A social heritage process: the Ile d'Orleans' strawberry under media scrutiny (1900-2000)

Since the recent distinction between institutional and social heritage has been made, it is now possible to analyze a case of food heritage independent of official certification. This article aims to show how the Ile d'Orleans strawberry is part of a social process of transforming food into a popular heritage, thus recognized and valued "from below". In this sense, it is suggested that press discourses participate in the construction of the strawberry's heritage as much as they relay the resulting construct. The analysis presented in this article thus highlights the role of the media in the construction of heritage, notably through the consolidation of the link between place and product.