Study Unit 3: Italian Food Culture and History

In this unit, we take a deep dive into Italian gastronomy. Gastronomy is a word that defines a field of knowledge that is highly interdisciplinary, comprising science, culture, and history, but centered on a cuisine rooted in a place.

The American view of Italian cuisine is often framed as the quintessential example of the Mediterranean Diet, a concept we will explore at more length in the following study unit. Framed as a "diet," Italian cuisine is imagined as one that is based on a high carb base (pasta and bread) with abundant fresh produce.

It might be interesting to note that this way of speaking is relatively new for Italians. For them the relevant frame is La Cucina Povera ("the food of the poor"). This framing points us to an important historical fact: the history of food in 20th Century Italy started out as a story of extreme hunger and deprivation. The causes of this are complex. It was not because the land itself was not capable of producing abundant food, but the relations of production created conditions of exploitation and wealth inequality. This was further exacerbated by political policies during the Fascist era that were very much focused on making Italy self-sufficient in wheat as well as food rationing during the Second World War. 

The agricultural system in northern Italy was based on feudal land relations of large holdings owned by noble families (the padrone) that were farmed in a share-cropping relationship with peasant families (mezzadria). The word "mezza," means half. Half of everything a farm family produced or foraged on the estate went to the padrone. This system was established in the 11th Century and lasted until after World War II, when it was finally abolished. As agriculture became more capital intensive, the squeeze on peasant families intensified.

The castle Links to an external site. of Santa Severa was the seat of a landed estate owned by a Padrone. It housed not only the padrone's family but also the mezzadria (at times as many as 40 families). The nearby Morani Farm Links to an external site., which is noted for preserving the butteri Links to an external site. culture of the Italian cowboys, was originally part of this estate. We will be conducting some of our tours and workshops on this farm. Our local teaching partner, Claudia Paiella, who will be leading some of the workshops, including wine tasting, is descended from a mezzadria family from this estate through her grandma. She will give us a perspective on the place grounded in family history.

The readings by Carol Counihan will give us an historical understanding of the mezzadria system and how it underlies the formation of Italian cuisine as we know it today. It will also introduce two key critical concepts to frame our exploration not only of Italian cuisine, but also food anthropology more generally. The first is the idea of "food as voice." How do emotions connected to food give voice to sentiments that may be highly personal and hard to access otherwise. It also introduces the research methodology of constructing a food-centered life history in which the anthropologist can explore the meanings and values of food within a cultural world from the food memories of her informants. 

The first half of the 20th Century was marked by waves of out-migration of Italians to North and South America, Australia, and elsewhere. They left because they were hungry. This is how the idea of Italian food became globalized in the establishment of Little Italys in major cities all over the world, serving up those aspects of Italian food, especially dried pasta and canned tomato sauce, that were easily mass produced and shipped elsewhere.

The post-war rural-to-urban migration is also an important shift in understanding Italy's contemporary food culture. During Italy's post-war shift to a more urban industrial economy, the countryside was almost emptied out of population. However, many Italians still maintain an important affective attachment to their rural hometowns (paese) and there persists a strong sense of local identity. We see this also in the various modes of nostalgia that create a value for rural life and a local food culture that expresses a territorio (place). Farms have adapted this mode of nostalgia as an additional revenue stream to support a multi-functional business model of a small farm. Both Morani and Pulicaro offer farm-to-table restaurants, guesthouses (agriturismo), and educational programs for school children to attract urban consumers who wish to experience the local food culture.

You will find in Italy large supermercati (supermarkets) as well as alimentari (local food shops). And we will begin our exploration of different food markets in Santa Severa itself. In the next unit, we will be exploring the desire for preservation of local food traditions more in depth.

The other assigned reading is Massimo Montanari's Italian Identity in the Kitchen. We are asking you to read the entire book, but it is a quick read and will give you a comprehensive history background for Dafne's lectures on gastronomy while we are in Italy.

There is only one Discussion Post for this unit worth 12 points, so it is intended to be a more extended piece of writing.