Eleventh International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Intangible cultural heritage practices revolving around food are being picked up as a development resource in cities, recognized for their power in drawing tourism and also used in efforts to increase food security through urban agriculture. In Tucson, Arizona, this is exemplified through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City of Gastronomy initiative. While these practices are being developed by municipal government, tourism boards, and a suite of for- and non-profit organizations, communities in whom these practices are embodied often understand their relationship with the past differently. This paper asks how the process of development enlivens different narratives around food heritage practices and mobilizes various individuals and communities to act. It examines the landscapes of power in the City of Gastronomy in which these practices are embedded, tracing heritage foods and associated values through flows of production, distribution, and commodification. Drawing on extended fieldwork in Tucson, including informal and semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and archival research, this paper addresses the tensions that arise when practices around traditional foods are drawn upon by new actors in new ways.