About this Research Topic

Background

The current debate on Traditional Knowledge (TK) and food heritage has had momentum in recent years, mainly thanks to the remarkable interest of some local and national institutions, small-scale producers, and emerging chefs. However, in the scientific arena, the process of documenting traditional knowledge and the heritage of local foods is often addressed by itself, and is not well connected to deeper reflections of the actual participatory processes involved in local development or to the manners through which TK informs public discourse regarding local foods and how this may further influence activists, institutions, and governance.

Traditional Knowledge has been the focus of several studies conducted in the past few decades, mainly devoted to describing the perception around, uses, and management of diverse environmental and biological food resources, local ways of food processing, and their associated socio-cultural values. These works have often envisioned, in a vague way, the potential of TK for local rural development programs in gastronomic arenas. Very few studies have analyzed how TK articulates clusters of individuals, communities, social movements, and economic and political institutions, as well as networks of practices encompassing entrepreneurship, production, consumption, and governance, which in turn could be crucial for implementing food sustainability and sovereignty.

The current Research Topic looks specifically at case studies illustrating how TK holders can collaborate with food activists, economic and political institutions, policymakers, and communities. We welcome original research-based manuscripts focusing on the role of TK in shaping and/or transforming activism, institutions, and governance through projections at the socio-economic, cultural, and political level, especially
within the following domains:

• Local and (re)discovered local food heritage deriving from foraging, farming, fishing, pastoralism/herding, and forestry and their effects on activism and economic and political institutions

• Climate change, TK, and its governance

• The political dimension of TK-centered gastronomy and social justice

• TK, gender inequalities and minority issues

• TK-centered food landscape, terroir, and cultural heritage studies

• TK, food sovereignty and global food policies

• IPRs, ethics, and TK

Explore the previous volumes of this collection:
Volume I

Keywords: Traditional Food Knowledge, Climate change, food sovereignty, local-owned, gastronomy, sustainable development, Social justice, food activism, global food policies, socio-cultural values

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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