Contested food authenticities: a review of consumers’ perspectives

Abstract

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.