Cultural Studies of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Cultural studies of agriculture, food and wine interrogate how human societies produce, consume and imbue meaning in the vegetal, animal and fermented products that shape daily life and collective identity. This field ranges from analyses of traditional farming practices and regional foodways to the social narratives that confer value on particular dishes, ingredients and wine styles. Scholars explore the interplay between globalising forces—such as market integration, technological innovation and environmental imperatives—and local know-how, heritage labelling and gastronomic imaginaries. Gender, class, ethnicity and power relations are examined through the lens of dietary norms, household decision-making and branding discourses. Wine studies in particular fuse agroecological research on grapevine varieties and terroir with anthropological inquiry into appellations, rituals of tasting, and the politics of authenticity. By tracing the social life of crops, livestock products and vinified beverages, cultural researchers reveal how food and wine articulate territory, memory and modernity in a deeply interwoven global landscape.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent large-scale survey work across more than twenty countries finds that men consistently consume greater quantities of meat than women, and that this gender gap unexpectedly widens in nations with higher human development and measures of gender equality. These paradoxical results suggest that contexts of empowerment can actually amplify traditional dietary expressions of masculinity.

Cross-cultural fieldwork in Italy and Turkey has examined how individual impulsivity traits and levels of environmental impact awareness jointly determine the frequency of animal- and plant-based food consumption. Findings indicate that higher sustainability knowledge correlates with more plant-oriented diets, but that impulsive decision-making can undermine this effect, pointing to the need for targeted education and behavioural interventions.

Analyses of household purchasing data in Switzerland reveal a marked gender divide in food procurement: women’s preferences carry greater weight in couples’ shopping choices, and joint households tend to acquire more premium items and drinks than single adults. This work highlights how intrahousehold power dynamics shape broader consumption patterns and opportunities for sustainable transitions.

Cultural Studies of Agriculture, Food and Wine publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in cultural studies of agriculture, food and wine across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Terroir: The ensemble of environmental, social and cultural factors—climate, soil, landscape practices and local knowledge—that impart distinctive qualities to wine from a specific place.

Hydrosocial terroir: A concept emphasising the inseparable interrelation of water regimes, communal management practices and landscape dynamics in shaping vineyard character and wine style.

Sustainability knowledge: Awareness and understanding of the environmental impacts of food production and consumption, including carbon footprints, biodiversity concerns and resource efficiency.

Impulsivity traits: Individual predispositions toward rapid, unplanned decisions, here applied to dietary choices that may favour immediate gratification over long-term environmental or health considerations.

References

1. Paradoxical gender effects in meat consumption across cultures. Scientific Reports (2024).
2. The modulation of sustainability knowledge and impulsivity traits on the consumption of foods of animal and plant origin in Italy and Turkey. Scientific Reports (2022).
3. Sweet home or battle of the sexes: who dominates food purchasing decisions?. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2024).
4. “Half a flood’s no good”: flooding, viticulture, and hydrosocial terroir in a South Australian wine region. Agriculture and Human Values (2022).
5. What makes terroir unique? Wine, body techniques, and agricultural modernisation in the Shangri-La region of China. Agriculture and Human Values (2024).