Knowing Where It Comes From: Labeling Traditional Foods to Compete in Global Markets

摘要

The product of a unique blend of critical analysis of the law and the interdisciplinary approaches of food studies, Knowing Where it Comes From examines the way claims about the origins of traditional foods get made. The argumentation is built on a fact that can easily be observed around the world: middle-classes appreciate the skills and know-how of arti-sanal food producers and pay more for foods that embody the natural and cultural features distinctive to a local area. That is, the origin of a food or a culinary custom-whether real or fictional-can turn into a cultural and marketing asset when clearly connected to a specific place, the community that inhabits it, its margins, and its history. From this central premise the author, NYU Professor Fabio Parasecoli, takes the reader through the political intricacies of food identification and the social consequences it produces. The book's core idea is that "locality" adds value to producers and consumers only when enmeshed in large trade networks that define it vis-a-vis other places and social groups. The author states that food scholarship cannot embrace dichotomies that put the local into opposition with the global: when it comes to food, the local survives thanks to the global. A worldwide comparative study on place-based labels, Knowing Where It Comes From decorticates legal, administrative, and social regulations based on diverse priorities and approaches. In doing, Parasecoli shines new light on the old topic of the social demarcating power of food.