Abstract
As Barthes (Annales ESC, XVI(5): 977–986, 1961) effectively pointed out, food is “not only a collection of products that can be used for statistical or nutritional studies. It is also, and at the same time, a system of communication, a body of images, a protocol of usages, situations, and behaviors” (ET 1997: 21). This has become even more evident in present-day “gastromania”: not only do we eat food, but also and above all we talk about it, we comment on it, and we share its images on various social networks, thus investing it with multiple meanings and values that in turn mediate our gastronomic experiences. This phenomenon has become progressively more expansive, encompassing the sphere of nutrition. Going beyond the purely dietetic and medical domains, the link between food and health has become an unavoidable element of TV programmes, newspapers, magazines, social networks, advertising, marketing, and other forms of communication. Thus a series of food “myths” have proliferated, with evident impact on consumers’ choices and behaviours. What is more, the role played by media companies, marketing operators and various other public and private actors in the negotiation of food meanings and practices has further increased, pointing to the need for deeper consideration of the processes of signification and valorisation brought about by the discursive strategies adopted for communicating food in the political, journalistic, regulatory and even scientific domain. This essay investigates such dynamics by considering relevant literature in the related fields of research and analysing some interesting case studies.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 795025. It reflects only the author’s view and the European Research Executive Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
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Notes
- 1.
Projecting the categorical distinction between use values and basic values—described by Greimas and Courtés (1979) through the well-known example of the banana that the monkey tries to reach (basic value) and the stick he uses to execute such a process (use value)—onto a semiotic square, the French semiotician identifies four major “valorisations” of products in advertising: the practical valorisation puts the emphasis on utilitarian or use values, presenting its object as a tool, that is to say, as a means to reach another goal; the utopian valorisation rather stresses existential or basic values such as life, identity, freedom, etc.; the ludic or aesthetic valorisation is the negation of the practical one, and emphasises values such as gratuity and refinement; finally, the critic valorisation, which represents the negation of the utopian one, corresponds to a logic of calculations and interests (costs/benefits or quality/price ratios). Although developed in reference to advertising, this model in fact concerns all processes consisting in the projection of specific values onto specific objects or practices.
- 2.
The reference is to the so-called “calorie count laws”, requiring qualifying restaurants (i.e. with over 20 locations nationwide) to post food energy and nutritional information on the food served on menus and menu boards.
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- 4.
Whose importance and significance have been effectively illustrated by scholars such as Douglas (1966).
- 5.
In 1956, British physician Margot Shiner pioneered the use of intestinal biopsy capsules, leading to conclusive evidence that gluten affected the intestinal mucosa in celiac patients.
- 6.
Building on Bratman’s definition of “orthorexia nervosa” (see in particular Bratman 1997 and Bratman and Knight 2001) as a psycho-cultural syndrome consisting in a state of hyper-attention paid to eating healthy food, Nicolosi criticises contemporary societies’ obsession with food, as related not only to the fear of physical contamination, but also the fear of a loss of a symbolic-identity purity (Nicolosi 2006/2007: 49).
- 7.
Such a definition is echoed, with only slight variations, by other international institutions, such as the European Directive 2001/18/CE (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32001L0018), the American National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (2018, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/21/2018-27283/national-bioengineered-food-disclosure-standard), the NON-GMO Project (https://www.nongmoproject.org), etc.
- 8.
Especially as a result of food activism campaigns via social media, as highlighted by Adamoli (2012).
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Stano, S. (2022). Beyond Nutrition: Meanings, Narratives, Myths. In: Stano, S., Bentley, A. (eds) Food for Thought. Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81115-0_11
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