Ecology and Culture: The Territorial Anchorage of Corsican Cheese Producers' Knowledge

Abstract

Given that the core concern of any localized agri-food system (LAFS) is its heritage, the know-how historically encapsulated in agri-food products can determine their territorial entrenchment. The authors consider this know-how as a complex resource that can be exploited through interactions among technical, relational, cultural and cognitive components. They analyse the know-how associated with the LAFS of cheese production in Corsica, combining anthropological and systemic approaches to explore the concept of territorially anchored collective know-how. The paper emphasizes that knowledge about interactions between potential collective resources, such as that relating to animal husbandry and cheese production, does not necessarily belong to the same cultural phase or have the same transience as a historical building process.