Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Claims of authenticity, sustainability, and locality are often grounded in concepts of place as a stable foundation, with the capacity to generate a consistent set of material facts over time. The key to these material facts – from dishes to cuisines – is a consistent suite of ingredients, which in turn requires a consistent climate. It is therefore clear that we can no longer ground authenticity on previous concepts of place. However, authenticity is still a useful and valid concept within food discourse. The wedge that climate change is driving between authenticity and place, as we’ve used these terms, foregrounds that, at least within food discourse, authenticity is properly a descriptor of relationships, and not of material facts. This shift in turn directs us to unpack the concepts we often entrain with authenticity, which can only make a claim about representation, and can make no claim regarding moral or aesthetic value. Ironically, the common reasons for discussing food in terms of authenticity, sustainability, and locality is explicitly to make moral or aesthetic claims. In order to do this, however, we must first think about what kind of relationships we value. This very quickly takes us to the need to ground our discussions of the authenticity, sustainability, and locality of food in consideration of right political relationships. This paper explores the concept of right political relationships in relation to authenticity and food through the work of Arendt, Agamben, Marx, and Taylor.