Culture and Performance

Abstract

Salmonella, campylobacter, the hamburger bacteria, growth hormones, animal welfare conditions, the global use of grains for feed and for food – and BSE. The legitimacy of public authorities and the reputation of the meat industry have obviously been challenged, prestige and big money being at stake. Ministers have had to resign, public bodies have been reorganized, the meat industry has introduced wide-reaching and costly traceability programmes, labelling initiatives flourish, and alternative provisioning systems have emerged. Meat is an important and interesting subject to study. We have seen that trust can ebb and flow, but how is that related to assessments of changes in the food sector and the performance of institutional actors? And even if food items like meat may be judged according to the specific character of its provisioning, are there also general cultural influences on trust with other origins? In this chapter we will explore these questions, again relying on survey data.