Jackson, P., Evans, D.M., Truninger, M. et al. (2 more authors) (2019) The multiple ontologies of freshness in the UK and Portuguese agri-food sectors. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 44 (1). pp. 79-93. ISSN 0020-2754
Abstract
This paper adopts a material-semiotic approach to explore the multiple ontologies of ‘freshness’ as a quality of food. The analysis is based on fieldwork in the UK and Portugal, with particular emphasis on fish, poultry, and fruit and vegetables. Using evidence from archival research, ethnographic observation and interviews with food businesses (including major retailers and their suppliers) plus qualitative household-level research with consumers, the paper unsettles the conventional view of freshness as a single, stable quality of food. Rather than approaching the multiplicity of freshness as a series of social constructions (different perspectives on essentially the same thing), we identify its multiple ontologies. The analysis explores their enactment as uniform and consistent, local and seasonal, natural and authentic, and sentient and lively. The paper traces the effects of these enactments across the food system, drawing out the significance of our approach for current and future geographical studies of food.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | agri-food studies; freshness; material semiotics; multiple ontologies; Portugal; UK |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ES/N009649/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jun 2018 10:15 |
Last Modified: | 19 Oct 2021 12:06 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/tran.12260 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:131966 |
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