The present edition of the Congress will address food heritage in its relationship with tourism and sustainability. Food heritage, like heritage in general, has been considered both a socio-cultural construction ̶ which can symbolically represent an identity ̶ and an added-value industry. The political-cultural logic emerges from the desire to recover cultural elements which, having disappeared or being in the process of disappearing, are considered an expression of identity. The commercial logic, on the other hand, tends towards appropriating as part of “heritage” anything that can be turned into a commodity, either because of its dimension as entertainment or as an object of consumption.
The success of this food-as-heritage construct raises some specific concerns related to the production sector and its short-, medium- and long-term sustainability, in terms of its impact on the land and landscape, resources, activities, profits, and even local, regional and state-level food policies.
Given the possibilities for comparison offered by the international dimension of this Conference, the questions below are proposed as an invitation to participate and contribute answers based on our own diversity of experiences, countries, approaches, problems, types of involvement, responsibilities, etc.