The Life of Cheese: Crafting Food and Value in America Volume 41 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520270183)

Cheese is alive, and alive with meaning. Heather Paxson's beautifully written anthropological study of American artisanal cheesemaking tells the story of how craftwork has become a new source of cultural and economic value for producers as well as consumers. Dairy farmers and artisans inhabit a world in which their colleagues and collaborators are a wild cast of characters, including plants, animals, microorganisms, family members, employees, and customers. As "unfinished" commodities, living products whose qualities are not fully settled, handmade cheeses embody a mix of new and old ideas about taste and value. By exploring the life of cheese, Paxson helps rethink the politics of food, land, and labor today.

Author: Heather Paxson
ISBN-10: 0520270185
ISBN-13: 9780520270183
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 12/10/2012
Pages: 332
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.00h x 5.98w x 0.71d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2013