Supplementing food for health: Practices amongst French adults aged 60 to 75 years

The use of food supplements continues to grow in France, even though it is being discouraged by the main health and medical authorities. The ambiguous definitions surrounding these products make it difficult to measure their consumption. Using a qualitative survey based on interviews (n = 31) of consumers aged 60 to 75 years, this paper explores the ways in which this consumption is increasing. It traces the adoption of food supplementation in this age group back to life-course events, relating to health in particular. Using the practice theory, three forms of supplementation are identified according to the norms, products, sources of medical prescription and purposes at play. The first form is dependent on orthodox medical prescription having been taken; the supplements are prescribed by a doctor and considered by the consumer to be almost like medicinal products. The second form is linked to heterodox 'natural' therapies; products are most often based on plants and considered to be traditional remedies. The third form is related to a heterodox micronutritional approach, claiming to be scientifically advanced; products are identified as food supplements, and their consumption reflected a strategy of prevention, or even health optimisation in ageing. The affinities between these supplementation forms and the individuals' social characteristics are discussed. Results suggest that common consumer categories should be better integrated in the measurement of food supplement consumption

The Political Economy of European Wine Regulations

The EU wine market is heavily regulated. Despite the many distortions in the wine market as a consequence, refirming the regulations has proven difficult. This paper analyses the political economy mechanism that created the existing set of wine regulations. We document the historical origins of the regulations and relate these to political pressures that resulted from international integration, technological innovations and economic developments

Wage labour and capital in Africa: a historical perspective

Colonial and Global Histor

Diversity and a Shifting Power Balance: Negociants and Winegrowers in Bordeaux

International audienceWhat is so unique about the wine market? Diversity! There are an extremely large variety of wines, as well as producers who make them. What is important to understand about this diversity? It is organized: it is embedded in a complex set of social relationships and is governed by various institutions. From this perspective, the organization of this level of variety can be seen as a historical process. The actors involved constantly seek to ensure their business models are coherent with the current production and market environment. To achieve this, they do not simply adjust their own strategy or the way they implement it but also try to change the environment, where it is needed, by interacting with other decision-makers. In the wine industry this manifests itself as the power game between winegrowers and merchants. The wine region of Bordeaux is a striking example of how historically organized diversity can be transformed into the basis of market success. At the same time this example shows the fragility of a regional production system which is only temporarily coherent

Aptitude or adaptation: What lies at the root of terroir?

The originally French term terroir has long been used to denote the qualities of a place which influence the qualities of a product such as wine. It has many wider connotations, but in terms of the aptitude of a grape‐growing area of land, is often supposed to rest upon a solid geological basis. Whilst bedrock of some kind is necessary for the formation of soil, and the subsequent cultivation of grapevines, the kind of rock varies widely across wine‐producing areas of the world. Yet in the appreciation of wine, it is sometimes supposed that things like limestone, granite, and chalk may be tasted in the product, signal the terroir it has come from, and justify its reputation. In this commentary I suggest that such evocation of geology forms part of the commercial positioning of wine, but that its over‐use can draw attention away from viticultural opportunity, practice, and savoir‐faire, as well as the rhetorical nature of terroir's communication

Territory and the Regulation of Industry: Examples from Scotland and Aquitaine

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13597560701847852International audienc