Convenor
Frederic Duhart
Mondragon University
Abstract
This topic provides stimulating opportunities to discuss epistemological and methodological concerns of the anthropology of food in our complex world. Studying the “foods rooted in place or tradition” from the field to the plate would almost inevitably lead to a biocultural approach which questions the classical boundaries between natural and social sciences. To understand the dynamics of a terroir or to evaluate the real degree of specificity of an animal or vegetal product, it is necessary also to take into account biological/natural parameters as well as the socioeconomic/cultural ones.
In the South as in the North, anthropologists of food also have to think about their responses to social demands and their involvement in the societies they are studying at a time when producers and political actors approach them as ‘experts’, and not as academic researchers. It is an important issue for our profession, because the growing producer and consumer interests in ‘foods with origin’ could mean not only sustainable development opportunities for large rural areas but also violent changes in local socio-ecological balances, for example, after an uncontrolled success of a fashion food or decisions about the delimitation of a protected designation area.
In our complex and interconnected world, studying “foods rooted in tradition” also allows reflection on other perspectives. Some foods are rooted in traditions – for example, dog meat in some Asiatic cultures, force-fed duck liver in some European ones, coca leaves in Andean countries, etc. In a time when global political decisions are adopted and when international organizations worldwide promote ethical discourses about food, we can observe fascinating situations, where tensions or debates around a product underline the complexity of the articulation between global and local discourses and practices in the everyday life.
panel presented by IUAES Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition