What is it about?
The chapter answers the question if artisan food can be both innovative and traditional with a clear YES. We discuss the history of 'artisan' and its conceptual development and explain how the term is socially constructed and constantly re-conceptualised. Using 3 case studies of artisan food producers, this chapter evaluates definitions of 'artisan' food and its production and how this concept and its practices can fit into the contemporary food industry.
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Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Artisan food often has the connotation of 'tradition': this chapter investigates how artisan food can be both innovative and traditional at the same time. Artisan food is often more costly to produce and thus has greater price for the customer. Learning more about artisan food production can highlight its social and environmental value and raise its contemporary profile.
Perspectives
I was delighted to work with my co-authors and apply my conceptual understanding of creative and cultural industries to the artisan food production. There are common features and behaviours of artisan food producers when compared to cultural entrepreneurs: Artisan food producers act like visual and other artists and makers - they never stop improving their craft and changing the ways they go about producing it, hence, are constantly innovating. Like artisan food, heritage craft takes a new spin on traditional materials and / or traditional ways of producing using established production methods / machinery / materials and add new ones. The aspect of the tension of authenticity and tradition - to recognise the known materials and ways of working - versus producing food or craft products in innovative ways are aways newly defined in producer practices.
Dr Inge Hill IJBR Editorial Review Board
The Open University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Artisan Food Production: What Makes Food ‘Artisan’?, January 2022, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-82303-0_6.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Rural arts entrepreneurs’ placemaking – how ‘entrepreneurial placemaking’ explains rural creative hub evolution during COVID-19 lockdown
Another article on small business creative entrepreneurs.
Spotlight on UK artisan entrepreneurs' situated collaborations: through the lens of entrepreneurial capitals and their conversion
Another article discussing artisan entrepreneurs.
Contributors
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