Traditional food production and gastronomy constitutes a unique living memory of a  region. Local food has shaped regional and cultural identities of East Flanders and is more and more recognized as a medium for local identity, community activities, social integration, as well as an important element of cultural tourism development. As such, culinary traditions and food memories should be preserved, sustained, enhanced, and interpreted no less than other elements of heritage. The East Flanders’s Food Memory Project therefore seeks to record East Flanders’ food history and memory and to work with appropriate provincial organizations, local associations, municipalities and private firms to build an innovative integrated workgroup dedicated to recording, valorizing, interpreting, and developing cultural and social benefits from culinary heritage.

This project is managed by Malika Hamza at the Ename Center for Public Archeology and Heritage Presentation (www.enamecenter.org) and is sponsored by the Province of East Flanders (www.oost-vlaanderen.be/public)

Project components include:

• Basic inventory of the culinary heritage. This includes food products, food producers, food craft and specialty shops, dishes, recipes, and memories.
• Involvement of citizens in the formulation of the East Flanders’ Food Memory exhibitions by collecting oral histories, organizing idea competitions, involving local history groups in background research and collection of material.
• Interviews (oral and video) to gather food memories (recipes, products, places, artisans, etc.)
• Organisation of local ‘food’ events.
• Design of innovative food trails through the Province where the visitors can learn about the production and history of East Flanders specialities. This includes visits of local food producers, farms and promotion of farmers markets, retailers, crafts, etc.
• Promotion of the food inventory among restaurants, brasseries, cafés of the Province to initiate promotion of local products and / or dishes in their menus.
• Specific actions toward migrant communities though non profit association to teach people on the food products and local recipes.
• Publication of recipe books and food production and consumption volumes.
• Design of specific school projects.
  

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