Publication details
Staré odrůdy jako nová móda
| Title in English | Heirloom varietes as a new fashion? |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Venkovská krajina 2012 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Sociology, demography |
| Keywords | crop biodiversity; heirloom vegetable varieties; organic agriculture; ecological luxury |
| Description | Heirloom and regional varieties of vegetables are important mainly due to their genetic variability. As result of long-term human work they are cultural heritage artifacts. During the 20th century however these varieties were gradually eliminated. Our case study presents the results of a qualitative survey of heirloom vegetable growers. We studied the growers’ motivations, the ways in which the vegetables are grown and the possibilities for commercializing heirloom vegetables. The research indicates that these vegetables are cultivated under conditions that could be characterized as intuitive organic agriculture. Conscious attempts to protect biodiversity were not determined to be the primary motivation for growing the studied varieties; the protection and expansion of vegetable biodiversity are positive externality. |