A Recipe for Connectedness

Abstract

This paper identifies themes in research connecting production and consumption, and applies these themes to work of the Slow Food movement. Both theory and organization of food in industrial society have tended to divide and differentiate processes in the food system, preventing an understanding of the complex social relations involved in food. More recently, researchers have conceived ways to integrate food's dimensions. This literature suggests that connections between production and consumption can be realized and established through knowledge, networks and alternative projects. Slow Food is an interesting example for this work, for its effort to extend its focus to more actors and interests of the food system. While the movement is not a perfect model of connectedness, it lends some support and direction for bridging worlds of food and developing a more holistic food system.