The Making of FoodTech Futures in Switzerland
Type
conference keynote
Date Issued
2023-06-01
Author(s)
Abstract
In recent years, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond have been developing a range of novel foods - so-called FoodTech innovation - with the aim to transform the production and consumption of food. Examples of recent FoodTech innovation include plant-based milks and meat alternatives, cellular meats, produce grown in vertical farms and insect-based foods. In this presentation I examine the making of FoodTech futures in Switzerland. Based on document analysis, event ethnography and qualitative interviews with different actors in the Swiss FoodTech and more broadly Swiss FoodTech sector, I explore entrepreneurs’ visions of technologically enabled food futures and how entrepreneurs and investors develop a narrative of FoodTech innovation as a sustainable food future (see also Schneider 2018). My analysis draws on and builds on recent science and technology studies (STS) and related research on novel foods (e.g., Stephens et al. 2017; Fuentes and Fuentes 2017), valuation studies (e.g., Dussauge et al. 2015; Kornberger et al., 2015) and future-making (Pollock and Williams, 2010; Beckert, 2016, Oomen et al, 2021). I specifically focus in my analysis on the process and practices of making FoodTech futures relevant to different actors in the Swiss innovation ecosystem. My analysis shows how particular visions and collective imaginations of FoodTech futures become socially authoritative in Switzerland. As such my research addresses and contributes to a central question in valuation studies: How do some accounts, practices and performances make some futures count more than others?
Language
English
Event Title
7th Interdisciplinary Market Studies Workshop
Event Location
UK-Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh
Event Date
31.5. - 2.6.2023
Contact Email Address
tanja.schneider@unisg.ch