Food, Museums, and Cultural Heritage Sites

Over the past decade or so, the study of food museums has emerged out of larger disciplines such as food studies, memory studies, museology, hospitality management, culinary tourism, and travel and leisure studies as its own area of inquiry. Food museums have existed for decades, but are increasing in popularity in the United States and globally, both as places to visit and as venues of study. Food museums play a significant role in the preservation of culinary culture, history, and identity, particularly because they are concerned with terroir. They focus on the origins of the products we consume; the objects, rituals, and sites of food and drink cultivation, preparation, and presentation; and the places where we sell and eat food. This review article presents a sampling of some of the most recent publications in the interdisciplinary area of food museum studies.