1. Holly Cavanaugh
Fantasy Proposal
Illness and Food:
The relationship between HIV/AIDS and food in South African young adults
Year: 2016. Proposal to Humboldt State University applied Anthropology Graduate Program under
prospective advisor, Rebecca Robertson.
I am proposing to conduct research expanding on a study I conducted in my
undergraduate career, “Young American Foodscapes” (Summer/Fall 2013) This past
project was a study a small scale inquiry about young adults and their interactions and
relationships with food. ʻFoodscapeʼ is a concept dealing with the effects of food on an
individual and how food is affected by that individual in a socio-cultural context. I am
proposing to expand on this previous project, on a larger scale and with some additions.
I am going to conduct research on young adultʼs foodscapes in South Africa,
specifically looking at the relationship between food and illness, specifically HIV/AIDS. I
intend to work with the University of Cape Town, specifically Dr. Susan Levine (of the
Department of Social Anthropology) who specializes in visual anthropology and
childhood in relation to illness. In addition to Dr. Levine, I will work closely with my
Humboldt State University advisor, Rebecca Robertson, who has extensive research
experience in South Africa dealing with HIV/AIDS and with the anthropology of
development and globalization. Working with the Treatment Action Campaign1 (TAC),
and other organizations in South African townships, will be necessary to conduct
research.
1 http://www.tac.org.za/

2. Along with my previous small scale ethnography, “Young American Foodscapes,”
I have been conducting a literature review on the anthropology of food and the
anthropology of development and globalization since January 2013, which has been
continuous since receiving my Bachelorʼs degree from HSU. The concept of
ʻfoodscapesʼ was introduced to me through my literature review, and I have found it to
be an efficient term in analyzing food in a socio-cultural context. To coincide with the
anthropology of food, I have had an interest in development and globalization,
specifically within a South African context, during and after my undergraduate career. By
relating these concepts anthropologically, I hope to look deeper into foodscapes with
relation to development and globalization.
Previous studies on foodscapes have been conducted in Scandinavia (Bugge
20112; Johansson, et al. 20093), and utilizing the concept of foodscapes is becoming
increasingly important, especially in a global context in the years to come. South Africa
is an ideal setting for researching the relationship between illness and food in a socio-
cultural context, not just because HIV/AIDS is ever present, but because it is
anthropologically interesting. This research will be relevant to both illness and food
related agencies and organizations, and will improve the knowledge base on each of
these issues.
For this project I intend to use a variety of ethnographic methods. I am going to
utilize classical methods along with more collaborative methods throughout the duration
of my research. I will conduct participant observation by going to medical and resource
2 Bugge, Annechen Bahr. "Lovin' it? A study of youth and the culture of fast food." Food,
Culture & Society. Vol. 14, No. 1. 2011: 71-89.
3 Johansson, Barbo, et al. "Nordic Children's Foodscapes: Images and Reflections." Food, Culture &
Society. Vol. 12, No.1. 2009: 25-51.

3. centers in townships, and TAC events. I will conduct surveys asking young adults about
their eating habits and their illness routines. In addition to surveying, I plan to conduct
individual interviews with participants and possibly volunteers/employees at the centers
I become connected with (which are still ʻto be determinedʼ). Volunteers/employees may
be able to give alternative perspectives on the foodscapes of young adults living with
HIV/AIDS, which could procure other benefits for the organization center. To incorporate
a collaborative element to my research, I am going to work with participants through
photographic documentation. I will distribute disposable cameras to primary
participants, and they will be set with a task of documenting a weekʼs worth of meals.
This use of collaborative photographic documentation has proven to be successful in
my previous study, and I think it will be extremely beneficial in a South African context.
After getting these photos developed, I will be able to analyze them, and conduct follow
up interviews with my participants. Other collected artifacts, such as advertisements,
food, medicine, etc. will be analyzed as well in order to gain an understanding of the
outer influences contributing to a South African young adultʼs foodscape.
During my data collection, I am going to ask my participants to recall food
memories from childhood and past experiences. By collecting food memories, I will be
able to analyze patterns and themes across different individualʼs foodscapes. Looking at
patterns from over 20 years of food memories (since my participants will be ages
18-26), I will be able to do comparisons with the memories and the current state of
young adultsʼ foodscapes, seeing if their childhood foodscapes influenced or shaped
their current foodscapes; this will also be juxtaposed with the relation of HIV/AIDS and
the influences illness has upon past and current foodscapes.

4. Data collection for this project will occur over a 4 month period, in which I will be
involving people living in townships. Rather than choosing a specific region, I want to
recruit participants from like living situations, in this case the ever growing informal
settlements of townships. I will be interacting with township residents through the
centers I conduct my participant observation at, specifically working with individuals who
have HIV/AIDS. I will recruit participants at the centers and events, and from there I will
ask individuals if they would be comfortable participating in my research. As an
anthropologist, I have the ethical duty to remain respectful of all my participants, and in
doing so will make sure each participant is treated appropriately and that their safety is
never in jeopardy. My participants will remain anonymous in order to maintain
confidentiality. My data will be safely stored and not exposed to anyone but myself, or
my advisors, in order maintain the safety and anonymous identities of my participants.
My final product and data analysis will be given to the TAc, and any other
involved organization that I will be working with. Hopefully this research will be
beneficial to these organizations in assessing their patients more thoroughly and in
more efficiently assisting them in food-related issues. I also think this research will be
beneficial to my participants as well because by self-reflection, they may be able to
navigate their illness and foodscapes more efficiently.