Federica GRASSI

Adresse visiteur Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Mondes Contemporains Avenue Jeanne, 44 Bâtiment S Bureau S12.210 1050 Bruxelles Belgique Adresse courrier Université libre de Bruxelles Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 50 - CP 124 1050 Bruxelles Belgique federica.grassi@ulb.be

Title: “At the crossroads of care: anthropology, food, and the medicalisation of eating disorders”

After 5 years working on EU food policy, Federica started her PhD research during the academic year 2025/2026. She is exploring the anthropological significance of meals in southern Italy, examining its connections to care, health, and the complexities surrounding eating disorders. Her research aims to uncover how structures of power and privilege - specifically the medical and psychiatric frameworks used to define and treat eating disorders - have shaped and constrained our understanding of food, meals, health, and recovery. Through critical engagement with the DSM-5 and a critique of the psychiatric monopoly on eating disorders, this research will question how food practices intersect with medicalized notions of health, discipline, and recovery. By focusing on meals as cultural sites of meaning, Federica’s research seeks to examine the deeper (bio)political, emotional, and societal forces that shape our food choices, while contributing to broader discussions in food studies, transfeminism, and critical mental health scholarship.

Keywords: feminism, eating disorders, food anthropology, medical anthropology, care

Supervisor: Sarah O’Neill