Creating healthy lifestyles and access to quality, nutritious food for marginalized groups, specifically Hispanics, is becoming an increasing topic of conversation. However, issues of access, availability, lack of initiatives in many areas which allow these individuals to become involved in the local food movement have plagued this population, especially the youth. In recent years, Georgetown, Delaware has become a major immigration hub, seeing large populations of Hispanics migrating to the area. Like many locations which see large numbers of individuals of a particular ethnic group not known to the area, the need for culturally relevant and responsive resources becomes imperative. Considering that youth are a vital part of society and are widely impacted by issues of food insecurity and unhealthy food choices, it is important to address their intentions to become actively engaged in their local food system and the role that their identity as Hispanic youth plays in that intention. To assess Hispanic youth's intentions to engage in their local food system and food heritage, the researcher selected a group of 11 Hispanic youth from Georgetown, Delaware, to participate in a Photovoice project, which called on them to take pictures of items salient to their identity, how they understood their local food system and perceived barriers. Following the two-week photo taking period, youth then participated in two focus group sessions, one to obtain information relevant to the research topic and the other, serving as a member check and to elicit further information. Findings of this study include the idea that cultural identity serves as a major influential factor to youth engagement in the food movement and in food heritage. Cultural identity shapes the attitudes of Hispanic youth towards engaging. Further, attitudes toward food movement involvement and educating others positively impacts youth intentions to engage. Hispanic youth's attitudes toward protecting the authenticity of food and culture serve as an additional influential factor for engaging in the food movement and advocating for food justice. Social pressure from family and peers significantly impacts the food choices and cultural engagement of Hispanic youth. Food system knowledge and awareness contributes to youth attitudes towards the food movement and food and cultural heritage. Lack of knowledge can potentially impede engagement. Lastly, self-efficacy concerning the food movement acts as both a facilitator and inhibitor to youth engagement. However, cultural identity and familial support serve as factors which boost the confidence levels of Hispanic youth to engage in the food movement and food heritage. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Research points to trends in U.S. food systems leading to led to increased prevalence of processed foods and associated diet-related diseases among marginalized groups, such as Hispanic youth. Impacts of these unhealthy diets have sparked movements toward consumption of local foods. Since groups such as Hispanic youth face greater geographic, financial and cultural barriers to healthy food access, understanding their intentions to engage in their local food system and food heritage becomes important in order to secure and maintain access. In Georgetown, Delaware, the Hispanic population and Hispanic youth populations have increased tremendously since the 1990’s. The need to ensure the food security and access, as well as cultural retention of the youth is vitally important, as the population begins to increase and give rise to new generations of Hispanic youth. In order to assess Hispanic youth’s intentions to engage in their local food system and food heritage, the researcher selected a group of 11 Hispanic youth from Georgetown, Delaware. This group of youth participated in a Photovoice project, which called on them to take pictures of items salient to their identity, how they understood their local food system and perceived barriers. Following the two-week photo taking period, youth will then participate in two focus group sessions, one to obtain information relevant to the research topic and the other, serving as a member check and to elicit further information. The findings of this study indicate that cultural identity serves as a major influential factor to youth engagement in the food movement and in food heritage. Cultural identity shapes the attitudes of Hispanic youth towards engaging. Also, attitudes toward food movement involvement and educating others positively impacts youth intentions to engage. Hispanic youth’s attitudes toward protecting the authenticity of food and culture serve as an additional influential factor for engaging in the food movement and advocating for food justice. Social pressure from family and peers significantly impacts the food choices and cultural engagement of Hispanic youth. Food system knowledge and awareness contributes to youth attitudes towards the food movement and food & cultural heritage. Lack of knowledge can potentially impede engagement. Lastly, self-efficacy concerning the food movement acts as both a facilitator and inhibitor to youth engagement. However, cultural identity and familial support serve as factors which boost the confidence levels of Hispanic youth to engage in the food movement and food heritage. This research study will lend to conversations around food justice, working across cultural differences and youth & community development.

Cette thèse rend compte de l’analyse d’un ouvrage publié en 1995 aux Editions Albin Michel par le Conseil national des arts culinaires : l’Inventaire du patrimoine culinaire de la France-Rhône-Alpes, produits du terroir et recettes traditionnelles – huitième tome d’une collection de 24 volumes – et de son impact au sein d’un territoire : la région Rhône-Alpes ainsi que des possibilités de son actualisation. La documentation est constituée, outre d’une bibliographie variée, de sources issues de fonds d’archives départementaux, de papiers privés et d’enquêtes orales. Le travail, réalisé sous contrat CIFRE, répond à une commande du Comité de promotion/R3AP, organisme inter consulaire. Elle est une étude globale sur l’ouvrage et les productions recensées. Elle saisit les tenants et les aboutissants de cet inventaire, rédige l’histoire de cet ouvrage pour en comprendre les enjeux passés tout en dressant un état des lieux pour le replacer dans le débat actuel sur le patrimoine alimentaire. Ce travail montre l’histoire d’une méthode qui a fait ses preuves : l’inventaire, appliqué à un domaine tout particulier : l’alimentation. L’ouvrage est étudié dans son contexte de rédaction – politique, économique et social – tout comme son aspect, sa place dans la collection et son contenu. On explique alors l’absence de retombées de ce dernier au sein du territoire inventorié à travers deux objectifs initiaux qui ont été plus ou moins atteints : un objectif culturel afin de faire connaître les produits et un objectif économique pour relancer des productions restées méconnues. Un état actuel des produits est réalisé, qui souligne la nécessaire mise à jour du livre : si les monuments du patrimoine alimentaire se maintiennent, si la patrimonialisation est active quelques produits ont disparus. L’Inventaire ainsi remis en lumière, constitue un formidable catalogue de produits dont il conviendrait de développer l’étude voire la valorisation. Avec cette thèse nous posons une nouvelle fois la question du patrimoine alimentaire et la façon dont il est nécessaire de le sauvegarder et de le préserver tout en refusant sa muséification. / This thesis deals with the study of a book published in 1995 by Albin Michel Editor and carried out by the Conseil national des arts culinaires : l’Inventaire du patrimoine culinaire de la France-Rhône-Alpes, produits du terroir et recettes traditionnelles – 8th book of a collection of 24th – and its impact on Rhone-Alpes territory and its possible updating. The documentation is based on an rich bibliography, on documents from departmental files, private documentation and oral inquiries.This work, achived thanks to a contract CIFRE, fulfills an order from the Comite de Promotion/R3AP, inter consular organism. It’s a global study of the book and the productions reviewed in it. It tries to analyse the stakes of this inventory and to tell the history of this book to understand past issues while assessing the situation and putting it in context in the current debate about food patrimonialization.This work enlightens the story of a solid method: the inventory, applied to a specific theme : food. The book is analyzed in its context– political, economical and social – and we study its aspect, its place inside the collection and its content. We explain the lack of influence inside the territory it deals with through two initial objectives which have been met more or less : first, a cultural goal in order to make products known and also an economical objective to boost still unknown products. A current state of products has been made, which underlines the need to update the book : even if the food heritage monuments are still alive, even if the patrimonialization is active, some products have disappeared. This Inventaire, as it has been highlighted, is a precious catalog of products that would require much more study and development. With this thesis, once more we tackle the question of food heritage and we ask ourselves what we need to save and preserve it while refusing to make it become a museum.

This thesis explores if and how an alternative certification system for agricultural products, the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), could support small-scale farmers to preserve and promote biocultural and food heritage, linked to the landscape they inhabit, their identity as farmers and traditional knowledge. The PGS has been identified by Slow Food as an efficient low-cost and local 'bottom-up' quality assurance system, in order to develop their Presidia project and to re-embed agricultural productions within their traditional socio-ecological contexts. Small-holder farmers all over the world encounter problems in accessing conventional certification systems because of their complexity and strict quality compliance standards, which tend to marginalize this category of producers. I have critically analyzed the extent to which actors and stakeholders agree with the PGS core principles and if, and how, a well-formulated PGS certification can be regarded as a democratic process which fulfils its broader goals. In order to re-structure society from an agri-food perspective, towards a more democratic governance, the core problem lays in how standards and certifications are formed, assessed and applied. The crux of this study is to examine the degree to which a different type of governance, such as the PGS, can induce democratic and participatory methods of food certification. I have conducted semi-structured interviews with various local actors who belong to the social field of alternative food productions underneath the umbrella of Slow Food. Here I investigate the social dimension, the debate and comprehension of the PGS, and the concept of Governmentality by Foucault, as applied to Presidia. In the thesis I show that the PGS provide social benefits to local communities that undergo this certification process. The PGS is able to contribute to the creation of solidarity among actors within the food system, designing a transparent certification system against the logic of commodification.