Heritagisation of Food and Agrarian Production: an Introduction

Abstract

Although the heritagisation of gastronomy is a controversial process, and from essentialist point of views may be considered an artifice, its impacts can also be assessed by looking at the agricultural sphere.
Heritagisation can help revalue a peasants' mode of production which provides the raw materials. This agrarian model is characterized by the production of quality food through a sustainable exploitation of the agrosystems, which generates revenues facilitating autonomy for the rural population, in contrast with an agro-industrial model which is highly polluting, triggering homogeneization of landscapes and food, and of migration processes. These and other aspects of the dyad "food/agriculture-heritage" are analysed in the articles that compose this special issue of the journal.

The issue stems from the debates raised at the V International Congress of ODELA and the Alícia Foundation, held in Barcelona in June 2019, entitled: "Patrimonis Alimentaris, Turismes i Sostenibilitats", exploring various issues related to heritagisation of food and agriculture.