Food values in Europe – Valeria Siniscalchi et Krista Harper (eds.)

What can a focus on “food projects” in Europe tell us about contemporary social processes and cultural debates? Valeria Siniscalchi and Krista Harper show how food becomes a marker of identity and resistance to social exclusion, and how food values become tools for transforming power dynamics at the local level and beyond. Through the comparison of food-centered movements across Europe, the book explains how these forms of mobilization express ideologies as well as economic and political objectives.

The chapters use an ethnographic approach to focus on the transformation of values carried by individuals and groups in relation to food in Portugal, Greece, Latvia, Moldova, Denmark, the UK, Italy, and France. Contributors analyze food values, as expressed in daily life and livelihoods, through specific practices of production, exchange, and consumption. Topics covered include Prague’s urban agricultural scene, the perception of poverty in Moldova, shepherds’ protests in Sardinia, and organic food cooperatives in Catalonia.

Valeria Siniscalchi is Associate Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Centre Norbert Elias, Marseille, France.

Krista Harper is Professor of Anthropology and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA.

Valéria Siniscalchi et Krista Harper, eds
Food values in Europe