Paper short abstract:

This poster presents a brief exploration of knowledge, learning, and evaluation among individuals engaged in the production and consumption of raw home fermented foods in the U.S.

Paper long abstract:

This poster represents a summary exploration of questions of knowledge, learning, and evaluation among U.S. individuals engaged in producing raw, or "live," home fermented foods for non-commercial personal consumption. This study's participating fermenters - for whom home fermentation is an expression of agency in the midst of flawed conventional food and health systems - employ multiple ways of knowing, learning, and evaluating all things fermentation-related, much of which is more informal in nature. This can include the use of cookbooks, Internet sources, social networking, experimentation, and sensory cues such as scent, while various factors such as questions of motive and scientificity can impact home fermenters' evaluation of food and health claims.