Regionalism and regionalisation in food in Australia

© 2002 Centre for Rural Social ResearchIn recent years regional and state tourism authorities in Australia have, in their literature, promoted Wine and Food Trails and highlighted 'regional foods' as means of attracting tourists to the state or region. In most cases, however, the 'regionality' of these foods is questionable. This paper examines the validity of the concept of regional foods in Australia from an historical perspective and in a contemporary context. With reference to both European models and the regulations applying to wine regions in Australia, the paper suggests how regionalism in food might be encouraged in Australia. It also demonstrates important deficiencies in the approaches typically adopted by tourism authorities which, at best, identify foods from a region but not necessarily regional foods (foods of a region). Finally, the paper argues the need to justify and legitimise regionality in order to give consumers a guarantee of authenticity