Sociological Dimension of Traditional Foods

Abstract

While local traditional dishes reflect the historical, geographical and cultural characteristics of regions, the eating habits of individuals provide clues to the social and economic structure. Today, traditional food production is suffering from a serious loss of competitiveness in the face of global industrial food production and distribution. Farmers who produce traditional agricultural products are threatened with extinction. This situation means both the loss of traditional products and the disappearance of an important part of our food and drink culture. The European Union (EU) has launched a major project called TRUEFOOD to prevent this loss and to assess and resolve the problem in all its dimensions. Through this project, the EU aims to ensure the protection of traditional foods under the conditions of global competition and to harmonize production processes with the food safety standards required by the times. In Turkey, the Traditional Foods Symposium (GGS) series, which was initiated in parallel with this process and has been organized for about 20 years, is trying to record our traditional foods. In addition, various institutions are trying to protect “traditional foods” with Geographical Indication (GI) registrations, as in the EU. Many of the papers presented in the GGS series show that traditional foods are not only raw materials and production technologies, but also an expression of social identity, a religious ritual, a phenomenon that promotes solidarity, and a whole that reflects the memories of individuals. In the future symposiums of the series, it is thought that the establishment of a tradition in which the histories and sociological dimensions of our “traditional foods” are studied together in their recording will be of great benefit in terms of the continuity of our culture.