Paper short abstract:

The present research addresses the conflict areas that hinder a full understanding of what has been achieved in ecological production, and that hence hinders trust in the quality of ecological foods from an interdisciplinary, cultural anthropology, didactic, societal and market-oriented perspective.

Paper long abstract:

Organic foods are produced in a manner of mindful resource conservation and environmental protection. Yet even though such foods guarantee many sustainable food properties and truly are of extrinsic sustainable quality (ever mindful that continuous setting of controls is needed), consumers surprisingly show in their purchase decision very little explicit awareness of this quality– a quality which would, if fully grasped, have to habitualize decision making in favor of this choice when shopping for food. The present research addresses the conflict areas that hinder a full understanding of what has been achieved in sustainable, ecological production, and that hence hinders trust in the production chain of ecological foods from an interdisciplinary, cultural anthropology, didactic, societal and market-oriented perspective. Grounded in qualitative empirical interviews, the research assesses the perception of ecological production along the production chain, such as e.g., regional origin, and identify where gaps of information appear and extant expectations are not met. Knowledge and trust components voiced by consumers, processors, and producers, as well as visuals circulating about this production sector will be researched and analyzed under the umbrella concept of “authenticity perception” – a now frequently used term in sustainable food production that in itself will be differentiated and semantically filled in the course of the research.