Gastronomica’s Editorial Collective hosts authors Eve Z. Bratman and Anna Purchase in a discussion of their newly published research article on lanternfly honey. Eve and Anna bring a social science perspective to their study of the spotted lanternfly. Noting the spotted lanternfly’s arrival to Pennsylvania a little over a decade ago and its spread in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, they highlight the complexity of insect invasivity, its impacts on local economies and ecologies, and the range of responses. Drawing from their research on bees and beekeeping, they share how a novel food product, honeydew honey from the spotted lanternfly, provided insight into the changing relationships between different species. The conversation details the qualities of lanternfly honey and the context that led to its commercial production, and concludes on a hopeful note for human-nature relations amidst uncertainty. “A Mellified Redemption? Learning to Live with a Pest Through Spotted Lanternfly Honey,” by Eve Z. Bratman and Anna Purchase, appears in the latest issue of Gastronomica (26.3). Read the article here.

Eve Z. Bratman is an associate professor of Environmental Studies at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and author of the award-winning book Governing the Rainforest: Sustainable Development Politics in the Brazilian Amazon (Oxford University Press, 2019). She is currently writing a book on the politics of saving the bees.

Anna Purchase studied Government and Environmental Studies at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is now completing a Master’s degree in Environmental Management at the National University of Singapore.

H. Rosi Song is a professor of Hispanic Studies at Durham University in the U.K., co-author of A Taste of Barcelona: The History of Catalan Cooking and Eating (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), and a member of the Editorial Collective at Gastronomica. She leads a Horizon Europe project on food, culture, and recipes titled RELISH (Reframing European Gastronomy Legacy through Innovation, Sustainability, and Heritage).

Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies is published by the University of California Press. Quarterly issues are available in print and online.

Listeners can now find the Gastronomica podcast on the New Books Network. Subscribe to Gastronomica’s podcast feed to stay updated on the newest episodes.