Stirring Up Skyr: From Live Cultures to Cultural Heritage (original) (raw)

Autio, Minna, Rebecca Collins, Stefan Wahlen & Marika Anttila (2013) Consuming nostalgia? – The appreciation of authenticity in local food production.

International Journal of Consumer Studies 37 (5), 564–568.

Many consumers consider local food a more sustainable choice than conventional food because of the shorter transport distances involved as well as the support provided to local economies. In addition, consumers value the perceived safety benefits, ethical associations and improved taste of local food. In this study, we focus on the cultural meanings of locally produced food among Finnish consumers. Based on interviews with 22 consumers, our analysis suggests that, besides consumers valuing sustainable, healthy and tasty locally produced food, they perceived self-produced, self-processed items, including those they have gathered, hunted and fished themselves, as the most authentic local food. Furthermore, local food is associated with craftsmanship and artisan production. We also found that interviewees tended to historicize their relationship to food through local production. Thus, consumers seem to be in search of ‘real’ or ‘true’ food that is embedded in their personal and shared social histories.

From territory to terroir ? : the cultural dynamics of local and localized food products in Norway

'Terroir' concept is more and more used and visible in Norway, both in public debate about food production or gastronomy or even on the shelves, but how is it used and understood? This article, based on discursive, qualitative and quantitative data about local and localized products, aims to improve understanding of 'terroir' in a Norwegian context. The concept of 'terroir' is considered here as a dynamic concept, evolving with time, mentalities and markets, and therefore also providing an ideal empirical context to better understand cultural dynamics and the relationships in which they are embedded. In the first part we concentrate on the impact of institutional, historical and cultural contexts on the process of 'terroir-ization' (the discursive construction of terroir) itself. In the second part, we aim to identify consumer attitudes towards everyday goods and local products in light of local behaviour patterns, eating customs and consumption habits. We also look at the 'consumer myths' underpinning certain government programmes. In a third part, we examine the relationship between nature and culture to gain a better understanding of why local/ localized products do not automatically become 'terroir products' despite the granting of PDO status. "-Congratulations and thanks to all supporters! Gudbrandsdal cheese stays where it belongs, HURRAH! Could we read on the Facebook page" 1 "This is a special case. […] Tine's primary task is

Scary food: Commodifying culinary heritage as meal adventures in tourism

Journal of Vacation Marketing, 2009

This paper portrays the changing status and use of a traditional Norwegian meal, Smalahove, in designing tourist experiences. Against all odds, this peculiar relic of Nordic gastronomy (salted, smoked and cooked sheep's head) has become a part of the destination brand of Voss, a small West Norwegian township, renowned for its topographic qualities related to extreme sports. In order to understand the recent success of Smalahove, we studied various culinary experience concepts offered to visitors. Based on data from a mixed method case study approach, we found that entrepreneurs in the Voss region developed a new commodification approach to culinary heritage. Smalahove is marketed not only as a nostalgic and authentic rural dish, but also as a challenging culinary trophy appealing to thrill-seeking consumers. The implications of the Sheep head case are twofold. Firstly it represents new commercial potentials to market "extreme" culinary specialities. Second, it is an example of innovative rural destination branding, where local dishes are not mere idyllic expressions of the agricultural past. The findings open up potential new

Report Nordic Food in Future Tourism February 2022

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2022

Interviewees • Håkan Andersson-Winemaker and founder of Hällåkra winery. • Dr Aviaja Lyberth Hauptmann-Microbiologist researching microbes on traditional Greenlandic foods. • Linus Blomqvist-PhD student in Environmental Economics and Science at UC Santa Barbara and former director of the Conservation and Food & Agriculture programs at the Breakthrough Institute. • Dr Richard Tellström-Lecturer and researcher on food culture and history as well as consumer values. • Dr Michael Bom Frøst-Associate professor in Food Sensory Innovation at University of Copenhagen looking at novel foods, sensory aspects of food, and product development. • Dr Jonatan Leer-Head food and tourism research at University College Absalon studying food culture, meat consumption and the gendering of food practices. • Analisa Winther-Ecosystem developer with a focus on FoodTech and host of the Nordic FoodTech podcast. Expert group A group of Icelandic experts were chosen to collaborate with the project participants. These experts represent a broad value chain of industries, organizations, public sectors, and companies that are connected to food development, tourism, and research.

New Nordic Cuisine: Performing Primitive Origins of Nordic Food

Contesting Nordicness

With Noma, our aim was to change food in Denmark….[ It was] ar hetorical instrument, just another one in my toolkit … to redefine Nordic food."-Claus Meyer 2011:R ene Redzepi is as mall mani nabig tent.H ewears jeans, rubber wading boots laced over his knees, and aT-Shirt reading "MAD foodcamp." His moppy brown bangsa re pushed to the sideand he wears aflesh-colored, over-ear mic. Based on the huge,r esoundingr ound of applause, cheers, and shouts, one unfamiliar might think Redzepi is not ac hef, but ar ock star.2 011 marked ah igh point for Noma,R ene Redzepi'st wo-Michelin-star restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark: Noma was named the best restaurant in the world for the second year running,a nd Redzepi found himself as much celebrity as chef. Founded in 2003 by gastronomic entrepreneur ClausMeyer,Noma is not just arestaurant. In 2008, Meyer and Redzepi added aresearch wingtothe restaurant,the Nordic Food Lab, wherec hefs and scientists tinker with culinary experiments that may end up on the menu. And in this first Mad symposium in 2011,R edzepi turned his culinary praxis into am arketable, shareable worldwide conversation about how we should eat. Noma is so media saturated that the origin story of the restaurant that Redzepi told at MAD foodcamp is alreadysomething like amythos in the contemporary food world. Redzepi grew up between Copenhagen and his father'sn ative Macedonia. In industrialized Copenhagen, "people ate fast food and microwave food. Idon'thaveany good food memories from my Danish childhood."¹ Writing about the New Nordic movement in their article "From Label to Practice: The Process of CreatingN ew Nordic Cuisine," Haldor Byrkjeflot,J esper Strandgaard Pedersen, and Silviya Svejenova assert that Nordic food was an "emptyl abel," which was transformed into ar obust set of culturalp racticesb yR edzepi, Meyer,M agnus Nilsson, and other gastro-entrepreneurs, chefs, high-level government supporters,s cientists, media disseminators,a nd foodies from around 2002 to the present.² New Nordic food is ac ulturalc onstruction, ac onfluence

Revealing the paradoxes of horsemeat – The challenges of marketing horsemeat in Finland

This study aims to analyse the different cultural meanings attached to horsemeat consumption in the context of the Finnish market. We take the “meat paradox” as a theoretical starting point and investigate the underlying cultural structures that guide consumers’ meaning-making and consumption decisions in regard to horsemeat. The data were generated after the horsemeat scandal, drawing on a wide variety of media texts about horsemeat consumption. The data were analysed through qualitative content analysis and the findings reveal five horsemeat paradoxes. Each paradox contains meanings that reflect both the justifications for and avoidance of eating horsemeat. The findings show how horsemeat consumption holds various and even contradictory meanings, elucidating how it may be difficult for consumers to take a stand towards eating horsemeat. Thereby, the study provides novel ideas for marketing that are grounded in our deep-rooted and ingrained cultural understandings.

Flags and fields: a comparative analysis of national identity in butter packaging in Sweden and the UK

Flags and fields: a comparative analysis of national identity in butter packaging in Sweden and the UK, 2021

Researchers have shown that it is common to use nationalist appeals when marketing food products. Research has also shown that geographical places play an important role in creating feelings of national identity and national belonging. To a much lesser extent, research has shown how these “places” are represented and reproduced in the packaging of food products in specific national environments and to an even lesser extent, compared these representations and reproductions. In this article, using multimodal critical discourse analysis, we examine how butter packaging in Sweden and the UK represents nature in ways that create associations that are linked to the national identity that exists in each country. We argue that commercial interests, through their choice of packaging design, not only exploit cultural and political ideas and values but also reinforce them by connecting to prevailing national sentiments. In times of political and social change, this can be used to strengthen national affiliation and thus ally with political interests.