1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910462504303321

Autore

Paxson Heather <1968->

Titolo

The life of cheese [[electronic resource] ] : crafting food and value in America / / Heather Paxson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2013

ISBN

1-78402-443-0

1-283-64634-X

0-520-95402-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (322 p.)

Collana

California studies in food and culture ; ; v. 41

Disciplina

637/.3

Soggetti

Cheesemaking - United States

Cheese industry - United States

Cheese - Social aspects - United States

Food habits - United States

Local foods - United States

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. American Artisanal -- 2. Ecologies of Production -- 3. Economies of Sentiment -- 4. Traditions of Invention -- 5. The Art and Science of Craft -- 6. Microbiopolitics -- 7. Place, Taste, and the Promise of Terroir -- 8. Bellwether -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Cheese is alive, and alive with meaning. Heather Paxson's beautifully written anthropological study of American artisanal cheesemaking tells the story of how craftwork has become a new source of cultural and economic value for producers as well as consumers. Dairy farmers and artisans inhabit a world in which their colleagues and collaborators are a wild cast of characters, including plants, animals, microorganisms, family members, employees, and customers. As "unfinished" commodities, living products whose qualities are not fully settled, handmade cheeses embody a mix of new and old ideas about taste and value. By exploring the life of cheese, Paxson helps rethink the politics



of food, land, and labor today.