Local food and alternative food networks:a communication perspective., ANTHROPOLOGY OF FOOD,vol. s2,pp 1,tot.pag 20,2007

The article sets out to develop a framework based on the ‘transformational’ power of local food, in a bid to interpret, and support the active building of, food relocalization strategies. The article starts by illustrating a semiotic model for the analysis of food quality, aimed at interpreting changes in the food system that come about as food acquires new meaning. This model is then applied to the process of qualification as proposed by Michel Callon and others. An application of the model to interpret and to evaluate food relocalization strategies follows. The activities of Slow Food, a food movement born in Italy about 20 years ago, are given as illustration and analysed. The article concludes with a discussion of the framework’s possibilities and limitations