Exploring Modern Foodways: History, Nature, and Culture in the Baltic States

Shopping for Meaning: Tracing the Ontologies of Food Consumption in Latvia

“…In the second part of the article, the framework present in the Global North is then complemented by a discussion of some local factors, to suggest ways in which global food philosophy and, particularly, lifestyle choices of food consumption could benefit from acknowledging the knowledge embedded in food consumption trends in Latvia. Here I argue in line with researchers who highlight the need to consider Latvian and Baltic food cultures and politics as a viable source of knowledge for sustainable food practices in the future (see Jehlička et al 2020;Mincytė, and Plath 2015;, highlighting the consumer position in the discussions. As a post-Soviet European country with a rich and diverse food culture, access to high-quality products, and a history of wild food foraging, non-monetary food exchange, and domestic gardening culture, Latvia provides fruitful ground for considering alternatives to the prevailing trends of the Global North for thinking of food consumption ethically.…”

“…Public discussions on political and cultural issues of foodways and consumption focus on Global Northern or Western European contexts, underrepresenting post-Soviet or Baltic experiences (Mincytė, and Plath 2015;. While the Global South slowly gains scholarly attention, praxes characteristic to the European East are continuously marginalized and not considered as a source of knowledge production.…”

Social and economic dimensions of food sustainability – a background paper for the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

“…Johansson et al explore Nordic children's changing foodscapes, including the continued prevalence of 'unhealthy' foods at festive occasions (such as cosy evenings and birthday parties) (67). Mincyte and Plath have examined changing foodways in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania showing how ethnic, national and class boundaries have been maintained and transgressed through changes in diet (68). Blumberg and Mincyte show how the taste for 'local' food has been shaped by changing infrastructures from Soviet times through the market reforms of the 1990s to EU accession in 2004 (69), and how alternative food networks (AFNs) have prospered in Lithuania following the simplification of food safety and veterinary requirements for food products sold direct to consumers through farmers' markets and other AFNs (70).…”