That elusive feature of food consumption: Historical perspectives on food quality, a review and some proposals

Jérôme Bourdieu (), Martin Bruegel () and Peter Atkins ()
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Jérôme Bourdieu: PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, LEA - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
Martin Bruegel: ALISS - Alimentation et sciences sociales - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
Peter Atkins: IDHE - Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Economie - ENS Cachan - École normale supérieure - Cachan - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Food quality is always acknowledged as a significant factor in everyday lives, and it often appears in some ad-hoc form or another in the study of economics. Its very fuzzyness may account for its ubiquity. Clarification becomes imperative, and this paper inventories shared features of past research to propose a common research agenda. Its premise is that "quality" requires definition, that definition is conventional and thus negotiated, and that institutions both publicize and enforce agreements on its contents. Qualification in all its guises (certification, geographic provenance, industry labels ...) and venues (state, private, third-party...) relies on an institutional frame that is all the more necessary as markets collapse when consumer confidence in foods disappears. That is why the arbitrage between public health and market efficiency emerges as a major issue when it comes to the definition of food quality.

Keywords: Food; consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-06
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Published in Food and History, 2007, 5 (2), pp.1780-3187. ⟨10.1484/J.FOOD.1.100231⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00825183

DOI: 10.1484/J.FOOD.1.100231

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