Map of Change

Societal transformations and major food trends

While there are many and varied prospective studies on food trends are numerous and varied, there are few popular works presenting the broader societal trends, behind these trends. The reasoning is therefore often incomplete: changes in eating habits are fairly well anticipated and described, but not really explained, nor referred to changes in society that would enable us to grasp their origin, scope and meaning. The aim of this Working Paper is to help fill this gap, by analyzing six major societal drivers that account for some of the transformations in the food system. These drivers are presented in the form of factsheets, which in just a few pages summarize the main knowledge available. They cover the increasing individualization of human relationships, the segmentation of the social system into communities and networks, new relationships with time and the acceleration of life rhythms, the feminization of society, growing awareness of health and well-being issues, and the affirmation of new representations of nature.

In vitro meat": cultivating muscle cells for food use

For the past twenty years, researchers have been trying to produce animal cell cultures for food consumption in the laboratory. This "in vitro meat" project is presented as a disruptive innovation addressing the various challenges facing livestock farming. Where does it come from and who is promoting it? What are the technical obstacles to industrial scale-up, the research strategies and the stakes involved in bringing it to market? This note provides some answers.

MOND'Alim 2030

The globalization of food systems is not limited to trade or culinary influences. A centuries-old but partially reversible phenomenon, it is increasingly contributing to the interpenetration of geographical scales: local areas, nations, continents, the world. Not only an economic process, but also a cultural, political, scientific and legal one, it is profoundly transforming the way we produce and consume. The MOND'Alim 2030 foresight exercise, led by the Centre d'études et de prospective, aims to characterize the current phase of globalization, document the dynamics at work, envisage their extension by 2030 and identify certain ruptures already in the making. The book MOND'Alim 2030. Panorama prospectif de la mondialisation des systèmes alimentaires, published in early 2017 by La Documentation française, presents the results of this exercise.

Agricultural land and food relocation: new forms of land ownership and access

The relocalization of supplies, one of the current trends in the food system, is leading to new questions about the farms concerned. New ways of mobilizing land are aimed at developing local supply chains, by promoting access to land and the installation of farmers outside the family. The Terre de Liens movement and local authorities are inventing alternative management methods, often limiting farmers' rights. This note presents the main findings of a geography thesis devoted to these dynamics.

Differences between declared and actual food intake: observations and explanations

Information sources and surveys on dietary behavior often provide valuable results, but they also suffer from biases that sometimes create discrepancies between declared and actual behavior. Not specific to food, these discrepancies are linked to the characteristics of respondents, the contexts of their answers, the approaches and methods used to gather the information, and the way in which it is subsequently processed. Given their potential impact on the management of public action, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food, ADEME and FranceAgriMer commissioned a study on this subject. This note presents the main findings of this study.

Assises territoriales de la transition agro-écologique et de l'alimentation durable (Territorial conferences on agro-ecological transition and sustainable food)

Nantes

The Assises territoriales de la transition agro-écologique et de l'alimentation durable were born in Montpellier in 2019. The aim is to create an unprecedented opportunity to explore issues related to land management, urban and peri-urban agriculture, sustainable logistics and commercial infrastructures; to discuss collective catering, nutrition, waste management and the circular economy; and to discuss changing diets, the cultural and symbolic dimensions of food, food insecurity... With plenary sessions, interactive workshops and field visits to discover the territories! The Assises is an unmissable opportunity to compare our points of view, our methods and our levers for action to move towards more responsible agricultural and food systems, aware of the challenges of today and tomorrow. It's a two-day opportunity for local players to build a common culture around the food and farming transition, and lay the foundations for new sustainable partnerships. Finally, it's an opportunity to explore the Nantes metropolis, a land of many innovations, which perfectly illustrates the need for a strategic approach to the complex issues of climate change and biodiversity. On September 12 and 13, 2022, elected representatives, local authorities, civil society, business and academics, project developers and regional support structures will be sharing their experiences. During the Assises, a host of experts and leading figures in the field of agriculture and food will be on hand to inspire, convince and inspire action at local level. Testimonials, projects, studies, research, tools, methods, proposals and recommendations will be presented by a wide range of French and international players.

Nantes Declaration

Nantes

The co-organizers of the Assises territoriales de la transition agro-écologique et de l'alimentation durable 2022 have chosen "Taking climate change and social emergency into account in agricultural and food policies, to ensure access to quality food for all" as the priority theme for this second edition. After a summer marked by extreme climatic events, against a backdrop of war in Europe, and at a time when precariousness and social difficulties are affecting all regions, these choices are more than relevant. In addition, reflections on the organization of food policies at national and European level are underway, as illustrated by the report on Territorial Food Projects that Senator Frédéric Marchand submitted to the Minister of Agriculture in July. Aware of the crucial role that local authorities and their partners already play, and are preparing to play, in driving forward a genuine agro-ecological and food transition, the co-organizers have worked on a text of political commitment: the Nantes Declaration, supported by the two local authorities co-organizing Assises 2022, Nantes Métropole and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. The Declaration will be formally adopted during the Assises closing plenary session on September 13, 2022 (4pm-5:30pm). Voluntary territories and partners will be invited to affix their signatures on this occasion.

The "meatball challenge" - Projet Alimentaire Territorial in Nantes schools

Nantes

The Projet Alimentaire in Nantes Métropole schools The implementation of the Projet Alimentaire Territorial's main lines of action in schools, with pupils, teaching teams and supervisors, is one of the priority projects on which Nantes Métropole is working, in close collaboration with the 24 communes. Nantes Métropole has set up an educational program on food. It has been co-constructed, coordinated and run by Ecopôle, a network of players (associations, companies, institutional partners and individual members) active in the field of the environment and sustainable development in the Nantes metropolitan area, with the GAB 44 and La Clé des Champs. This program, adapted to the different cycles of elementary school, covers education in nutrition and taste, knowledge of foods and how to read their composition, and the discovery of food chains. It aims to support children in their daily eating habits, both in and out of school, and to give them the keys to making informed choices, taking into account global issues such as global warming. The means are varied and playful, and involve taste, touch and sight: free expression sessions, discussions, sensory games, role-playing, deciphering labels, visits to farms and processing facilities... The "pellet challenge" in a few figures... 4 classes of CE2 and CM1, 2 of which have already taken part in the educational program on food 3 sessions to discover, imagine and test 2 dumplings prepared in each class: 1 savoury + 1 sweet 1 coordinator and 2 facilitators from 3 organizations: Ecopôle, PAMM, Le Zeste en Plus.

La Fête Paysanne

Nantes et alentours

At a time when the question of food is at the heart of all issues (ecological, economic, social...), we wanted to join forces and organize this special event to convey a positive political message about food. The aim of this farmer's festival is to raise public awareness in Nantes of the challenges of peasant agriculture and sustainable food, by bringing together professionals and citizens, and promoting meaningful local initiatives. We want it to become an annual event that combines pleasure and reflection, celebration and discovery, gourmet delights and encounters. As a free event, it is also intended to be popular, family-friendly and open to as many people as possible. With its history of market gardening and working-class life, its social mix, and the presence of allotments, market-garden farms and eco-grazing, the Doulon district has everything it takes to host the first edition of this event, which we hope will be a unifying and committed event.

Deflated Michelin: An Exploration of the Changes in Values in the Culinary Profession and Industry

Receiving a Michelin star was once the ultimate culinary reward for the hard work and dedication chefs have shown to make their restaurants a success. However, for some of them, the stars seem more of a burden than a blessing. In recent years, several chefs have relinquished their Michelin status, closed the doors of their restaurants and started a new professional life away from haute cuisine. Many have come clean about their reasons for leaving Michelin, the most prominent of which is the pressure of keeping stars, rather than earning them. However, there are less obvious, but no less important, reasons to explain this behavior. In this article we argue that chefs' increasing reluctance to Michelin stardom reflects the changes taking place in today's culinary profession and industry, brought about both by new attitudes to food consumption and by the media, which are increasingly influencing ideas about what good food should be, mean and look like. Drawing on leading academic literature, writings of food journalists and analysis of audiovisual material, we show how the haute cuisine sector is being redefined outside traditional systems of assessment and judgment.

Documenting the UNESCO feast: stories of women's 'empowerment' and programmatic cooking

Heritage policy can transform a dish, a cuisine or a meal into the emblem of a nation, a region or a community. A cultural and economic engine, culinary heritage has highlighted the opportunities that actors can extract from cultural essentialism, and the commercial exploitation to which it can lead. However, we know less about the consequences that culinary heritage has on the lives of local communities and the individuals who deal with it, particularly the most humble or vulnerable, nor about the resulting modes of action - whether adoption, appropriation, rejection or indifference - that it can provoke within and among these populations. This ethnographic study redresses this imbalance by giving voice to one of the symbols of current food policy in Mexico: indigenous cooks. Their narratives highlight how heritage practices deploy (food) cultures - and the people associated with them - in programmatic and coercive ways, based on notions and concepts of prospecting, empowerment and audit culture. In villages, culinary heritage not only catalyzes contradictions and tensions among women, which manifest themselves in feelings of envy and injustice and reduced social cohesion, but also brings about changes in opportunities that lead to resilience, new sociabilities and cooperation.

Food Identities at Home and on the Move Explorations at the Intersection of Food, Belonging and Dwelling

How does food restore the fragmented world of migrants and displaced people? What similar processes are at work to challenge, maintain or reinforce divisions between groups coexisting in the same place of life? Food Identities at Home and on the Move examines how "home" is negotiated around food in the current global context of uncertainty, mobility, and displacement. Drawing on empirical approaches from heritage, identity, and migration studies, the authors analyze the relationship between food and diverse understandings of home and dwelling. With case studies on sushi around the world, food as heritage in the Afghan diaspora, and Mexican gastronomic customs in Chicago, these chapters offer novel readings on the convergence of food and migration studies, the anthropology of space and place, and the field of mobility by focusing on how the entangled histories of food and home are exposed to construct the present and imagine the future.