Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This chapter offers an overview and critical assessment
of the recent achievements in social sciences regarding the concept
of food authenticity and its consumer understanding. The
increasing complexity and globalisation of the agro-food systems
has been transforming previously territorialised consumer/producer
relationships into deterritorialised connections established at a
distance. Apart from globalised food commoditisation and the
complex arrangements that hinder transparency in the food system,
nations’ diets are subject to other deterritorialised influences,
namely colonial influences, cultural exchange through immigration
and travelling to exotic places where encounters with ‘otherness’
have dual contradictory processes. This can either reinforce
national identities by enhancing food differentiation or establish
cultural integration through ‘food creolization’ processes.
Authenticity is considered both an objective and a subjective concept.
Its objectivity makes it prone to expert measurement, and stabilisation. In this respect an authority decides on the definition of what authentic is and how it
should be materialised in food production, processing and marketing (e.g. the role of
certification agencies and inspection bodies on the objective and measurable food
qualities). The other meaning of authenticity is more subjective, prone to contestation
and discussion amongst the many actors in the food chain. It is collectively constructed
and embedded in social and cultural contexts, whereby individuals are active creators
and negotiators of its meaning. In recent years, another meaning of authenticity is
becoming important, especially in tourism literature and in food marketing studies,
namely the existential authenticity evoking the emotional bonds with experiences and
events that are interpreted as meaningful and authentic for consumers. Despite the fact
that literature on consumer’s perspectives of food authenticity is still scarce, this chapter
will show how this is a contentious notion for consumers. Thus, this review aims at
unpacking the intricacies and contested consumer’s meanings of authenticity, which will
have implications for food experts, producers, retailers and certification/inspection
bodies.
Description
Keywords
Alimentação Consumo alimentar
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Truninger, M. and Sobral, J. M. (2011), Contested food authenticities: a review of consumers’ perspectives’ in Beatriz Oliveira, Isabel Mafra, Joana S. Amaral (eds.), Current Topics on Food Authentication, India: Transworld Research Network