2002 Annual Report Council on Nutritional Anthropology

2002 Annual Report
Council on Nutritional Anthropology
Submitted by
David A. Himmelgreen, President
dhimmelg@chuma1.cas.usf.edu

1. Membership

As of September 2002 (the most recent report sent out by the AAA), the CNA had 214 members, representing a 7% increase (14 members) since December 2001 and a 10% increase since January 2001. At one point during 2002 there were 218 members but 4 members have either dropped their memberships or have not paid their dues yet. Currently, there are 145 regular members, 69 student members, and 30 subscribers to Nutritional Anthropology, the official publication of the CNA. Student members have increased by 13% and the number of subscribers to Nutritional Anthropology increased by 17% since January 2001.

Although the number of lapsed memberships has grown between December 2001 (84) and September 2002 (105), it is very difficult to interpret these data since the membership figures for November 2002 were not out at the time this report was written. However, there is usually a reduction in lapsed memberships following the annual meeting. For example, while there were 110 lapsed CNA members in October 2001, this number decreased to 84 in December 2002. Thus, if these data are the norm, it is reasonable to assume that the number of lapsed memberships will be reduced when the December 2002 data are reported.

CNA membership has grown during the last year, and the board is particularly pleased to see the significant increase in student members. The rise in membership is likely explained by increased visibility of the section through well-attended sessions at the AAA and other meetings (e.g., SfAA), the distinguished speaker talks, the Christine Wilson Award, expanded issues of Nutritional Anthropology, and increased dissemination of information about the CNA including the section web-page and the distribution of color brochures.

Other activities to increase membership during 2002 included: 1) second printing of 1,250 promotional brochures, 2) emails sent to lapsed members, 3) periodic updates on CNA web-page on section activities, requests for information, etc.

2. Financial Balances.

As of December 31, 2001 the net assets were $11,933.22. Net assets ending September 30, 2002 were $13,640.69 for a net gain of $1,707.41. Revenues to date are $3,507.24. Overall, revenues to date exceed projections for this year. However, it is projected that the CNA will run a deficit of $2,142 for 2002 once expenses come due shortly after the annual meetings, resulting in estimated net assets of roughly $9,791 by the end of 2002.

Over the last several years the AAA has encouraged the CNA to "spend down" some of our assets because of the large budget surplus. As a result, the CNA board has allocated funds to increase section visibility and membership, most notably through the distinguished speaker talks and receptions, the Wilson Award, a second printing of the promotional brochure, and website management (see treasurer's report). This past summer the AAA recommended that we put a cap on deficit spending beginning with a balanced budget for 2004 (the 2003 budget has already been submitted and approved). Potential areas where we could cut the budget include 1) printing (e.g., promotional brochures, 2) development/promotion (e.g., scale back the plans for the CNA display), and 3) meeting space and food (e.g., distinguished speaker award and/or reception).

A special thanks to Denise Clark Lewis for managing the budget as Secretary-Treasurer.

3) AAA Meeting Activities

Accepted symposia for the 2002 AAA include three volunteered sessions and one CNA invited session, including: "Influence of Food Choice, Feeding and Diet in the 1st Century," "New Ideas and Practices in Nutritional Anthropology," and "The Future of Food Studies in Anthropology." The CNA invited session was on "Nutrition and Health Challenges for the New Century: Anthropological Approaches to Micronutrient Research Among Human Populations."

Additionally, Dr. Katherine Dettwyler graciously accepted our invitation to be the 2002 CNA distinguished speaker. Her talk was entitled "Bogin's Concept of "Childhood" as a New and Unique Stage of Human Life History: Biological Reality, Secular Trend, or Cultural Artifact?" About 40 people attended the talk and it was followed by a reception in honor of Dr. Dettwyler. Finally, the 2002 Christine Wilson Award was given to Sera Young (University of Amsterdam) for her paper on '"Listen, without blood there is no life": An ethnography of anemia during pregnancy.' Although Ms. Young was not able to attend the meetings, Dr. Gretel Pelto accepted the award on her behalf. Congratulations to Ms. Young.

A special thanks to Leslie Carlin for doing a tremendous job over the past two years as Program Committee Chair and for planning this year's distinguished speaker talk and reception. Also, thanks to Dan Sellen (Chair, Curriculum & Research) for chairing the Wilson Award committee (Sellen, Chaiken, and Himmelgreen) and to Margaret Bentley, Kristen Borré (Vice-President Elect), and Barry Brenton for organizing sessions at this year's meeting.

5. Spring Meeting Activities: Not Applicable

5A. Communications: Anthropology News and CNA Web-Page

Between December 2001 and December 2002 there were nine CNA columns published in the Anthropology Newsletter. The CNA web-page is up-to-date. However, the board needs to develop a mechanism for more timely up-dates on the web-page and on getting more contributions from members for the AN column and the web-page. Finally, Thoric Cederstrom (Chair, Policy and Liaison) has volunteered to find out about developing a listserve for the CNA.

A special thanks for Janet Chrzan for doing a super job as Contributing Editor for the Anthropology Newsletter. Considering the very limited space that AAA sections have for their monthly columns in the AN, Janet and all of the contributors to the column have done a great job in communicating the goals of the CNA.

5B. Commications: Nutritional Anthropology

The 2002 volume of Nutritional Anthropology included two issues (Spring and Fall), which contained more pages (43 and 54, respectively) than the norm from the previous year and more feature length articles (4 in each issue). There was one book review in the spring issue and five in the fall issue. A new feature in the journal this year was the publication of the 2001 distinguished speaker talk (Dr. Sidney Mintz) and the winning paper for the Christine Wilson Award (George Luber).

A special thanks to Miriam Chaiken for doing a great job as two-term editor for Nutritional Anthropology. Along with high-quality articles, the journal has grown in length and readership during Miriam's tenure. Moreover, she has done all of this with few resources and minimal assistance. Personally, working with Miriam has been a great pleasure for me. As I have said previously, the job of the editor is the most difficult and challenging one of all the board positions. Welcome to Kristen Borré, incoming Vice President and Editor for Nutritional Anthropology.

5. Outreach Efforts

Miriam Chaiken organized a CNA sponsored session entitled "Contemporary Issues in Food Policy and Globalization" at the 2002 Society for Applied Anthropology Meeting held March 6-10 in Atlanta, Georgia. Participants at this session included Miriam Chaiken (IUP), Laura Cramer (IUP), David Himmelgreen (South Florida), Lisa Markowitz (Louisville), and Dan Sellen (Emory).

6. Nominations and Bylaws

During the last year three appointed positions were filled on the Executive Board. These positions included: Chair, Curriculum & Research (Dan Sellen); Chair, Nominations Committee (Leslie Carlin); and Chair, Meetings and Program Committee (Andrea Wiley). Congratulations to all the new or incoming officers.

There were no bylaws changes made during 2002.

A special thanks to Susan Johnston for doing a great job as Chair, Nominations Committee for the last three years.

8. Activities Related to Long-Range Plan and Future Activities

Aside from what is cited above, the board did not discuss any other activities related to the AAA Long-Range Plan. However, the board did discuss the possibility of a name change for the CNA, which has implications for section membership. Although CNA and its flagship journal Nutritional Anthropology promotes a wide-range of topics in food and nutrition studies, there is a segment of the AAA membership that feels that our name is not inclusive and that by broadening the name (e.g., Council on Food and Nutritional Anthropology), we may be able to increase our membership. This was widely discussed among board members this year as well as during our session on "The Future of Food Studies in Anthropology." Barrett Brenton, incoming President, will follow-up on this activity and report back to the AAA next year.

Other future activities that will be implemented over the course of the next year include: 1) a new feature in the CNA section of the AN, which will focus on a nutritional anthropologist of the month, and 2) the development of a list-serve dedicated to the section.

9. Recommendations to the Long-Range Planning Committee

Facilitation of mechanisms for enhancing communication among section members (e.g., interactive websites and list-serves), discount programs for non-anthropologists who want to join section units but are not interested in joining the AAA, more guidance and assistance for integrating section planning with the AAA Long-Range Plan (for example, we did not know we had LRPC liaison and had not heard from that person), and more funding travel and per-diem expenses for board members

10. Closing Remarks

As my term is President comes to a close with these meetings, I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the members that supported me for the past two years and to the Executive Board officers that worked hard and made my job easier. Good luck to Barry Brenton, our incoming President. He's going to do a fantastic job. I look forward to serving CNA as Past President and in the future beyond. Thanks you!

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