Workshop “Geographical Indications, Gastronationalism, and Fair Food”
Overview 12&13 january 2023
On January 12-13, a two-day workshop was held on “Geographical Indications, Gastronationalism, and Fair Food”. Invited speakers from different disciplines and home countries presented and discussed papers on the topic. The workshop was open and attended by UU colleagues from several disciplines.
The objective of the workshop was to foster cross-pollination and interdisciplinary integration among scholars working on origin labels, geographical indications, gastronationalism, and fair food. The literature currently suffers from disciplinary fragmentation into several strands. First, there is a strand focused on the economics and political economy of GIs, including their social and economic sustainability. Second, there is strand on GIs and culture and sociology, including the links with concepts such as gastronationalism and the political use of food for shaping identities. Third, there is a strand on the legal and intellectual property aspects of the various public and private regulations of GIs.
At the colloquium, we examined these issues and their historical and current context. Building on these debates, an important question discussed was whether and to what extent GIs can contribute to “fair food” by insuring social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
Participants were enthusiastic about the high-level of the presentations and discussions, and the interdisciplinary connections being made. Opportunities for joint research projects and grant applications in the future were also discussed.
We gratefully acknowledge funding from Future Food Utrecht.