IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v13y2023i4p80-d1107664.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Keeping the Knives Sharp: Socioeconomic Innovation in the Artisan Sector of Butchery in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Michele Filippo Fontefrancesco

    (University of Gastronomic Sciences, 12042 Pollenzo, Italy
    Department of Anthropology, Durham University, DH1 3DE Durham, UK)

  • Andrea Costa

    (University of Gastronomic Sciences, 12042 Pollenzo, Italy)

Abstract

This paper investigates the socioeconomic and cultural transformation in food artisan entrepreneurship due to the complexification of the food sector and ongoing globalisation through a case study conducted among the artisan butchers of Genoa, Italy. The butcher’s trade has enjoyed centrality and social and cultural promotion that made butcher shops key places in the urban foodscape. However, this centrality is challenged by both new consumption trends and the imposition of large-scale organised distribution as the fulcrum of mass food trade. These changes raise the question about the future of the profession and its knowledge. This paper addresses this question by investigating the structure of the butcher’s business and the practices involved in knowledge creation and transmission, exploring the factor of change and its effects on the butcher’s profession, as well as the very foundational aspects of the artisanship. The research suggests that artisanship should be read as a form of entrepreneurship capable of placing and moving the craftsman within the global social hierarchy of a community. Therefore, the preservation of artisanship and its sociocultural complexity cannot be limited to the mere preservation of gastronomic forms and techniques.

Suggested Citation

  • Michele Filippo Fontefrancesco & Andrea Costa, 2023. "Keeping the Knives Sharp: Socioeconomic Innovation in the Artisan Sector of Butchery in Italy," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:80-:d:1107664
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/4/80/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/4/80/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tim Lang, 1999. "The complexities of globalization: The UK as a case study of tensions within the food system and the challenge to food policy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 16(2), pages 169-185, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barbara Seed & Tim Lang & Martin Caraher & Aleck Ostry, 2013. "Integrating food security into public health and provincial government departments in British Columbia, Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(3), pages 457-470, September.
    2. Regmi, Anita & Pompelli, Greg, 2002. "U.S. Food Sector Linked to Global Consumers," Food Review/ National Food Review, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 25(1).
    3. Brian Ilbery & Damian Maye, 2005. "Alternative (Shorter) Food Supply Chains and Specialist Livestock Products in the Scottish–English Borders," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(5), pages 823-844, May.
    4. James Smith & Kirstin Ross & Harriet Whiley, 2016. "Australian Food Safety Policy Changes from a “Command and Control” to an “Outcomes-Based” Approach: Reflection on the Effectiveness of Its Implementation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Glover, Jane & Touboulic, Anne, 2020. "Tales from the countryside: Unpacking “passing the environmental buck” as hypocritical practice in the food supply chain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 33-46.
    6. Sophie Michel & Arnim Wiek & Lena Bloemertz & Basil Bornemann & Laurence Granchamp & Cyril Villet & Lucía Gascón & David Sipple & Nadine Blanke & Jörg Lindenmeier & Magali Gay-Para, 2022. "Opportunities and challenges of food policy councils in pursuit of food system sustainability and food democracy–a comparative case study from the Upper-Rhine region," Post-Print hal-03846609, HAL.
    7. Sophie Payne-Gifford & C. S. Srinivasan & Peter Dorward, 2021. "Blunting EU Regulation 1107/2009: following a regulation into a system of agricultural innovation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 221-241, February.
    8. Angga Dwiartama & Cinzia Piatti, 2016. "Assembling local, assembling food security," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(1), pages 153-164, March.
    9. Aurélie Merle & Catherine Hérault-Fournier, 2013. "Should local food be sold by the producer? The influence of his presence on perceived product value and intentions toward the store [Faut-il faire vendre un produit local par le producteur ? L’infl," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-02748629, HAL.
    10. Lara V. Sibbing & Jeroen J. L. Candel, 2021. "Realizing urban food policy: a discursive institutionalist analysis of Ede municipality," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 571-582, June.
    11. Aurélie Merle & Catherine Hérault-Fournier, 2013. "Should local food be sold by the producer? The influence of his presence on perceived product value and intentions toward the store [Faut-il faire vendre un produit local par le producteur ? L’infl," Post-Print hal-02748629, HAL.
    12. Molnar, Adrienn & Van Lembergen, Katrien & Gellynck, Xavier & Sebok, Andras & Berczeli, Attila, 2011. "What Can We Learn from Best Practices Regarding Food Chain Transparency?," 2011 International European Forum, February 14-18, 2011, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 122030, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    13. Liora Gvion, 2006. "Cuisines of poverty as means of empowerment: Arab food in Israel," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(3), pages 299-312, October.
    14. Murtagh, Aisling & Ward, Michael, 2011. "Structure and Culture: The Evolution of Irish Agricultural Cooperation," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 39(2), pages 1-15.
    15. Jeannette M. Blackmar & John C. Pierce & Brent S. Steel, 2015. "Social Capital and The Centrality of Local Food Policy to Sustainability Initiatives in U.S. Counties," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(1), pages 45-62.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:80-:d:1107664. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.