Artisanal food encompasses breads, cheeses, fruit preserves, cured meats, beverages, oils, and vinegars that are made by hand using traditional methods by skilled craftworkers, known as food artisans. The foodstuff material from farmers and backyard growers can include fruit, grains and flours, milks for cheese, cured meats, fish, beverages, oils, and vinegars. The movement is focused on providing farm to fork type foods with locally sourced products that benefit the consumer, small scale growers and producers, and the local economy.

Food artisans

Food artisans produce foods and

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...

s that are not mass produced, but rather made by hand. These include cheeses, breads and

baked goods Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred ...

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''ballo ...

and other foods that involve preservation or fermentation, home preservation or canning processes, and fruit preserves,

cured meat Curing is any of various food preservation and flavoring processes of foods such as meat, fish and vegetables, by the addition of salt, with the aim of drawing moisture out of the food by the process of osmosis. Because curing increases the solu ...

beverages A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies ...

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

, and vinegars. Fermentation or otherwise controlling the preservation environment for beneficial microorganisms can be utilized for vinegars, cheeses, cured meats, wine, oolong tea, kimchi and other examples. An artisan food item is usually developed and produced over a long period of time and consumed relatively close to where the food is created.Bell, Randy. (30 May 2013). Clearing up confusion about artisan food. Michigan State University Extension. www.msu.edu.

Legislation

In 2009, the

Food Safety Enhancement Act The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011. The FSMA has given the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authority to regulate the way foods are grown, harvested and processed. The l ...

was proposed and passed the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, but did not pass. The measure was renegotiated and became known as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). On 4 January 2011,

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

signed the bill into law.

Tester-Hagan Amendment

Senator

Jon Tester Raymond Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an American farmer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Montana, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Tester is the dean of Montana's congressi ...

(D-MT) and Senator

Kay Hagan Janet Kay Hagan (née Ruthven; May 26, 1953 – October 28, 2019) was an American lawyer, banking executive, and politician who served as a United States Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previ ...

(D-NC) introduced two amendments to the FSMA that removed local food growers and food processors from federal oversight. These growers and producers would remain under the jurisdiction of state and local health and sanitation laws, rules, and regulations.

Controversy

As of 2016, there was not a published official standard or definition for artisan foods. A good working definition can be gleaned from the Tester-Hagen Amendment that stated artisanal food producers are constrained to: "make less than $500,000 a year and sell greater than 50% of their products direct to consumers in the same state and within a 400-mile radius". The advertising and marketing industries have latched on to the trendy word "''artisanal''" and now have artisanal products on supermarket shelves and offerings from local

fast food chain A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

s. Dunkin' Donuts came out with an "artisanal" bagel,

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

dished out an "artisanal" pizza,

Tostitos Tostitos is a brand of Frito-Lay that produces different tortilla chips and a range of accompanying dips. Varieties There are many varieties of Tostitos chips: * Tostitos ''Gold'' (and bite size ''Gold'') - a thicker and larger version of t ...

served up "artisanal" chips,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

offered an "artisan" bun,

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

introduced an "artisan" egg sandwich, and Subway provided "sandwich artisans" to prepare lunch. In April 2012, Davidovich Bagels, an artisanal maker of hand rolled, bagels in NYC filed a Federal complaint, claiming false advertising against Dunkin' Donuts to have them cease and desist claiming their commercially manufactured bagels were "Artisan". This case brought international attention to the meaning of the word in commerce and the parameters of representations to the consuming public.

Points of distribution

Farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

s, either temporary or permanent, are a tremendous resource for consumers to procure artisanal foods. They exist in many communities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and throughout the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

countries.

References

Bibliography

General overview

*Guerrero, L., Guardia, M.D., Xicola, J., Verbeke, W., Vanhonacker, F., Zakowska-Biemans, S., Sajdakowska, M., Sulmont-Rosse, C., Issanchou, S., Contel, M., Scalvedi, M.L., Granli, B.S., Hersleth, M. (2009). Consumer-driven definition of traditional food products and innovation in traditional foods. A qualitative cross-cultural study. ''Appetite.'' 52(2): 345-354. *Berlin, L., Lockeretz, W., Bell, R. (2009). Purchasing foods produced on organic, small and local farms: a mixed method analysis of New England consumers. ''Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.'' 24(4): 267-275. *Von Biel, Victoria. (27 October 2011). 10 Truly Artisanal Foods to Try Now. Food & Drink. ''Forbes.'' *Almli, V.L., Verbeke, W., Vanhonacker, F., Næs, T., Hersleth, M. (2011). General image and attribute perceptions of traditional food in six European countries. ''Food Quality and Preference.'' 22(1): 129-138. *Carey, L., Bell, P., Duff, A., Sheridan, M., Shields, M. (2011). Farmers' market consumers: a Scottisch perspective. ''International Journal of Consumer Studies.'' 35(3): 300-306. *Hartman, Lauren R. (29 June 2015). Artisanal Foods Increase in Popularity. ''Food Processing.'' foodprocessing.com. *Farrell, Chris. (8 January 2016). Second Career: Join The Craft Foods Movement. ''Forbes.'' *Goodyear, Dana. (26 January 2016). The Way Forward for Hipster Food. ''The New Yorker.'' *Pipkin, Whitney. (11 April 2016). Maybe this is how ‘artisanal’ foods can finally spread the wealth. Food. ''Washington Post.'' *Nelson, Rick. (15 July 2016). In search of lost flavors: What's next for the artisanal food movement? ''Star Tribune.'' Minneapolis, Minnesota. *Marion, Jane. (24 October 2016). 10 Culinary Trends You Need to Know and Where to Find Them. Where to Eat Now. ''Baltimore Magazine.''

Beverages

*Kaplan, A. (2013). Soaring Specialty. ''Beverage World.'' 132(2): 41-48.

Meats

*Anna Roccato, Mieke Uyttendaele, Federica Barrucci, Veronica Cibin, Michela Favretti, Andrea Cereser, Marta Dal Cin, Alessandra Pezzuto, Alessia Piovesana, Alessandra Longo, Elena Ramon, Stefano De Rui, Antonia Ricci. (February 2017). Artisanal Italian salami and soppresse: Identification of control strategies to manage microbiological hazards. ''Food Microbiology.'' 61(February 2017): 5-13. ISSN 0740-0020.

Cheese

*Kupiec, Beata and Revell, Brian. (1998). Speciality and artisanal cheeses today: the product and the consumer. ''British Food Journal.'' 100(5): 236-243. *Kupiec, Beata and Revell, Brian. (2001). Measuring consumer quality judgements. ''British Food Journal.'' 103(1): 7–22. *Di Monaco, Rossella, Di Marzo, Sabrina, Cavella, Silvana and Masi, Paolo. (2005). Valorization of traditional foods: The case of Provolone del Monaco cheese. ''British Food Journal.'' 107(2): 98-110.

Fish

*Suleiman, A, Tosan, Fregene Okoruwa, Victor O. (2011). Analysis of Costs and Returns of Artisanal Fish Marketing in Kebbi State, Nigeria. ''Journal of Rural Economics and Development.'' 20(1): 21-29. *Kronen, Mecki. (November 2004). Fishing for fortunes?: A socio-economic assessment of Tonga's artisanal fisheries. ''Fisheries Research.'' 70(1): 121-134. ISSN 0165-7836.