FOOD AS CULTURAL HERITAGE

One of the key assumptions of the project is to perceive food as cultural Heritage.

In a world impacted by climate change, extractivist capitalism, and urban growth, food and culinary cultures can be thoughtfully instrumentalized to re-affirm their significance as structuring principles of life. Food can become, again, a means to connect with life on earth, in ways that most of us seem to have forgotten for a long time. Food is extremely affective: its taste entices emotions, while commensal experiences bind people together through time and space as individuals collectively remember the past with certain meals and imagine their ancestors and their descendants having similar experiences. When this occurs, food becomes heritage. Cultural heritage represents an opportunity for citizen engagement in the construction of new or revitalized meanings associated with food practices, which can potentially lead to enhanced resilience and togetherness in uncertain times.

CONVIVIUM defines food heritage as a set of tangible and intangible aspects of food and culinary cultures crucial to group membership and kinship, as it speaks about time past, has present relevance, and nurtures imaginings of the future.

CONVIVIUM invites the appraisal of food cultures beyond the rationality of economics and institutional politics, to instead create approaches which both uphold and innovate food traditions, ultimately aiming to inspire a sense of awe and wonder, to promote respect and mutual welfare for peoples and ecosystems, and to highlight commonality in relationship with other individuals, communities, and environments, both human and non-human.