BROADCASTS.com

You\u2019re probably wondering what the heck we\u2019re about to explore today\u2026 and indeed, it\u2019s going to be all about farts and gassy foods. \xa0

My guest this week is Danielle Gendron, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia. Danielle and I work together on some research projects, and have been friends for a while through that. She first pitched this idea to me back in the spring, and I laughed at it, almost dismissively. But then I started thinking more about what she had to say, and realized we absolutely had to explore this on the show.

Danielle\u2019s Master\u2019s research topic was about food sovereignty, where she explored the significance of territory-based food systems to Gitxaala First Nation culture and their ways of knowing. Through her work, she traced one particular food, seaweed, through the Gitxaala food system from harvest to processing to consumption. During her experiences there, she soon found out that eating a lot of seaweed can make you very\u2026 gassy.

It\u2019s something that feels silly but is, as Danielle says, a legitimate thing to explore. So we\u2019re exploring this more today with a bit of fun \u2013 while Danielle does share some really important lessons and experiences she had working with Gitxaala First Nation, we\u2019re focusing more on the idea of farting itself \u2013 what makes it such a taboo subject, why do we always giggle when it comes up, and why isn\u2019t it being studied at all in anthropology? Why do we have internal dilemmas about sharing our stories and research about gassy foods and the farts they produce? \xa0

Tune in to hear more!\xa0

Resources\xa0

• Farting in Anthropology PopAnth post by Kirsten Bell\xa0
• Danielle Gendron's research at UBC\xa0