Contested knowledge: changing practices in origin-food communities

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how communities engaged in the valorisation of origin food through Geographical Indications (GIs) and Slow Food Presidia can be resilient to changing conditions and able to innovate their practices. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses the concept of “community of practices” (CoP) to explore the learning processes occurring in three origin cheese initiatives located in France and Morocco. Findings Learning processes surpass the border of the governing body and encompass competitors and consumers. Discrepancies between what is codified and what is done lead to a dynamic redefinition of both specifications and communities. Such initiatives are frameworks for envisioning possible futures emerging from controversies. Originality/value This paper compares two localised agrofood systems initiatives (GIs and Slow Food Presidia), based on evidence from two European and an African cases. The analytical frame of “CoP” sheds light on the underestimated dynamic effect of controversies on knowledge.

Can raw milk cheese and pasteurised milk cheese coexist? Unthinkable or never really considered?

“…Several farmhouse cheese representatives joined the Slow Food movement and incorporated its estive identification mark into the OI specifications, thereby creating an added value for the raw milk product. This initiative brought together farmhouse producers and shepherds, who were overwhelmingly opposed to the industrialisation of traditional ewe's milk when the PDO was created (Mariani et al 2019).…”

“…The analysis grid of the socio-technical pathways of the two PDOs was organised around three major elements: (i) the set of regulations and how they evolved, (ii) technical and commercial differences, and (iii) the flow of material and information within the niches. Original data were collected by Millet (2019) and Mariani (2019), who interviewed the different stakeholders involved in the OI. For data on SN, we drew on findings documented by Tijms (1976), Ricard (1994), and Brosse et al (2014).…”

“…Likewise, in other PDO areas such as the Savoie, production strategies have been developed using locally made starters with the aim of giving all producers an alternative to industrial starters and thereby preserving their products' typicality. Finally, to maintain the microbial environment of the farm, attempts have been made to develop indigenous whey starters, essentially through grafting, that would consolidate the flora already present (Mariani et al 2019). Although these initiatives have a limited effect for the moment, they are evidence of the interest aroused by the management of microbial ecosystems and the production of "natural" cheeses promoted by the Slow Food movement.…”

Origin food schemes and the paradox of reducing diversity to defend it

“…These companies played a central role in the definition of the GI governance and specifications (Mariani et al . 2019; Millet 2019). In fact, like for Brocciu (De Sainte Marie et al .…”

“…However, there have been few ethnographic accounts and explanations for the reduction in local knowledge and practices in OFS, almost no mention is made of the negative effects of Presidia on traditional practices (West and Domingos 2012; Lotti 2010) and, to our knowledge, no previous attempt has been made to compare GIs and Presidia as two worldwide examples of OFS (Mariani et al . 2019).…”