The European Institute for Food History and Cultures (the IEHCA, Institut Européen d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation) organised the ninth edition of its annual international convention and the IMAGINE project was there!
When: 5th – 7th June 2024
Where: Tours, France
During the conference Atle Wehn Hegnes and Virginie Amilien organised the session “The History of Food Futures: Imaginaries of Global Food Futures”.
The session aimed to
provide an international platform for scholarly discourse on the diverse and evolving perceptions of the future of food across various cultures and contexts. It invites a deep exploration into the ways societies globally have envisioned and continue to envision the future of food. We draw upon thoughts, such as the avant-garde ideas presented in Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s “The Futurist Cookbook,” a remarkable early 20th-century work that not only challenged traditional Italian cuisine but also proposed a radical rethinking of food in relation to art, technology, and society. Marinetti’s vision was more than a culinary innovation; it was a manifesto that reflected a broader futurist philosophy, emphasizing speed, technology, and industrial prowess, themes that are still relevant in today’s discussions about the future of food. Moreover, seminal works like Warren Belasco’s “Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food,” also inform our goal to broaden the perspective, inviting global viewpoints to understand how different cultures imagine their food futures. The session aims to explore how historical and contemporary imaginaries of food futures have shaped and are shaping global food cultures, policies, and practices. We seek to understand the interplay between societal aspirations, anxieties, and expectations concerning food, and how these are influenced by factors like technological advancements, sustainability concerns, and cultural shifts.
Virginie Amilien also presented the paper “Imaginaries of Norwegian Food Futures in a European context”, co-authored with Justyna Jakubiec, Atle Wehn Hegnes and Lisbeth Løvbak Berg.
The paper reviews the European literature on food futures, creating an overview of important European imaginaries of food. It further analyses and draws out connections to imaginaries of food futures in Norway, based on empirical data colleced in the IMAGINE project. The empirical material from the Norwegian case consists of public policy document and businessstrategies, advertisements, and consumer stories.
Read more about the conference here (villa-rabelais.fr).