The quality of the PDO cheeses of the Auvergne region: a study of the relation between market and scientific research

• Grant number: 18/26302-7
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 16, 2019
• Effective date (End): November 15, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Rural Anthropology
• Principal researcher: Emilia Pietrafesa de Godoi
• Grantee: Mayra Lafoz Bertussi
• Supervisor abroad: Afranio Garcia
• Home Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), France
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/04320-0 - The quality of the PDO cheeses of the Auvergne region: a study of the relation between market and scientific research, BP.DR

Abstract

This research project focuses on a very relevant strategy of valorisation of agricultural produce: the protected Designation of Origin. The appellations d'origine contrôlée (AOC), the most widely used in France, is a certification system based on the concept of terroir - a definition that refers to the geographic, social and historical specifications for manufacturing certain produce, supporting origin protection as a strategy to add value. The introduction of this system beyond French territory, such as the recognition of AOCs within the European Union and World Trade Organisation, triggered a process for legitimating AOC through an intensification of the production criteria. Taking in consideration that this context generated several disputes over the categorisation of the quality of cheeses, the object of study is the social construction of the quality of the AOC cheeses of the French region of Auvergne. There are two axis of analysis: the first one aims at understanding the role of scientific expertise in the process of legitimating AOC's, since it has been verified the existence of a network of scientists and professionals working on the promotion and development of AOC. The second axis focuses on the reception of these criteria by the cheese manufacturers and aims to understand the social capital of the producers that manage to comply their production with such certification system. (AU)