Whether you’re a visitor seeing a new object or a collections assistant assessing a donation, there is one universal question being asked by all: where does this thing come from? Of course, the first question might be “What is this thing?”, but that is often quickly resolved by a two-second glance at the accompanying label or conditions report. The question of origin, on the other hand, is sometimes more difficult to answer. Questions of war, colonization, economic hardship, political and even familial disruption can all play a role in determining the provenance of an artefact, and in some cases the provenance of a particular object might be entirely unknown.
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This notion of provenance is yet another way in which restaurants and museums resemble one another. The questions of where and how are becoming, in many people’s minds, equal to the question of what. While these questions are in no way new for museums or restaurants, they are occupying much larger areas of the public discourse surrounding both culture and food. Farmers markets serve as perfect examples of our obsession with food provenance, where each vendor has a specific origin story about their products. Furthermore, knowing that a restaurant serves local produce helps to justify the choices of a consumer, especially in these times, when every decision seems to be characterized by its impact on the planet.
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| Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. (Source) |
These muddled supply-chains does not only apply to protein-based products like meat or fish. Other items of produce are routinely shipped around the world, often ending up right back where they started. Recently, I read an anecdote in a book titled Burn the Ice: The American Culinary Revolution and its End, where a chef from Oregon had mushrooms shipped from France, only to find out that they had actually been grown in Oregon. What’s more disheartening is that these confusing practices are often done intentionally.
Just a few days ago, Transparency International published a brief overview of corruption in the food supply chain, showing how companies practice general obscurantism in hopes of hiding the origins – and in some cases the biological make-up – of their products. The food chain is rife with shell companies, bribery and corrupted officials, often resulting in a low level of dependency when it comes to the average consumer. Throughout this chain, from beginning to end, people are being taken advantage of, much of the time at the benefit of massive, multinational producers.
Although food and agriculture are for-profit industries, I believe that they have just as much of a responsibility to provenance as non-profit institutions. Many people have a strong interest in where their food comes from, the food industry is much further behind than the museum sector. While it is far from complete, the conversation surrounding provenance is taking centre stage in many cultural institutions. Conversely, the notion of provenance in the food industry is mostly relegated to luxury products and fine-dining.
Unfortunately, the fact is that private companies are not held to the same standards as public-facing (and public-serving) institutions like museums. While some individuals, companies and governments are concerned with transparency in the food and agricultural sectors, the desire for clarity is not quite as universal. I would like to believe that the industries surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food are as commendable as those surrounding the consumption of culture, but it is quite difficult to do so. Governments – and the individuals that comprise them – are often at the behest of massive corporations, many of which actively try to obscure and maintain global inequalities.
As you can probably tell, I am not one for blind optimism. However, writing this article has made me realize that, while provenance is important in both the museum and food sectors, it does not receive the same amount of attention in both. Even though many museums across the globe receive government funding, they are nevertheless seen as spaces for social and cultural reflection. They are hotbeds for questions. Furthermore, the public perception of museums maintains their responsibility towards transparency and social engagement. Restaurants and other food-related businesses are working to be more dependable, but there is still a long way to go.
