Producing artisan food quality
A study on the trend of alternative food
in Amsterdam and Stockholm
Lisa Jorritsma | 6072437
lisajorritsma@gmail.com
Author
Prof. dr. J.C. Rath
Supervisor
Dr. O. Sezneva
Second reader
17-08-2016
Graduate School of Social Sciences
Producing artisan food quality
A study on the trend of alternative food in Amsterdam and Stockholm
Master Thesis
Research Master Urban Studies
August 17 2016
Name:
Lisa Jorritsma
Student no:
6072437
Email:
lisajorritsma@gmail.com
Supervisor:
Prof. dr. J.C. Rath
Preface
As part of the Research Master Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam, I have written this master thesis about the trend of alternative food in cities and, more specifically, about the production of artisan food quality in Amsterdam and Stockholm. Since this final result was a long process in which many people have supported me, I would like to thank the following people.
First of all, I would like to thank Jan Rath for his supervision and his feedback on my thesis. He has not only helped me with finding a clear focus but has also guided me in structuring my thoughts and ideas. Moreover, I would like to thank all the thirty artisan food producers that were so kind to participate in my research and were able to make time for me to talk about their company. Furthermore, the support of my parents (especially of my mother) and my boyfriend during the last three months of this process, I could not have missed. They made sure that I was able to meet the final deadline. Lisa Jorritsma
Index
0. Preface 4
1. Introduction 7
2. Theory Theorising artisan food quality 9
2.1 Reflexivity 9
2.2 Culinary knowledge 12
2.3 Food quality: a reflexive activity 14
3. Methodology 16
3.1 Research goal and questions 16
3.2 The extended case method 16
3.3 Case selection 17
3.4 Data collection 18
3.5 Data analysis 19
3.6 Critical reflection on method 20
4. Case descriptions 22
5. Results 24
5.1 Finding new ways of connection in today’s food industry 24 5.2 Constructing craft standards to produce food quality 26 5.3 Food quality: a reflexively and collectively debated activity 28
6. Conclusions & discussion 31
7. References 33
8. Appendices 38
Appendix 1: Interview questions Stockholm 38 Appendix 2: Interview questions Amsterdam 40
1. Introduction
Food culture is very special. It is the very most important cultural manifestation that we have, because we all have to eat – Magnus Nilsson (head chef of Michelin-star Restaurant Fäviken, Sweden)
in the Chef’s Table.
Food shapes our daily lives. In order to walk, bike, cook, work, talk, laugh and make love, we need food. It is our everyday fuel. Today, the efficient globalized and industrialized food system provides us with most of our everyday needs. Its global scope, mass production methods and standardized quality measures, enables us to enjoy coffee from Colombia that is never out of stock and has, every time we consume it, an identical flavour. However, who has cultivated the coffee beans or which preservatives are added to guarantee a standardized taste is for most of us unknown. Hence, while the availability has expanded, the traceability has declined.
However, the intransparency of this conventional food system is not without any harm. Food safety scandals have been able to arise, where the BSE crisis (mad cow disease) in 1996 and the horse meat scandal in 2013 are the most well-known examples of (European Commission, 2014, 2015). Besides consequences for human’s health and animal welfare, the conventional food industry also negatively affects nature and the environment (Spaargaren, 2012).
Due to public attention about these issues, awareness about the hazards of this conventional food system has increased (Starr, 2009; Johnston et al., 2011); More and more people reflect upon how food is produced today and where food is from. This reflexivity has eventually give rise to the emergence of alternative food networks that have an ‘alternative’ understanding of what food quality entails. In general, this ‘alternative’ understanding is based on what consumers and producers do not support (Murdoch & Miele, 2004). They reject production practices that use chemicals and additives and disapprove modified foods, global food networks and factory farming. Subsequently, this alternative understanding leads to ‘alternative’ ways of producing and consuming food.
Alternative food production is, in addition to rural areas, especially rising in cities. The production and consumption of alternative food is in particular popular among the middle-class, who lives in urban areas and have a suitable income or are willing to make financial sacrifices to participate in those practices (Sassatelli & Davolio, 2010; Johnston et al., 2011). Moreover, the middle-class possesses cultural capital that enables them to reflect upon how food is produced and to identify quality food (Brown et al., 2009; Johnston & Baumann, 2010). Besides city farms and community gardens that emphasize on the production of local and organic food, artisan food businesses pop-up in Western European cities. Those enterprises produce a variety of artisanal products, including craft beer, artisan bread, speciality coffee and handmade sausages.
While research on alternative food production in rural areas is extensively conducted, in particular by rural sociologists that emphasize on alternative food networks in the agri-food sector (e.g. Marsden et al., 2000; Ilbery et al., 2004; Ilbery & Maye, 2005; Venn et al., 2006), research on alternative food production in cities is basically lacking,
especially when it comes to artisan food production in the urban landscape. This is unfortunate because to understand the trend of alternative food as a whole, I believe that scholars should examine all geographies where this phenomenon occurs.
Therefore, in this research I explore the trend of alternative food in two Western European cities: Amsterdam and Stockholm. Since scholars understand the trend of alternative food as a ‘turn to quality’ in food production and consumption (Murdoch et al., 2000), I examine how artisan food producers in Amsterdam and Stockholm give meaning to alternative, and more specifically, to artisan food quality.
To explore the trend of alternative food in Western European cities, a qualitative study is conducted in Amsterdam and Stockholm. Thirty artisan food producers, both men and women between age 28 and 69 who launched their company between 1998 and 2015, were interviewed. They produce a variety of artisan food products ranging from beer, bread, charcuterie, chocolate, coffee, ice-cream, patisserie, peanut butter and more. In line with the extended case method, the analysis is focused on the stories of three artisan food producers: an artisan baker, a micro-beer brewer and a coffee roaster.
In what follows, I first theorise food quality and discuss the main conditions that are needed in order to produce and judge food quality. Subsequently, the methodology is clarified and the cases are presented. After, the main results are discussed. The thesis ends with conclusions and a discussion, in which I shortly summarize and reflect upon the results and answer the research question. Subsequently, I aim to contribute to the extension of theory, by providing new insights on the trend of alternative food. I end with some suggestions for further research.
2. Theorising artisan food quality
Since scholars understand the trend of alternative food as a ‘turn to quality’ in food production and consumption (Murdoch et al., 2000), in this chapter I discuss literature that is concerned with the concept of food quality. To understand the concept of food quality, I believe it is important to examine how food producers give meaning to and judge food quality, since they are integral to the production of alternative food and thus can be seen as experts in this field. How do they perceive food quality?
Two research fields in the social sciences are concerned with the meaning of food quality. On the one hand, one can identify alternative food research that in particular focuses on how a critical or reflexive attitude towards the conventional food industry results in an ‘alternative’ understanding of food quality and which subsequently leads to ‘alternative’ ways of producing and consuming food (e.g. Crang, 1996; DuPuis, 2000; DuPuis, 2002; Murdoch et al., 2000; Murdoch & Miele, 2004; Stock, 2007; Fonte, 2008; Kaup, 2008).
On the other hand, sociologists of food that examine culinary work aim to understand the meaning of food quality (e.g. Fine, 1992; Fine, 1995; Fine, 1996a; Teil & Hennion, 2004; Domaneschi, 2012; Ocejo, 2014a; Thurnell-Read, 2014). While the link between culinary work and artisan food production might not be self-evident, Ocejo (2014) has drawn this line in his research about upscale butcher shops in New York City. He argues that craftsmen, just as cooks and chefs, are simultaneously ‘artists, professionals, businessmen and manual labourers’ (Fine, 1992: 1271). In general, sociologists of food interpret food quality as an activity, as a process, and claim that quality is not merely a characteristic of a food product. In their research, they show that culinary knowledge is needed in the process of producing and judging food quality.
Overall, both research fields claim that in order to understand what food quality entails, one need to explore the conditions that produce food quality. In general, they believe that understanding food quality, is a way of knowing (Fonte, 2008). Whereas alternative food research shows that reflexivity is the main condition, sociologists of food have found that culinary knowledge is the prerequisite to produce food quality.
As a result, in this chapter I discuss how those conditions are defined in existing literature in both research fields. This chapter ends with the introduction of a methodological framework, developed by Teil & Hennion (2004), that interprets quality as a reflexive activity. This framework will eventually act as a guideline for the analysis of my data on artisan food quality.
2.1 Reflexivity
Literature on alternative food focuses on the concept of reflexivity in order to understand food quality (e.g. Crang, 1996; DuPuis, 2000; DuPuis, 2002; Murdoch et al., 2000; Murdoch & Miele, 2004; Stock, 2007; Fonte, 2008; Kaup, 2008). In general, reflexivity refers to how consumers and producers reflect upon how food is produced and where food is from, i.e. it is concerned with ‘knowing’ food. Scholars involved in this research field associate reflexivity with an ‘alternative’ understanding of food quality, which subsequently leads to ‘alternative’ ways of producing and consuming food.
This alternative understanding of food quality is the result of the increasing criticism on today’s conventional food industry. It cannot be denied that this efficient globalized and industrialized food system that is introduced after World War II has brought us as society a lot, especially after the 1990s (Spaargaren, 2012). In OECD-countries, food-shortage has disappeared, regulatory regimes for food safety have been developed, the variety and choice in food has increased and consumer power has expanded. However, the age of reflexive modernity in which we live in today, has also an insecure and risky character (Giddens, 1990). The conventional food system has also unintended consequences and has lead to negative effects on nature, climate, the environment and on our health (Spaargaren, 2012). Hence, these consequences have contributed to concerns about food safety, animal welfare, environmental protection and conservation.
While this conventional food system remains important in today’s society, it is being challenged and new ways of food production and consumption practices are evolving. One of those new transitions is the trend of alternative food, which is organized in so-called alternative food networks. The emergence of alternative food networks in Western Europe are a reaction to the prevailing global and industrial food system that, as those networks claim, disconnects and distances food production from food consumption (Marsden et al., 2000; Renting et al., 2003; Sage, 2003). Due to the mass production methods this conventional food system applies and the accompanied efficiency purposes within the food supply chain, encounters between consumers and producers are precluded (Morris & Young, 2000). In practice this means that consumers do not longer visit the dairy farm to buy fresh milk, where they can see the production process and are able to meet the farmer. Instead, they are forced to do their daily groceries at the anonymous supermarket, in which encounters are excluded. As a result, consumers are unaware of how food is produced and where food is from.
Hence, the conventional food industry has advanced the disconnection between consumers and their food. Alternative food networks therefore aim to ‘resocialize’ and ‘respatialize’ food through the creation of networks in which relationships between producers and consumers are supported and in which consumers are closer connected to food (Marsden et al., 2000; Renting et al., 2003; Venn et al., 2006). Based on this believe, alternative food networks’ understanding of food quality rests on what they do not support (Murdoch & Miele, 2004). They reject production practices that use chemicals and additives and disapprove modified foods, global food networks and factory farming. As a result, alternative food networks work solely with actors that share this ‘alternative’ understanding of food quality and that, likewise, aim to foster the connection between producers, consumers and food.
To promote the connection between producers, consumers and food, alternative food networks apply a non-conventional or short-food supply chain (Hinrichs, 2000; Renting et al., 2003; Sage, 2003; Ilbery & Maye, 2005; Seyfang, 2006; Jarosz, 2008). While in the conventional food industry various parties are involved in the distribution channels, in alternative food networks the number of intermediaries is minimized. As an outcome, the distance between producer and consumer is reduced and the transparency of the food chain has increased. In order to minimize the distance, producers that are involved in alternative networks sell for instance their foodstuffs via food cooperatives, specialized
retailers, box schemers or farmers markets (Venn et al., 2006), which are not embedded in the economically concentrated realms of supermarket chains.
Secondly, those networks work according to the principles of social-embeddedness, in which interpersonal relations are maintained (Sage, 2003). This means that producers expose or are open about their production process to the consumers and educate them about the production methods, in order to promote consumer satisfaction and, on the longer run, consumer loyalty. On the other hand, consumers are able to make connections with the place of production, the production methods and the producers’ values. As a consequence, due to the expansion of their trust relationship and their relationship of regard, the consumer decides to remain a reliable customer (Offer, 1997; Sage, 2003).
Lastly, alternative food networks aim to promote the production and consumption of
‘high-quality’ products, such as organic, local, artisan or ‘fair-trade’ products (Renting et al.,
2003; Sonnino & Marsden, 2006; Goodman & Goodman 2009). The qualities of alternative food networks differ from the conventional food industry since they produce on small-scale and use holistic (farming) production methods (Jarosz, 2008). Holistic production methods comprises of organic or ethical production techniques, in which producers do not employ genetic engineering techniques, do not use fertilizers and pesticides or do not add preservatives to their products. Hence, since producers are concerned with food safety issues, alternative food networks have a ‘sense of morality’ (Sage, 2003). This sense of morality is associated with feelings of responsibility. Parties that are involved in alternative food networks believe that food production, distribution and consumption are also about values related to social relations, culture and the environment. Therefore, those networks feel responsible towards the social, economic and environmental dimensions of food production, distribution and consumption (Jarosz, 2008).
However, the aim of alternative food networks to distance themselves from the conventional food industry cannot be fully achieved (Ilbery et al., 2004). In many cases, alternative food networks are forced to use the distribution channels of the conventional industry, since there are limited alternatives. Hence, while alternative food networks are emerging in the food industry, they still play a minor role in food provisioning in European countries.
Producers and consumers that are involved in alternative food networks are seen as reflexive agents, who express their political or ethical concerns (or both) through their consumption and production practices (DuPuis, 2000; Murdoch et al., 2000; DuPuis, 2002; Micheletti, 2003; Micheletti et al., 2003; Murdoch & Miele, 2004; Barnett et al., 2005b; Stolle et al., 2005; Stock, 2007; Klintman & Böstrom, 2012). Reflexive consumers on the one hand, are attentive when buying food. Starr (2009) defines those consumers as ‘people purchasing and using products and resources according not only to the personal pleasures and values they provide but also to ideas of what is right and good, versus wrong and bad, in moral sense’ (ibid: 916). However, what is right and good depends on a dominant ethical eating discourse in society (Johnston et al., 2011). Particular food safety and food quality issues that have obtained public attention (including the notorious cases as the BSE crisis and the horse meat scandal) have shaped
the alternative food discourse that finds local food, animal welfare and organic certification important.
As a result, what to buy or what to eat is not taken for granted but is a reflexive activity, based on claims from public and private experts, the media and, most importantly, their social network such as friends, family and acquaintances. Hence, consumers reflect upon what those actors say and make, subsequently, judgements of what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food quality and what one should buy or not (Starr, 2009). Murdoch & Miele (2004) define decisions that are based on what consumers do not want as relational reflexivity, in which consumers distance oneself from the conventional food system, in order to enhance embedded relations with food.
Research shows that reflexive consumers are in particular middle-class people, since they have a suitable income or are willing to make financial sacrifices to participate in alternative food networks and live in urban areas where stores are located that offer speciality food products (Barnett et al., 2005a; Starr, 2009; Johnston et al., 2011; Sassatelli & Davolio 2010). Besides economic resources, reflexive consumers also possess cultural capital (Brown et al., 2009; Johnston et al., 2011). In general, cultural capital encompasses individual’s competencies that are acquired through education, upbringing and socialization (Bourdieu, 1983). In this context, cultural capital refers to knowledge about food politics: how is food produced, who has produced these food products and is this ethically correct? (Johnston & Baumann, 2010). With one’s food knowledge, the reflexive consumer is able to identify quality food and to support its existence through one’s market behaviour.
On the other hand, reflexive producers seem to ‘incorporate ideas often associated with reflexive consumption into their production habits’ (Stock, 2007: 95). In his research on organic farmers, Stock (2007) shows that the social network of organic farmers and their own negative experiences with chemical usages (i.e. poor health and soil depletion) have ensured them to become reflexive producers and to start or continue with organic farming. Hence, due to knowledge about food production and their ability to reflect on those practices, organic farmers decide to become reflexive producers that take moral responsibility for the environment and for public health. This moral responsibility is expressed through the use of alternative – and in this case, organic – production techniques. While they were first merely reflexive consumers, they have transformed into reflexive producers that do not only reflect upon their consumption patterns but also on their production practices.
2.2 Culinary knowledge
Scholars that study culinary work and got access to culinary workplaces have found that quality gains meaning through the culinary work practices of the chef, the cook, the butcher, the micro-beer brewer or the amateur (e.g. Fine, 1992; 1995; 1996; Ferguson and Zukin, 1998; Teil & Hennion, 2004; Domaneschi, 2012, Ocejo, 2014; Thurnell-Read, 2014). As a result, they argue that quality can be interpreted as an activity. Based on this believe, those scholars aim to find the conditions that produce quality. In their work, they show that culinary knowledge is a pre-condition that constitute food quality in culinary work.
Culinary knowledge refers to knowledge about aesthetics and function, which are the two foundations of food quality (Fine, 1992; 1995; Ocejo, 2014). Aesthetics is connected with our sensory experiences, experiences that one can hear, see, smell and feel, and which gives rise to senses of beauty and style. In the case of food, aesthetics relates primarily to the visual aspects, the taste and the smell of foodstuffs. On the other hand, function involves the choice of ingredients and the applied preparation techniques to produce food products. On the basis of this knowledge, the culinary worker is able to make aesthetic and functional judgements of food quality, i.e. how food products should look, taste and smell and how food should be produced and prepared. Hence, culinary knowledge determines the ‘craft standards’ and subsequently acts as a framework to judge food quality (Fine, 1992).
While ordinary people judge food quality on the basis of the characteristics of a food product, culinary workers judge food quality by interpreting aesthetics and function as a process, as an everyday accomplishment, which gains meaning through the culinary practices of chefs, cooks, craftsmen and other food experts (Fine, 1992; 1995).
When food quality is judged in terms of the characteristics of a food product, a shared and standardized shared vocabulary is in most cases limited, especially when one defines the taste and smell of foodstuffs (Fine, 1995). While the appearance of a food product is generally easy to describe – we all can see that a tomato is red – explaining the taste or smell of a food product is, on the other hand, a complex task. Taste for example, is merely expressed in general terms as sugary, acid and bitter and, is in most cases downplayed further through terminologies as ‘agreeable’ and ‘disagreeable’, or ‘like’ and ‘dislike’. This is because those sensory experiences are tacit, internal, and cannot be shared with others.
To avoid that sensory experiences are solely internal, and are part of an unspeakable reality, culinary workers go further in judging food quality and move one’s attention to the process of food quality (Fine, 1992; 1995; Domaneschi, 2012). They are concerned with questions as: how do I create the best flavour? How do I produce an extraordinary guise? Which knowledge do I apply to create those tastes? It is especially this activity and the knowledge that is needed for this activity where culinary workers emphasize on when judging food quality. Hence, to understand food quality, scholars reject to interpret food quality merely in terms of the characteristics of a food product, but follow the interpretation of culinary workers. That is, they analyse food quality as an activity and recognize that culinary knowledge is needed in order to judge food quality.
But how do culinary workers obtain culinary knowledge? In general, years of practice are needed to obtain embodied knowledge of how food should look, taste and smell and how food products should be produced (Fine, 1995; Ocejo, 2014). Through interaction with communities of practitioners, the culinary worker is confronted with various culinary models or ‘occupational aesthetics’ (Fine, 1992) that guides him in his work practices and creativity, and affects how he makes judgments of food quality (Fine, 1992; Fine, 1995). An occupational aesthetic is thus based upon shared experiences through the collective production of food qualities in diverse culinary settings over time. It consists of (various) sets of conventions about standards and techniques, which may vary between communities of practitioners. For instance, the occupational aesthetic of a traditional French baker differs from a Dutch baker, since their culinary education varies.
Hence, culinary knowledge acts as an instrumental framework to produce food quality.
How food quality is produced and, subsequently, evaluated depends on the socialization
of the culinary worker in a specific culinary environment.
2.3 Food quality: a reflexive activity
In the previous paragraphs I have shown that reflexivity and culinary knowledge are the two main conditions that produce food quality within alternative food production. However, a methodological framework is not yet discussed, one that guides me as a scholar to examine how artisan food producers give meaning to food quality.
In line with the literature on culinary work that interprets quality as an activity, Teil and Hennion (2004) have developed an analytical framework to understand food quality and explore how food quality is judged in culinary work. In their own research, the culinary worker is the amateur, one that loves wine and music. While those amateurs cannot be perceived as chefs, cooks or craftsmen, Teil & Hennion (2004) argue that amateurs are experts too, since they produce quality through the activity of ‘tasting’. As a result, this framework can, as they claim, be used for various cases that are concerned with the production of taste and quality.
In order to understand quality, Teil and Hennion (2004) emphasize on the practices of the culinary worker, since they believe that quality is something that is not definite, it is something that is constantly revised. Quality does not have a fixed meaning that one can pour into a theoretical model. It is a ‘reflexively and collectively debated and empirically tested’ activity (ibid: 26). Hence, they define quality as a reflexive activity, as a process, which is subject to change due to discussions among practitioners, competing discourses and new insights in the culinary landscape. Moreover, the production of quality consists of numerous trials and errors, caused by various aspects and contradictions of tastes and techniques. In short, quality is the outcome of processes of qualification: the process of how food should look, taste and smell and should be produced.
Based on this interpretation of food quality, Teil and Hennion (2004) have developed a methodological framework that aims to characterize judgements of food quality. They assume that food quality has four main definitions that are continuously intertwined: a) quality as a property of the object; b) quality as a collective process; c) quality as a result of device; and d) quality as an attribute proper of the culinary worker.
While the first definition does not need further explanation, the others do. First of all, quality as a collective process refers to how quality is learned through contact with other practitioners. Those practitioners act as models and confront them with other tastes and techniques that they normally depreciate or have no knowledge of. By doing so, culinary workers develop their capacities to produce and evaluate food quality. Second, quality as a result of device relates to the use of instruments to produce quality, such as mixers, scales and stoves. They are essential in the production of quality, since they support the culinary worker in his everyday work practices. The last definition refers to the involvement of the culinary worker’s body and soul in food quality. The body and soul are the culinary worker’s instruments to produce quality and, besides, are conditioned through these culinary practices. Hence, while the body and soul are essential for any form of action, they first have to learn how to be engaged in action. For
other hand, the soul must first be conditioned to select carrots that can be used to produce the ‘best’ quality. Repetition is needed to get those basics under control. Subsequently, the culinary worker is able to refine his actions.
Overall, food quality emerges from various aspects: from the object, the collective, the devices and the body. By recognizing these aspects, one is able to see that food quality is an action and not a fact. Food quality gains meaning through the activity of cooking and tasting, which is collectively discussed and reflect upon. In short, producing and judging food quality is a social process.
3. Methodology
3.1 Research goal and questions
In this research, I aim to explore the trend of alternative food in Western European cities. Since scholars understand the trend of alternative food as a ‘turn to quality’ in food production and consumption, I focus on artisan food producers who are involved in the production of alternative and, more specifically, artisan food quality. Based on this research goal, the main research question is:
How do artisan food producers in Amsterdam and Stockholm give meaning to alternative, and more specifically, to artisan food quality?
The reviewed literature in this thesis has shown that the production of ‘alternative’ food quality depends on two conditions: reflexivity and culinary knowledge. Moreover, the production of food quality is in this literature interpreted as a reflexive activity. Based on those conditions and interpretations the following sub-questions are developed:
a. To what extent do artisan food producers reflect upon the production practices of the conventional industry and how do they use this reflexive knowledge in order to produce and judge artisan food quality?
b. How do artisan food producers use their culinary knowledge in order to produce and judge artisan food quality?
c. To what extent can the culinary practices of artisan food producers be interpreted as a reflexive activity?
Those sub-questions must eventually help me to answer how artisan food producers give meaning to artisan food quality. Finally, those results must give new insights into the trend of alternative food in Western European cities.
3.2 The extended case method
Based on the research goal, the logic of the extended case method is followed (Burawoy, 1998a, 1998b; Burawoy et al., 1991, 2000). The extended case method is seen as a methodological approach for those who conduct ethnographic and interpretive research and who aim to develop a heuristic conceptual framework, one that is able to provide contextualized theoretical explanations of the social world. Yet, the goal of this method is not to construct new theories, but to extend knowledge about sociocultural structures and social forces through the analysis of data that has not yet been studied within a particular research field.
The method consists of four stages that, besides data collection, primarily focus on data analysis (Burawoy, 1998b; Burawoy et al., 2000). The first stage is concerned with methods of data collection and is called extension of observer to participant. To collect data, the researcher conducts narrative interviews and/or performs on-the-job observations. The subsequent stages, respectively stage two, three and four, emphasize on methods of data analysis and address levels of theory abstraction. The second stage is extension of
into explanations of social processes through empirical reduction. The third stage is
extension from process to force and locates the discovered social processes into the context of
external forces. The fourth and last stage is extension of theory and is aimed at improving existing theories.
In this chapter, the case selection, the data collection and the data analysis of this inquiry are discussed. It ends with a critical reflection on the method and explores if the method is adequate enough to answer the main question.
3.3 Case selection
Until today, scholars in the research field of alternative food have especially focused on how food quality is perceived by alternative food networks in rural areas, and have basically neglected how artisan food producers in cities judge food quality. Since this research is aimed at theory extension, cases are selected that are lacking in existing literature on alternative food and are thus able to give new insights in this specific research field. Artisan food producers in cities are one of those deviant cases (Gerring, 2006) and therefore play a central role in this inquiry.
Since this research is interested in the trend of alternative food in Western European cities, the inquiry is conducted in two cities in this region: Amsterdam and Stockholm. Those two cities are selected since they have, besides their geographical location, similar characteristics including population size and urban economy, which make within-case comparison feasible. First of all, they share the same population size of approximately 900.000 inhabitants. Secondly, Amsterdam and Stockholm are driven by a cognitive-cultural economy (Power, 2002; Scott, 2012; Kloosterman, 2014). In addition to sectors as the business and financial sector and the high-technology industry, those economies consist of cultural industries that produce cultural-products and services, i.e. products and services with symbolic and aesthetic value (Scott, 2012). Also artisanal products are seen as cultural-products (Scott, 2004). Especially city-dwellers with a relatively high disposable income and who aim to have an authentic lifestyle consume those commodities and amenities (Scott, 2012). While a high consumer demand is an important drive to locate in cities, also agglomeration effects are the cause of the presence of cultural industries in urban areas.
In line with the logic of the extended case method, the goal of the within-case comparison is to causally connect the individual cases of artisan food producers (Burawoy, 1998b). This means that the aim is not to find regularities and to generalize the outcomes in order to make universal statements about the trend of alternative food in Western European cities, but to ‘make each case work in its connection to other cases’ (Burawoy, 1998b: 19). Thus, the within-case comparison is aimed at strengthening the individual cases through connecting one another, while taking in consideration that each case is situational and is embedded in a specific (city) context.
The criteria that are used to select artisan food producers in both cities are based upon the nature of the food product, the scale of production, the location of production and the period in which the company is established. First of all, the selected respondents must market their products as ‘artisan’, ‘craft’ or ‘handmade’ foodstuffs. For instance, they must claim that they produce handmade sausages, craft beer or artisan bread. Second, the selected respondents must produce on small-scale, compared to the
production scale of the conventional industry. Third, the selected respondents must produce their foodstuffs within the city, and more specifically, in the urban area of Stockholm and Amsterdam. Fourth, the artisan food producers must be part of the new wave of craft producers in cities, who have started their company in late 20th or early 21st
century. This means that artisan family businesses, which have run by multiple family generations, are excluded in this research.
In order to fulfil the research goal, a purposive sampling method is applied based on the above criteria. The respondents are found through various channels, both online as offline, including the internet, social media, organic supermarkets, speciality food shops and street observations. After the initial selection, around sixty artisan food producers are contacted in both cities. Finally, thirty artisan food producers were willing to participate in the research. The producers are both men and women, between age 28 and 69, who initiated their company between 1998 and 2015 and who produce a variety of artisan food products (see table 1).
Table 1: characteristics of artisan companies and the owners
N o.
Product City Year Gender Age No .
Product City Year Gender Age
1 Beer AMS 2011 m&f 35, 40, 63 16 Dried fruit STHLM 2010 f 45 2 Beer AMS 2012 m 30, 31, 31, 34, 35, 17 Genever AMS 2015 m 25, 25, 27, 28 3 Beer AMS 2011 m 28, 33, 35, 35,
18 Ice cream AMS 2012 m 31 4 Beer AMS 2013 m 35, 36 19 Ice cream STHLM 2008 f 43 5 Beer STHLM 2012 m 38 20 Ice cream STHLM 2009 m&f 40, 42 6 Bread &
patisserie
AMS 2008 m 43 21 Lemonade AMS 2014 m 36, 48 7 Bread &
patisserie
AMS 2012 m 56 22 Mustard AMS 2013 m 30 8 Caramels STHLM 2010 f 38 23 Nut bars STHLM 2015 m 35 9 Charcuterie AMS 2011 m&f 47, 69 24 Peanut
butter
AMS 2014 f 32 10 Charcuterie AMS 2014 m 39 25 Salsa sauce AMS 2014 m 49 11 Chocolate AMS 2011 m 43, 45 26 Sausages AMS 2011 m 31, 32,
33 12 Chocolate STHLM 1997 m&f 42, 44 27 Sausages STHLM 2007 m 45 13 Chutney AMS 2008 f 47 28 Sausages STHLM 2010 m 48 14 Coffee STHLM 2004 m 42 29 Smoked foodstuffs AMS 1998 m 57 15 Coffee STHLM 2009 f 29 30 Smoked, dried & pickled foodstuffs AMS 2014 m 43, 44, 47 3.4 Data collection
In order to accomplish the research goal, narrative interviews and on-the-job observations are conducted (Burawoy, 1998b). Narrative interviews are interviews that allow respondents to tell their own story and experiences. Therefore, the interviews with the artisan food producers took the form of a conversation that was loosely structured and open for other topics than initially meant, while having in mind that certain themes
should been mentioned for the final research aim and, furthermore, for the reliability of the inquiry.
The interviews took place between October 2015 and April 2016 and were conducted at the workplaces, shops or homes of the artisan food producers or, in some cases, at cafes downtown. The interviews lasted from 45 to 100 minutes. Topics about the company’s establishment, the production process, markets and consumers and work motivations were discussed and were complemented by themes the artisan food producers proposed. The theme of food quality and the meaning of food quality was integral to the other topics, since the artisan food producers’ view on quality seem to determine why they started their company, why they choose a certain production process, which consumers they approach and, finally, what their work motivations are.
When meeting at the workplaces of the artisan food producers, the narrative interviews were complemented with on-the-job observations in order to improve triangulation. A guided tour through the workplaces, in which the various steps of the production process became visible, provided a better understanding of the everyday work practices of the artisan food producers. However, these observations do play a minor role in the analysis of this research, since not all workplaces are accessed and, moreover, limited time is spent in the visited spaces.
3.5 Data analysis
The empirical data is analysed through the last three stages of the extended case method:
extension of observations over time and space, extension from process to force and extension of theory
(Burawoy, 1998b; Burawoy et al., 2000). The stage extension of observations over time and space employs empirical reduction in order to translate situational knowledge into social processes. Empirical reduction is performed to prevent that the stories of the artisan food producers lose their context in time and space. Practically, this means that from the thirty respondents that are interviewed for this research, only three artisan food producers will tell their personal story. The selection of those cases is achieved after various rounds of interpretation of all the collected data. The selection of those three cases is based on an equal representation of the number of artisan food producers in both cities and, moreover, on the goal to represent the understandings of all the participating artisan food producers in this research.
In the stage extension from process to force, the analysis is focused on the translation of micro-processes to macro-structures (Burawoy, 1998b). This means that the meaning of artisan food quality, which is based on the experiences and interpretations of artisan food producers in Amsterdam and Stockholm, will be explained through external forces. In this case, those external forces are associated with specific resources that are available in society that might explain why artisan food producers give meaning to artisan food quality as they do. Moreover, the potential small differences that might be found between artisan food producers will not be justified by city-comparison, since I do not aim to generalize the final results. Instead, the small differences will be explained by recognizing that each case is unique and situational and that the meaning of artisan food quality is also influenced by personal goals and desires.
The analysis of the above stages will eventually lead to theory extension, which is aimed at providing new insights in existing literature on the trend of alternative food.
First of all, I aim to show that the production of alternative, and more specifically, artisan food does not solely occur in rural areas, but nowadays also takes place in cities and city regions. Hence, to get a better understanding of the trend of alternative food scholars in this research field should broaden their scope and examine this phenomenon in the urban context as well. Second, I aim to expose that it is essential to include literature on culinary work in order to understand alternative, or, artisan food quality. By approaching the trend of alternative food as a multidisciplinary research field, scholars are able to understand this trend from various perspectives.
3.6 Critical reflection on method
In this paragraph I reflect upon if the extended case method was an adequate method to employ in order to answer the main research question. To reflect upon this issue, I first discuss the limitations and strengths of a small sample size and empirical reduction. Moreover, I go deeper into two power effects that might arise when employing the extended case method, including the effects of objectification and normalization (Burawoy, 1998a, 1998b; Burawoy et al., 2000).
First of all, it is important to acknowledge that due to a small sample size of
n=30, I am not able to make general statements about the meaning of artisan food
quality and, subsequently, the trend of alternative food in Western European cities. However, since I aim to explore this trend by providing new insights, generalization is not needed. In line with this research goal, the analysis is focused on providing a rich, complex and detailed description of artisan food quality, which can solely be accomplished by conducting (qualitative) narrative interiews. Hence, in this case, the extend case method has assisted me to achieve this goal.
Second, it is essential to recognize that empirical reduction might lead to problems of representativeness. Due to empirical reduction, only three artisan food producers tell their personal stories in this research, while the other stories are excluded. Hence, questions about equal representation arise. Yet, I believe that empirical reduction does not affect the representativeness of this study, since the selection of the three personal stories is accomplished after various rounds of interpretations of the collected data and, subsequently, represents the various experiences and stories of all the interviewed artisan food producers. Moreover, empirical reduction is a great advantage in qualitative research since it aims to preserve the context of the various stories. As a result, context effects are precluded (Burawoy, 1998b). Consequently, I believe that empirical reduction is a benefit to explore the trend of alternative food.
Third, the use of the extended case method might lead to issues as objectification (Burawoy, 1998a, 1998b; Burawoy et al., 2000). When macro-forces are interpreted as concrete realities – i.e. realities that are natural and stable and are unable to collapse – one can speak of objectification. In this inquiry, I am not able to make a causal inference between the influence of macro-structures and the meaning of artisan food quality, since I have solely conducted and analysed 30 narrative interviews and on-the-job observations. As a result, statements about macro-forces that have affected micro-social processes will be performed carefully.
understand, evaluate and control the social world, considering that there is also a world outside those categories. In this inquiry, I have tried to avoid this problem, by approaching alternative food as a multidisciplinary phenomenon and by involving the research field of culinary work in the analysis. Besides, my aim is not to develop categories in order to understand, evaluate and control the trend of alternative food, but to explore and give new insights in this research field. By focusing on exploration, I try to minimize the effect of normalization.
4. Case descriptions
Case 1: coffee roasters in Stockholm
In 2004, six friends have launched a coffee roastery in Tullinge, a town in the metropolitan region of Stockholm in Sweden. Due to their common interest in food and their work experiences in the culinary world and in the coffee industry, the six men realized that they could do ‘so much better’ and created the first speciality craft coffee brand in Sweden. Now, 12 years later, they have besides a roastery also a concept store that is located in Södermalm, a middle-class neighbourhood in Stockholm. Here, people can enjoy a coffee or tea, or participate in coffee tastings and barista workshops.
The company works according to the principles of Direct Trade: they buy the raw materials directly from the farmers without the interference of an intermediary. In this way, they are able to control the quality of the raw materials and, moreover, they are sure that the price paid for the materials benefits the community of farmers. Besides coffee, they also import tea that they manufacture and sell in Sweden. Today, the company roasts 50.000 kilo coffee a month and employs more than 25 people. On a regular basis, they participate in international coffee competitions.
For this inquiry, I have interviewed J. (42) in the concept store, who is the CEO of the coffee roastery and is, moreover, responsible for the marketing and sales of the company. While he is not involved in the roasting process anymore, he is very knowledgeable when it comes to coffee and running a business.
Case 2: A French artisan baker in Amsterdam
In 2008, I. (42) and his brother established a French artisan bakery in the heart of Amsterdam in an art-deco style mansion. While they were initially not educated as bakers (i.e. they have a background in sociology and film) they enjoyed baking and cooking and started to work during their studies at a bakery and a caterer in Amsterdam. However, I. did not identify himself with the bakery’s production method, since the production was done mechanically and on a relatively large scale. Therefore, he decided to go to Paris to learn the traditional craft of baking.
After his education and work experience in Paris, he started to work for two artisan bakeries in the Netherlands. Finally, in 2008 I. and his brother launched their own French artisan bakery. However, in 2011 his brother decided to leave and I. continued alone with the bakery. Today, the bakery hires three bakers and one apprentice, who bake seven days a week.
On a monthly basis, they use 2670 kilo flower to produce bread, viennoisserie and patisserie. The produced goods are sold directly to the consumers in the shop and café, which is located in the same mansion as the bakery. People can buy their daily groceries here and enjoy breakfast, lunch or a patisserie with a coffee. The space is planned in a way that the bakery is connected with the shop and the café, which enables interaction between the bakers and the consumers.
For this research, I interviewed the owner I. (42) in his own café. As a matter of course, he is entitled to tell me his own story about the company and his interpretation of artisan food quality.
Case 3: craft beer brewers in Amsterdam
In 2012, four young men started a micro-beer brewery in Amsterdam. Before, they worked together at a beer café in the city centre of Amsterdam, where a large number of craft beers where sold from all over the world, especially from North America. Due to their work experience and the small market of Dutch craft beer, they got inspired to start to produce their own beer. First in their own kitchen and later on, when the demand was growing, at a larger scale.
Since 2015, the brewery is located on an industrial area in the northern part of Amsterdam where they combine the brewery with a pub. The mission of the brewery is to transform the Dutch beer landscape and make quality beer available and attractive for everyone. Today, they are a collective of five young men, with various educational backgrounds (art school, business studies, hydrology, social sciences) between the age of 30 and 35.
On a monthly basis they produce 280 hectolitre beer1, which is partly done by
hired breweries, since their own brewery has a limited capacity. Therefore, their own brewery is focused on the development of new beers. A total of 16 different beers are available on the Dutch market that have various tastes, such as a Tripel with galangal root, cilantro, coriander, chili pepper and orange peel, or a Bock beer with masala spices and lactose.
Besides brewing beer, they organize monthly music events with a special theme. Also, this summer they launch an international beer festival, where various international micro-beer brewers come together to compete and show their brew qualities.
For this research I interviewed T. (34) at his office at the brewery. T. is responsible for the business strategy of the company. Before getting involved in the brewery in 2015, he had his own business in solar panels. Since he is the first contact of the brewery, he knows everything about the company and his companions, but also about the technical aspects of brewing beer.
1 When comparing this with Heineken for example, the production of the micro-beer brewery can be seen
as small-scale. Heineken produced in 2015 188,3 million hectolitre beer, which is respectively 15,7 million hectolitre beer a month (Heineken, 2016).
5. Results
In this chapter, I present the results that are most relevant for this study. Since there are no outstanding differences between how artisan food producers in Amsterdam and Stockholm perceive artisan food quality, the results from both cities are combined. Moreover, since I do not want to lose context, each paragraph is dedicated to the personal story of one artisan food producer. In total, three stories are told. The selection of those stories is based on an equal representation of the number of artisan food producers in both cities and, moreover, on the goal to represent the understandings of all the participating artisan food producers in this research.
5.1 Finding new ways of connection in today’s food industry
When I interviewed the artisan food producers in Amsterdam and Stockholm, it was significant that they always had the need to express their complains about food production in the conventional industry. While these complains were very diversified, ranging from how little fresh fruit was added to lemonade, the simplification and the standardization of the brewing process, that ice-cream from the supermarket is not made from real milk but from milk powder, about the miserable lives of pigs in factory farms and about the unfair prices small farmers receive for the coffee beans, the message of the artisan food producers was identical; They wanted to convince me how intransparent today’s conventional food system is and that they, in most cases, reject those practices (Murdoch & Miele, 2004).
Hence, the reflexive and critical attitude of artisan food producers towards food production in the conventional food industry, have resulted in action. With one’s own production practices, artisan food producers aim to contribute to a more transparent food system. Although every artisan food entrepreneur does this in its own way, it is based on the principle to connect producers, consumers and food (Marsden et al., 2000; Murdoch et al., 2000; Renting et al., 2003; Venn et al., 2006; Jarosz, 2008).
On the basis of the case of the coffee roasters in Stockholm, I explain how those (new) connections are made. It must be said that this is a unique case and that artisan food producers also encourage connection in other ways.
The coffee roasters in Stockholm work with coffee beans, which are imported from various countries in the Global South, including from Colombia, El Salvador and Brazil, but also from India and Ethiopia. When they started to import in 2004, the roasters first collaborated with intermediaries, who maintained contact with the small farmers. Years later, after visiting various coffee countries with intermediaries, the roasters realized that the system as it now occurred was unfair, since the price paid for the coffee beans did not benefit the community of farmers. Instead, (due to a fee of 40 per cent) the intermediaries earned huge amounts of money, while the coffee farmers solely received a small income, just enough to survive.
As a result, the roasters decided to dissociate themselves from the conventional coffee industry through buying direct from the farmers, without the inference of an intermediary. Now, 60 to 70 per cent of the imported coffee beans are obtained by the
principle of Direct Trade, in which the supply-chain is shortened (Hinrichs, 2000; Renting et al., 2003; Seyfang, 2006) and a direct dialogue with the farmer is supported.
“[When the situation allows it] We meet the farmers direct. Instead of meeting the importers who meet the farmers (…) when we were young and did not know that much, we were actually traveling with an importer. This was in El Salvador. One of the farmers came to me and said ‘hey come here, what do you pay for my coffee?’ and we told him that we pay 10 euros a kilo. He was surprised (…) After, we decided to buy direct from the farmers (…) This was in 2007. Now we are actually buying direct from these farmers and they do not work with the importer anymore”.
First, Direct Trade makes it possible to collaborate with farmers that share the same perception on how food should be produced. By having a direct dialogue, the coffee roasters are able to express their preferences and expectations with regard to the production process. For instance, the coffee roasters do not want to buy coffee beans that are produced with chemical fertilizers and therefore aim to only collaborate with coffee farmers that do use natural fertilizers. In this way, the coffee roasters are involved in the production process and solely work with ingredients they morally support (Jarosz, 2008; Sage, 2003).
Second, since Direct Trade shortens the supply-chain, the coffee roasters are able to pay a fair coffee price to the coffee farmers. Besides securing a stable income, the coffee roasters also invest in the community in order to improve the living conditions of the families. Those investments are for instance related to better schooling or enhancing the community’s health conditions.
“We invest in the farms we are working with. With our direct trade relationship, we will buy a coffee for five years and we pay them an amount of money that is way above the fair trade price or the coffee market price. Besides, we have also… above this agreement with give something extra. [Every time we visit, we ask], what do you need? What is your biggest challenge right now? So, for example in Guatemala, there is a school [in the village of the coffee farmers]. But they had a problem… the kids only eat fast food: chips and coke. Because of that, they could not focus on school. They get tired, fat and lazy. Since they live in poverty, we helped them to build a kitchen. Now, they have a woman there who cooks decent food for them. So that is also the result of the direct trade agreement. We invest in the communities”.
Third, Direct Trade enables the coffee roasters to show the story behind the product to their customers. Due to the direct dialogue with the coffee farmers that sometimes already lasts for eight years, the coffee roasters are informed about the living conditions of the farmers and their production methods. By sharing the stories of the coffee farmers, which are communicated through their website and concept store, the coffee roasters aim to be transparent about where the coffee is from and who has produced it. By being transparent about the production process, social-embeddedness is advanced, in which interpersonal relations with customers are maintained (Sage, 2003). The coffee roasters even argue that they have contributed to change in today’s food system, since the conventional food industry now also aim to tell the story behind the product.
“[Besides we] also wanted to challenge the bigger players, the dragons. And today, it is pretty cool because… when we started to promote coffee of Ethiopia, we talked about the farmers and about the taste of the coffee that is totally different. Before, everyone was promoting their brand. And then, I remember it still… there was a big commercial sign on the street and I passed it by. ‘what is this?’. And one of the dragons was promoting their coffee with ‘new coffee from Nicaragua, meet the farmer Don Juan’, or something. I was like yes, this is great! I did not see it as a competitor, but more as now they are starting to wake up. And if they are starting to wake up, it is good for us, it is good for everyone (…) We cannot change the way people think. Because we are just a small company. But if the big guys are waking up, then it is happening”.
Overall, this case shows how (new) connections are made between farmer, producer, consumer and food and how this contributes to transparency in today’s food system. By applying the principle of Direct Trade and shortening the supply-chain, the coffee roasters have a direct dialogue with the coffee farmers. Besides collaborating with farmers and financially supporting the coffee community, the coffee roasters are, due to the close relationships with the farmers, able to tell the story behind the product to their customers. Hence, their aim to enhance transparency in today’s food system shows that artisan food producers are reflexive producers (Stock, 2007) that try to dissociate themselves from the food production methods the conventional food industry applies. However, they do not manage to fully exclude themselves from the distribution channels of the conventional industry (Ilbery et al., 2004) since still 30 per cent of the coffee is obtained with the help of intermediaries.
5.2 Constructing craft standards to produce food quality
While the majority of the interviewed artisan food producers have not obtained a culinary degree (more than 75 per cent), all artisan food producers apply culinary knowledge to construct craft standards that guide them in the production of artisan food quality (Fine, 1992; Fine, 1995; Ocejo, 2014). Most of the interviewed artisan food producers have obtained culinary knowledge through on-the-job training and apprenticeships at renowned (and also less renowned) restaurants, bakeries or other artisan food business around the world. Besides, some of them are autodidacts who have educated themselves in the respective craft.
Since I have interviewed various artisan food producers with various culinary backgrounds who produce various food products, I solely focus on one case to explain how craft standards are applied in order to produce food quality. Hence, on the basis of the case of the French artisan baker in Amsterdam, I show which aesthetic and functional craft standards guide him, and why he uses these specific standards, in the production of food quality.
The French artisan baker I. (42) in Amsterdam has obtained knowledge about the craft of baking in Paris and later, also in the Netherlands, at various renowned bakeries. While he was graduated in Sociology and has not obtained a culinary degree, he decided to become a baker, since he liked baking so much. In his spare time, he tried to bake as much as he could, in order to learn the principles of baking. Years later, after his
apprenticeships at the various bakeries in France and the Netherlands, he started his own French artisan bakery in Amsterdam. Based on what he has learned during those years at the various bakeries, he has developed his own craft standards (Fine, 1992; Ocejo, 2014). Those standards determine how his products should look, taste and smell and how it should be produced and be prepared.
When asking him about those craft standards, he specifically asked me what I wanted to know, since he produces various products, including bread, viennoisserie and patisserie. Hence, to keep it simple for – I suppose – unknowledgeable people like me and my readers, I asked him to tell me more about the craft standards he applies to produce floor breads and baguettes. He tells me that it starts with a specific image of how a French bread should look like.
“I have a specific image of how a French bread should look like. With an open structure
and a firm crust. Soft, but not sticky, solid. Light, but not too light of structure, but with holes. Irregular ones. That is a specific image of a traditional French quality bread”. Hence, these aesthetic standards guide him in his work practices and, moreover, in how he judges and produces food quality (Fine 1992; Fine 1995). In order to produce this ‘traditional French quality bread’, he applies functional standards that consist of ideas of which ingredients and techniques he must use. First of all, he argues that it is important to use quality ingredients, and in this specific case, quality flavour that is grinded in a way that matches his idea of quality. For him, as the following quotes show, quality flour refers to flour that consists of various harvests from various regions in France and that does not contain pesticides or additives. Therefore, he solely works with French millers who share his conceptualization of quality flour. As he argues, this flour is especially suitable for the way he produces bread.
“We buy flour, in France. Which is partly organic and partly non-organic. What we first find important is that we produce quality bread, it is about the taste of the bread. And, if organic flour is available, than I prefer to do it organically. However, the market for organic flour is smaller. So, the quality of the flour is therefore also limited, since the miller is not able to choose between various harvests from various regions that he wants to combine. So, there are just a small amount of farmers that produce organically. In France, they work a lot with the Label Rouge certification. That is not organic, but it disapproves certain pesticides and additives. That is used a lot and therefore the quality of baking becomes better. For the baguettes, we use the Label Rouge certification. For the sourdough bread we use organic flour. So, the choice of ingredients depends on the quality of the ingredients and, if the organic quality is good, I use organic flour”.
“I use French flour since it is grinded by French millers, and they have the same idea about bread as I do. Dutch millers produce flour that is suitable for Dutch bread. Which has, in general, more additives. Moreover, Dutch flour has specific baking characteristics that is suitable for a baking tin. And the flour we use, has baking characteristics that is commonly used for a floor baked bread”.
Second, I. argues that he also applies technical craft standards, which refer to the production techniques he must apply. Since he aims to produce ‘traditional French quality bread’, he uses techniques that suit this goal. Those techniques are connected with knowledge about chemical processes that occur when producing bread. For him, it is important not to use any additives in his bread, and therefore he treats the dough in a different way than Dutch bakers normally do. Instead of kneading the dough, he folds the dough in order to produce tender and soft bread. Moreover, since he aims to maintain the structure and the taste of the bread, he weighs the dough by hand.
“A Dutch baker kneads the dough, while we fold it since this is much more tender for the dough. The advantage is that… the reason we do this is… if you knead the dough it oxidizes. As a result, the gluten are able to develop very fast, which causes air in the dough. And vitamins and minerals, and also taste components oxidize and will be lost. Hence, when you knead the dough you will produce a stark white bread. And this is in the Netherlands ‘white bread’. To make it more tasteful and tender, Dutch bakers add additives to the bread. What we do… during the rise time, acids develop that give the dough taste. By giving it time, you get a very soft and tender bread. Which you can preserve for a very long time. And which has very good baking qualities. Without using any additives”.
“We shape the dough by hand and we weigh by hand. Almost all bakeries, and also in France, use a machine to weigh (…) If you don’t weigh it mechanically, then you get a more intense flavour. Slightly sour, but balanced. Since you maintain the other flavour components”.
Overall, this example shows how craft standards guide artisan food producers in producing food quality. Those craft standards are based on the culinary knowledge of the artisan food producer, which is formed through the interaction with various communities of practitioners in the past and in the present (Fine, 1992). Therefore, how food quality is perceived depends on the culinary background of the artisan food producer.
5.3 Producing artisan food quality: a reflexively and collectively debated activity
In the previous paragraph I showed that craft standards are essential in order to produce artisan food quality. In this paragraph I elaborate on the practice of producing artisan food quality. How do artisan food producers understand this practice? Through asking questions about what quality entails, I tried to let the producers think about the meaning of their production practices and to let them explain why they market their products as quality products. On the basis of the story of the craft beer brewer in Amsterdam, I show why the practice of producing artisan food quality can be seen as a reflexively and collectively debated activity.
