This article deals about the industrialisation of local food, and gives additional information on what distinction should be drawn in regards to "local food" (industrialised and non-industrialised local food).

Types of "local food"

"Local food culture" can be torn apart into 2 types; industrialised and non-industrialised local food.

Clarification of text at "Appropriate food preparation, storage, consumption utensils"

Although, as the article states, the cuisine/local dishes will not be necessarily followed, the locally known methods of preserving food (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_preservation ), methods of cooking (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking#Methods_of_cooking )... will be followed to some degree; ie so that local crops can still be used).

The whole concept is pretty complex however; where I state that "local dishes/cuisine" will not necessarily be followed, I actually mean that the current cuisine (which has very much been "westernised/industrialised" (ie in that nowadays ingredients/crops of all over the world are used)) will not be necessarily followed. Traditional cuisines (ie of indigenous peoples, ...) will be followed however entirely. The thing is here that one should make a distinction in the general cuisine; ie the one most people (in cities, ...) follow and the one that rural people follow. These aren't the same; the latter uses, as said before, local ingredients, the people from the city do not. Hence, my vision should be seen as a "back to sustainable crops"-vision, that incorporates the old cuisine, where possible. It should not be seen as a vision that wants to impose itself to a local population (far from it).

As for what these local ingredients/crops are, see Agriculture manual 2 1 (list is still incomplete, but we can work further on it.

Incidental point - current cuisine (which has very much been "westernised" (ie in that nowadays ingredients/crops of all over the world are used)) - I haven't seen a lot of Westernization. Sure, people go to American fast food restaurants in Indonesia or Central America, but most of the time they eat dishes from the traditions of their grandparents. The changes are more to do with convenience (you can get very good Indonesian spice mixes in sachets, e.g. Bamboe brand, though obviously not as good as a good cook doing it from scratch); and prosperity (in particular, more meat); and similar to what you mentioned widespread availability of certain ingredients (esp wheat flour, sugar and MSG). But there are also many ingredients and mixes that are very specific to the locality. I doubt many Westerners use much picung nut, candlenut or"Vietnamese mint" (a.k.a. Laksa leaf), but these are common ingredients in different parts of SE Asia. :-) --Chriswaterguy 05:22, 16 February 2011 (PST)

By "westernisation of the cuisine", I don't mean that the locals start to adopt western cuisine, I mean that the way the local food is made is becoming more industrialised (this btw is much more difficult to spot, but happening nonetheless). For example, if you look at the ingredients of a pot of sweet-sour sauce, you'll see that many of the ingredients (although still organic) aren't necessarily made of local produce. A lot of ingredients are made of produce that is produced thousands of miles away, and/or it's made at a industrialised fashion (ie the E-numbers you'll see on a label are often made at a very industrialised way; this isn't "bad" as in that it's "inorganic", but it's difficult to make such ingredients at a simple, sustainable way nonetheless).

In essence, I think you could draw a parallell to Off-grid electricity production and Grid-derived electricity. Ie people in cities that use a "westernised" cuisine can be compared to people simply using the mains electricity grid, and those using truly local cuisine use off-grid electricity production.

Extrapolating this to a real life situation: ie the people at the Anuta Islands (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_(TV_series) ) who produce their own food can be compared to the people using the general (=westernised) cuisine at the Solomon Islands. The food they consume is not the same, and only the first people (that actually produce their food themselves) are actually using a truly sustainable food system.

See also

• Appropriate food preparation, storage, consumption utensils