Annabel Townsend

Spilling the Beans: quality and waste in the speciality coffee industry

Supervisors: Professor Peter Jackson and Dr Matt Watson
ESRC-funded PhD post as part of the Waste of the World programme (Strand 2, Project 4)

BA Anthropology, University of Durham 2004
MA Social Research Methods (Anthropology), University of Durham 2006

Research Interests

The coffee industry in general, food as culture – the anthropology of eating. South America as a region, and related development anthropology. I am also interested in popular culture, subcultures and group identities in the UK. Since starting at Sheffield I've become involved with some research and discussions on the themes of Bodies, Relations and Spatiality that helps frame my research.

Research Project

My current research project focuses on the luxury coffee market and how waste is viewed in this industry; what is seen to be waste by the farmers in Central America, the roasting companies, the baristas and coffee retailers in the UK, and finally by UK coffee consumers themselves.

Previous Research

MA Thesis: Embodying the Myth: an Ethnography of Modern day Vampires
BA Dissertation: Examining Cross-cultural Ideas of Education in Nicaragua

Links

• Spilling the Beans (Research Journal): http://drcoffee.wordpress.com
• The Social Life of Food: http://social-life-of-food.blogspot.com
• Waste of the World Project: http://www.thewasteoftheworld.org

Contact Details

Usually found in Room D5...
Address: University of Sheffield, Department of Geography, Winter Street, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 7973
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 7907
Email: ggp07at@sheffield.ac.uk