Agriculture, territory and heritage: language and food practices in Chefchaouen (Morocco)

Abstract

Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Chefchaouen (Morocco), in the wake of the classification of the “Mediterranean Diet” as Intangible Cultural Heritage by unesco (2010; 2013), this text seeks to reflect on the transformations of food practices in the region in the light of national agricultural policies, and how the affirmation of a heritage narrative – presented as an additional value –
has brought new uses and meanings to local language and practices related to food consumption in the territory. Focusing on the concept of beldi, widely used in Morocco to positively qualify food products from different points of view, we will try to discuss how, in Chefchaouen, this concept ended up replacing the “Mediterranean Diet” in the discourses produced about local food practices.