Seasonality in food tourism: wild foods in peripheral areas

Abstract

Collecting wild mushrooms is an ancient lifestyle practice, and wild mushrooms themselves emerge as a crucial cultural ecosystem service in rural and natural environments. Mushroom picking and mushroom cooking are vital ingredients of local cultures in many mountain areas and communities around the world, where food tourism is becoming increasingly popular. Drawing from the meanings that locals attach to a concrete cultural ecosystem service like wild foods, and how this local sense of place is transferred to food tourism practices and planned tourism placemaking, the current research explores the reasons why wild mushroom hunting is a critical seasonal lifestyle practice and how this relates to food tourism practices in peripheral areas. The methodology is based on a case study approach, where primary data are obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with local mushroom pickers from the region of Alta Ribagorça, in the Catalan Pyrenees of north-eastern Spain. The results show the profound role this forest food plays in the culture and identity of local communities and the strong seasonality of wild mushroom-based tourist activities in a fragile human-in-nature context. This has a direct effect on sustainable forest and tourism planning in rural territories.

摘要

采集野生蘑菇是一种古老的生活方式, 野生蘑菇本身日益成为乡村自然环境中重要的文化生态系统的产物。采集和烹饪蘑菇是世界各地许多山区地方文化的重要组成部分, 在这些地方美食旅游正方兴未艾。本研究利用当地人赋予诸如野生食品等具体的文化生态系统服务的意义以及当地人的地方感如何转化为美食旅游实践和有计划的旅游地方营造活动, 探讨了蘑菇采集成为重要的季节性生活方式的原因, 以及它与偏远地区美食旅游实践关联起来的过程。本文采用了个案研究的方法, 主要数据来自对西班牙东北部加泰罗尼亚比利牛斯山脉阿尔塔里巴戈卡地区当地采蘑菇者进行的半结构化访谈。结果表明, 这种森林食品在当地社区文化和认同中发挥着意义深远的作用, 基于野生蘑菇采集的旅游活动在脆弱的人地环境中具有很强的季节性。本研究对乡村地区可持续发展的林业和旅游规划有直接影响。

Keywords:

• Catalonia
• climate change
• culinary heritages
• mountain region
• mushroom
• mycological tourism
• Pyrenees
• rural tourism
• sense of place
• sustainable development
• cultural ecosystem service

关键词:

• 加泰罗尼亚; 气候变化; 烹饪遗产; 山区; 蘑菇; 真菌旅游; 比利牛斯山脉; 乡村地区; 地方感; 可持续发展; 文化生态系统服务

Notes on Contributors

Francesc Fusté-Forné is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona. His research is focused on rural and food tourism, and food media. Particularly, he has studied the food tourism phenomenon by bringing connections between authenticity, food heritages, landscapes and landscapers, regional development, rural activities, and tourist experiences. He is also a researcher at the Blanquerna-Ramon Llull University School of Communication and International Relations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.