Proteins, Nuts and Burgers: Imagination in Categorizing Novel Foods

• In Event: 40258 - Culture II: On Novelty and Transformation

Abstract

As food innovation progresses, two new kinds of food have gained much traction: cultivated meat and insect flour. The first is meat reproduced in-vitro through stem-cells, while the second is made from ground insects, which can turn into meat substitutes or baking flour. These items have rarely been experienced firsthand, but they are at the centre of a lively debate. This raises the question: how are novelties understood without having first-hand experience of their properties? This paper explores the role of imagination in the categorization of unfamiliar foods, arguing that when direct experience is absent, persons connect novel foods to familiar ones by drawing on sensory, material, and symbolic associations.
Building on research on culture and cognition and categorization, this study highlights that imagination builds from previous experience in categorizing whether innovations are acceptable alongside known objects. Through content analysis of public discourses and focus groups in Italy, a country where cultivated meat has been preemptively banned but insect flour is available for sale, this research examines how public narratives and personal experiences shape perceptions of these innovations. Findings suggest that cultivated meat is more easily categorized due to its resemblance to conventional meat, while insect flour faces stronger barriers due to associations with non-food elements and disgust responses. The study shows that meaning-making processes around innovations rely on imaginative associations guided by both personal experience and public discourse. While imagination and sensory simulation play a key role in evaluating novel foods, strong moral and cultural associations can override potential acceptance. These findings contribute to studies in the sociology of culture by showing how imagination and experience shape perceptions of emerging innovations.

Author

• Maddalena Simeon, University of Toronto