Reuben Bye, University of Warwick
Discussions of gastronationalism have largely focused on nationalist politics at the state level, especially in the realm of European integration and Americanisation. This paper, therefore, explores how gastronationalism is manifested at the subnational level by asking the question ‘What role does food play in the construction of Cornish national identity vis-à-vis England?’ This paper first reviews the literature around gastronationalism to explore how the concept has developed. It shall raise the example of Cornwall as having much in common with previous case studies of gastronationalism in how heritage foods are protected in a politics concerned with homogenisation. A contrast will then be drawn between the generally discussed contexts, with the strong economic incentives to develop an inclusive food culture as part of a national brand that appeals to tourists in Cornwall, which also contributes to the ‘lived brand’ of Cornwall. To investigate this question, a thematic and qualitative content analysis of local tourist boards’ promotional content is conducted in comparison to other English counties. Finally, it shall conclude that gastronationalism is conceptually relevant to the Cornish context, but the specific nature of cultural revivalism suggests the concept should be expanded to better account for subnational gastronationalist efforts.
Keywords: Gastronationalism in Cornwall, Cornish Nationalism, Nation branding in Cornwall, Food politics, Cornish food, Subnational integration politics
The concept of ‘gastronationalism’, developed by DeSoucey (2010), refers to the use of heritage foods as central to national identity and as political tools to assert cultural sovereignty. DeSoucey’s study highlights how fears about cultural homogenisation have led to states institutionalising foods to preserve national identity. Scholars, like Leer (2018) and Wright and Annes (2013) build on this by introducing banal nationalism – everyday forms of nationalism – into gastronationalism, emphasising food’s role in shaping national discourse. One critique of gastronationalism is its focus on state-level cultural policies, overlooking subnational dynamics. Aronczyk’s (2013) concept of ‘nation branding’ suggests that branding not only has economic value (attracting tourism and investment) but also strengthens national identity by encouraging a sense of unity.
Cornwall offers an especially interesting case when examining the subnational dynamics of nationalism. It is the smallest Celtic ‘nation’ in the UK, but, unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Cornwall’s economy and legal framework remain integrated with England. Using Smith’s (1996) criteria of nationhood, this paper argues that while Cornwall does not fully meet these criteria, it does exhibit incipient nationalism.
This paper takes a top-down approach to gastronationalism as ‘nation branding’ at a local level. It first conducts a literature review into gastronationalism and nation branding to understand how and why food is institutionalised to protect and project national identity. It then explores the context of Cornwall as a poorly defined entity within the UK that is subject to strong homogenisation pressures from England to the extent that the Cornish language is nearly extinct, and that Cornwall is administered as a part of England. The role of food as a vehicle of national identity in Cornwall is then examined as a realisation of national branding and banal nationalism. To gain insight into the subnational dynamics of Cornish nationalism, this paper poses the question ‘What role does food play in the construction of Cornish national identity vis-à-vis England?’ A thematic and qualitative content analysis comparing tourist boards across Cornwall and six other counties is conducted to understand how representation of locally defined food varies between Cornwall and other English counties. Finally, it shall conclude that gastronationalism is conceptually relevant to the Cornish context, yet the context of cultural revivalism suggests the concept should be expanded to better account for subnational gastronationalist efforts.
DeSoucey (2010) developed the concept of gastronationalism in her examination of foods as institutionalised vehicles of national cultural identities. Beyond the mere intersection of food and nationalism, the concept specifically refers to the role of heritage foods as core tenets of national identities. These tenets then act as political constructs in the promotion of these identities (DeSoucey, 2010: 433). She also highlights the role of integration politics as key to gastronationalism in practice. In her case study, responding to pushback against global and regional homogenising pressures, the French government gave official protections to certain foods to assert cultural sovereignty, such as foie gras. Global – and especially European – integration has generated homogenising pressures on cultures, which have provoked a reactive emergence of modern identity politics (Inglis, 2005), and this process is often characterised by populism and polarisation (Croucher, 2018). Integration politics is especially present in the European context where states are deeply integrated politically and economically with others in Europe, as well as other global economies worldwide. This gives rise to greater focus on Americanisation and European integration in national politics.
Scholars working on gastronationalism such as Leer (2018) and Wright and Annes (2013) have introduced the concept of banal nationalism – a concept defined in the everyday, often subtle ways in which nationalist sentiments are reinforced and reproduced in society without explicit or overt expressions of nationalism (Billig, 1995). This moves away from DeSoucey’s focus on state institutional actors towards IGOs, local government and advocacy groups. Leer (2018) utilises banal nationalism to explain how gastronationalism is becoming an entrenched set of practices in Europe. Similarly, Wright and Annes (2013) integrate these concepts to investigate how French newspapers responded to halal burgers, illustrating that food contributes to the social production of meaning within national discourses – in this case, testing the limits of what it means to be French. This is in line with DeSoucey’s argument that globalisation presents a homogenising pressure, but it also entrenches and provokes nationalism. Therefore – gastronationalism, ‘the use of food production, distribution, and consumption to demarcate and sustain the emotive power of national attachment, as well as the use of national sentiments to produce and market food’ (DeSoucey, 2010: 433) – represents a mechanism whereby states use food as a vehicle of social meaning. This is a technical definition, distinct from broader ideas around food and nationalism.
One possible limitation of previous discussions of gastronationalism is that they primarily focus on cultural protectionist policies at the state level. This is understandable when observing how emotionally charged public discourse is on topics such as European integration, immigration or multiculturalism (Hameleers, 2019). But the integration dynamic also exists at subnational levels. The UK is made up of several national groups, but it is largely dominated by England. Cornwall represents a particularly interesting case when examining the role of gastronationalism as the smallest Celtic nation within the UK as it lacks the institutional autonomy granted to Scotland and Wales. By exploring the role of gastronationalism in Cornwall, light will be shone on the relevance of gastronationalism at the subnational level more broadly.
Melissa Aronczyk (2013) explores the idea of ‘nation branding’ whereby influential stakeholders contribute to a national brand. This has obvious economic value: nations with strong, positive branding are well-placed to compete for tourism and investment. But she also explains how ostensibly commercial marketing is also able to ‘articulate a more coherent, cohesive national identity, to animate the spirit of its citizens […] and to maintain loyalty to the territory’ (Aronczyk 2013: 3). It represents a ‘transformation of business in the articulation of national identity [… but] also maintains and perpetuates the nation as a container of distinct identities and loyalties, and as a project for sovereignty and self-determination’ (Aronczyk 2013: 5). In this way, tourism can act as a vehicle for collective identity-making. In the Cornish context – one characterised by an incipient nationalism rather than a defined nation – the process of nation branding offers a means to further develop national identity.
It is important to first clarify what Cornwall is, given that it occupies a more loosely defined position within the UK compared to Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Cornwall is a clearly defined territory at the end of the southwestern peninsula of Great Britain, but its political status is contested. Deacon (2013: 9) surmises the nature of Cornwall as ‘simultaneously English county and Celtic nation but at the same time not quite a proper English county nor Celtic nation’ due to the competition between its administrative status and historical narrative. At the local government level, Cornwall remains an English county, responsible for delivering local services. The Duchy of Cornwall is often used as an assertion of constitutional uniqueness, given it has some legal rights, including Bona Vacantia (Duchy of Cornwall, 2024). But Deacon (2013: 19) notes that while the Duchy may notionally offer a semblance of institutional special treatment, the powers and day-to-day influence of this private estate are rather limited.
Cornwall has a unique Celtic heritage, as evidenced by the Cornish language, place names, and historical treatment as a non-English group by outsiders (Deacon, 2013: 15–18). This is also reflected in the UK government’s recognition of the Cornish as a national minority under the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2014 (Cornwall Council, 2024b: 7). More recently, a 2023 deal for greater devolution between Cornwall Council and the UK government included £500,000 ‘to support Cornish distinctiveness, including the protection and promotion of the Cornish language’ (Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, 2023: 7). This same deal also began with an explicit recognition of unique identity within the UK: ‘This history and the geography of Cornwall, surrounded on three sides by the sea, fuels a strong sense of place and fosters a proud distinctive identity’ (Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, 2023: 4).
Cornwall should, therefore, be understood as being English in the sense that it has long been treated as a constituent part of England, but it should also be understood as a unique entity. Another ambiguity is that the relationship between England and Cornwall is not simply a state–substate relationship. England itself is not a state but is rather a constituent nation within the complicated devolution structure of the UK (Sandford, 2010). This leaves Cornwall as a contestably defined part of a non-state nation.
But does Cornwall itself fulfil the criteria of a nation? Smith (1996: 447) defines a nation as ‘a named human community occupying a homeland, and having common myths and a shared history, a common public culture, a single economy and common rights and duties for all members’. Cornwall satisfies most of these conditions, but its local economy is deeply enmeshed within that of the UK and is subject to the same economic policies as England. Similarly, it shares a legal framework with England, with no devolved parliament. Yet it does meet Smith’s definition of ‘nationalism’, ‘an ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity for a population which some of its members deem to constitute an actual or potential “nation”’ (Smith, 1996: 447). Deacon (2013) details how constructions of Cornish identity emerged, such as a Royalist tradition, a history of rebellion against England, and connection to ancient Britons – especially since the re-articulation of a Cornish identity emerged during the 1960s. By this conception, Cornwall is not a nation per se, but there is a distinct incipient Cornish nationalism, with the potential for a more well-defined Cornish nation to emerge.
Cornish identity has long struggled to maintain its distinct character in a shared institutional and cultural space with England, epitomised by the loss of Cornish-speaking communities. Dunmore (2011) explains that the Cornish language is a foundational pillar of the Cornish national identity and has long upheld a sense of otherness from the English, but its near extinction has opened a void partially filled by the English language and culture. In this sense, Cornish cultural discourse is especially vulnerable to homogenisation with England. This presents a situation where integration pressures are very much present, but the tension of cultural homogenisation arises between a hegemonic English nationalism and a subnational Cornish nationalism. This dynamic, therefore, goes beyond preserving regional cuisines to preserving the distinct food heritage of a national group. Here, the institutional recognition of food in Cornwall should be seen as part of a cultural revivalist movement that seeks to reverse the weakening of its national identity.
Cornish revivalism necessarily focuses on distinguishing itself from England to nurture a distinct Cornish identity. Cultural institutions and practices have been established and reconstructed to support the (re)assertion of a unique identity in a pushback against anglicisation, in line with other Celtic revivalism movements (Schlink, 2015: 243–65). The establishment of the Cornish Language Office by Cornwall Council to promote the language’s usage (Cornwall Council, 2024a) indicates broad institutional support for promoting Cornishness in Cornwall from both the community and local institutions.
Cornish foods have been afforded official protected status by the UK government. In the case of the Cornish pasty, the Protected Geographical Indication document states that recognition was sought to acknowledge the ‘importance of the Cornish pasty as part of the county’s culinary heritage’ (European Commission, 2010: §4.2i) and to protect ‘the link between the Cornish Pasty and the defined geographical area and the enduring reputation of the product’, noting the importance of the pasty to Cornwall’s tourism and food industries (2010: §4.2ii). This emphasises that institutions have acted to protect heritage foods in a space dominated by integration politics, establishing the presence of key factors featured in past discussions of gastronationalism.
As a living practice, Cornish food culture represents a powerful, bottom-up, banal approach to nation-building, where participants are actually ‘performing the nation’ (Fox and Miller-Idriss, 2008). International self-projection allows the possibility for ‘gastrodiplomacy’ – where a food culture produces soft power capabilities (Ichijo and Ranta, 2022). Diplomacy in the formal sense is not applicable to Cornwall as a non-state actor, but the cultivation of a national brand is hugely beneficial to a region heavily dependent on tourism (Meyrick, 2021). Indeed, the idea of ‘gastrodiplomacy’ is relevant as ‘the use of food [production, distribution and consumption] in the construction of a nation brand […] increase[s] the attractiveness of a country’s culture’ (Rockower, 2012: 236–38) is accurate in emphasising an international projection of Cornish identity, including within the UK.
Cornish food and food practices play a vital role in the assertion of Cornish identity. Cornish food culture has experienced two major developments in recent years. Firstly, the UK government has formally recognised the cultural significance of four Cornish heritage foods under the UK Protected Geographical Indication scheme (UKGI) (Defra, 2024). These are Cornish clotted cream, Cornish sardines, Cornish Cyder Brandy and the famous Cornish pasty (Defra, 2024). Secondly, Everett and Aitchison (2008) explain that with the rise of food tourism, demand for local products has led to the establishment of many small and medium food producers alongside the traditional, but still economically significant, agricultural and fishing sectors. Such artisanal products supply local hospitality businesses. These two developments, representing the old and the new, have contributed to the emergence of a strong sense of culinary self-consciousness.
The tourism sector makes up a large portion of the Cornish economy and employment in one of the poorest parts of the UK (Meyrick, 2021). High dependency on tourism presents a challenge for local policymakers. To attract tourists and investment, Cornwall must differentiate itself from its domestic competitors, such as Devon or Pembrokeshire. Strengthening Cornish identity, therefore, goes beyond identity: cultural strength contributes to prosperity. In response, Cornish tourist marketing strategies have changed from emphasising natural beauty to focusing on Cornish heritage and culture (Hale, 2001). Everett and Aitchison (2008) emphasise that despite historical suspicions towards the economic impacts of tourism, there is a growing consensus that tourism is a means to support otherwise struggling local industries. They contend that tourists spend more on locally produced goods, and the growth of food tourism has extended the Cornish tourist season, boosting employment. A strong tourism industry hence also supports a flourishing ecosystem of suppliers (Everett and Aitchison, 2008). Such clear economic incentives strengthen the Cornish national brand, and further the idea that gastronationalism in Cornwall is an inclusive and proactive means of promoting a distinct national identity. Hence, food represents an important space of resistance against homogenisation pressures from England.
To better assess the role that gastronationalism plays in Cornwall in the promotion of a unique Cornish identity, a thematic and qualitative content analysis of outward-facing tourism marketing materials is proposed to answer the question: ‘What role does food play in the construction of Cornish national identity vis-à-vis England?’ This is to ascertain (a) the extent to which Cornish food culture features in the projected identity of Cornwall, and (b) the extent to which advertised Cornish food culture is discussed as unique to the Cornish experience (i.e. distinct from the rest of England). Local government-run and government-adjacent institutions, such as tourist boards and visitor information centres, work with local governance institutions as their sponsors and beneficiaries. Because of the economic dependence of Cornish communities on tourism, local government bodies have an incentive to offer narratives that differentiate their local area from alternative domestic tourism destinations. By analysing the content of such bodies, data can be collected about how food is featured as a marketing strategy and whether the Cornish identity of food is expressed. The media produced by these boards is not wholly representative of how Cornwall projects itself, but this remains a useful source of insight as a series of bodies that project a positive Cornish identity in line with Aronczyk’s (2013) notions of nation branding.
Woodrum (1984) explains how a content analysis methodology is advantageous for the provision of a systematic and structured approach for the analysis of qualitative data. Clear coding procedure is able to limit the risk of researcher bias impacting analysis. Emergent categorisation was used to keep track of themes of interest. As Cornwall is a relatively small area, this methodology allows an exhaustive analysis of materials from Cornish local tourism promotion bodies. Thematic analysis allows investigation into both explicit and implicit content, such as the manner in which food is presented as local. Neuendorf (2018) hence describes the two methods as complementary. By conducting a thematic analysis alongside a qualitative content analysis, this approach is able to explore both latent and manifest content to capture both the structural presence of Cornish identity within the marketing materials and the underlying themes.
Firstly, the source information was recorded, then whether the tourist website featured a dedicated section promoting food, which was a prerequisite to further data collection. Specific mention of Cornish heritage foods was recorded to ascertain whether and how these featured in marketing materials. This looked for Cornish pasties and Cornish clotted cream (including mentions of Cornish cream teas), but also for local seafood. While not technically covered by the UKGI scheme, ‘seafood’ is a container term recognising the cultural and economic significance of the fishing industry in a very coastal region, and this mirrors the rationale for Cornish sardines receiving protected status. Next, the description of a broader food culture was investigated by searching for whether the local production of the advertised food was used as a marketing tool and the name of this type of non-protected food was recorded. Finally, it was recorded whether the local food scene was explicitly marketed as ‘Cornish’. This process was then repeated for six counties across England to understand whether this local branding – in this case of a uniquely Cornish experience – is distinct to Cornwall.
When selecting cases for data collection, the aim was to collect data from across Cornwall and the other counties so that data would be representative of the entire areas. The tourist board websites were therefore chosen to maximise range. The data collected represents the content of local tourism promotion websites at the town, county and area-of-county level. Where a town has its own tourism website alongside a webpage on a regional tourism website, only the content of the town’s own site was analysed, as the site representing a wider area was analysed separately according only to the content of its food-focused page, providing a general overview for the wider area that the site represents. This focuses the analysis on accounting for the marketing strategies of multiple promotional bodies regionally, without the data becoming disproportionately representative of a single, county-level board’s tourism promotion strategy.
The six English counties selected for comparison with Cornwall were chosen to be widely spread across England. These are County Durham, Devon, the Isle of Wight, Shropshire, Suffolk and Warwickshire. Devon was an especially important county to include as it has many similarities with Cornwall. It is Cornwall’s only neighbour, and it competes directly with Cornwall for tourists.
Of the 26 selected tourist boards in Cornwall (see Appendix A), 19 contained textual descriptions that could be analysed, 16 specifically mentioned products with institutionally recognised significance (Cornish pasties, Cornish clotted cream or locally caught fresh seafood), and 15 boards explicitly described their food scenes as ‘Cornish’ (including ‘Scillonian’) – this did not include instances where ‘Cornish’ was used as a protected heritage product name to focus on where descriptive decisions were made. Sixteen websites referred to food as ‘local’, emphasising that food was being sourced from local producers within Cornwall, especially from within a board’s area of coverage and its immediate vicinity. ‘Local’ credentials are often utilised as evidence of quality through an emphasis on freshness, and benefits from moral assumptions that buying local is somehow virtuous (Ferguson and Thompson, 2021). Notably, every board using promotional text either used the term ‘local’ or ‘Cornish’, with 12 (a majority of the 19 boards with textual descriptions) using both terms. Food products that lack institutional recognition but were nonetheless advertised as local, frequently included meat, dairy, produce and baked goods.
Although the other observed counties similarly gave much attention to the locality of food products (see Appendix A), there was a significant difference in how county and regional identities were portrayed. All associated the locality of produce with freshness and quality. Some counties only described food produced in their area as local with very few explicitly associating it with a county identity – for example, County Durham: ‘fresh […] flavourful, heart-warming food […] from locally sourced ingredients’ (The Auckland Project, 2024), ‘mouth-watering local food’ from ‘innovative local producers’ (This is Durham, 2024). Devon stood out for its strong use of its county-level identity (19 of the 33 that contained food descriptions), but the specific descriptions largely focused on local speciality. For example, ‘Devon is famous for its fruit and dairy, particularly, its cream, custard and ice cream’ (Visit Devon, 2024a), or the descriptions boasted of ‘Devon produce’. Some Cornish boards explicitly distinguish Cornish cuisine with that of England (e.g. describing the Cornish pasty as the ‘national dish’ (Visit Cornwall, 2024). Perranporth (in Cornwall) invites visitors to ‘experience the warmth of the Cornish people, enjoy a “real” Cornish pasty or […] indulge in a Cornish Cream tea’ (Perranporth Info, 2024); in contrast, Devon’s Paignton does offer ‘fresh Devon ingredients’, but the additional references to ‘England’s Seafood Coast’ and ‘the English Riviera’ demonstrate the stark descriptive distinctions and accommodation of an English identity (Visit Devon, 2024b). Even the descriptions of locality offered could be quite mundane, such as in Warwickshire where boards merely offer ‘local ales’ (Love Shipston, 2024) or only provide potential visitors with a list of nearby eateries. This contrast continues when analysing the frequency at which food is described explicitly as of a county, where textual descriptions were available. For example, 79 per cent of boards in Cornwall described food as ‘Cornish’, whereas other English counties did so at a significantly lower rate. The Isle of Wight and Devon did so most frequently at 60 per cent and 57 per cent respectively, Shropshire was at 33 per cent, Suffolk and Warwickshire only had one mention each, and there were no descriptions of ‘County Durham’ foods. The Isle of Wight’s 60 per cent is rather misleading, however, as there were actually only three uses of county descriptions. This is because only 5 of 12 boards marketed the local food scene with text. Devon is, therefore, most comparable to Cornwall in terms of the usage of county description, but even then, it is at a significantly lower frequency. The overwhelming presence of food-related promotional content described in terms of its Cornishness demonstrates the deep connection between Cornish food and the outward portrayal of Cornwall.
The specific use of ‘Cornishness’ as a promotional tool explicitly contrasts Cornish foods to the rest of the UK. The regular occurrence of protected foods – more frequently mentioned than non-protected foods – in marketing materials suggests that the institutional recognition of Cornish food heritage is supporting Cornwall’s outward projection of itself. It also suggests a relationship between the cultural heritage significance of food and its primacy within promotional strategies, especially since the promotional bodies operate adjacent to local government and institutions.
The ‘local’ description is especially interesting as it is consistently used in a ‘hyperlocal’ conception. Local food production is generally described as being done in the immediate vicinity of a specific town such as ingredients from ‘farms […] down the road’ (Your Liskeard, 2024), or fish landed at ‘the harbour’ (Visit Newquay, 2024). This is indicative of a belief that to eat local means to eat from food from within or near a community (Beatley, 2016). Only one Cornish tourist board gave a broader description of local, and only one expanded the definition of ‘local’ from exclusively Cornish to ‘the flavours of Devon and Cornwall’ (Visit Bude, 2024), but this is likely due to that town being in close proximity to the Devon border, another county with a significant food industry (Office for National Statistics, 2024). Most of the English bodies observed shared this conception of ‘local’ as ‘hyperlocal’, but often tying locality to quality rather than heritage, especially freshness. In the vast majority of cases, the exclusivity of local food sourcing from Cornwall demonstrates the existence of an external projection strategy that prominently includes a distinctly Cornish food offering, distinct from that of England.
Previous insights into gastronationalism have largely focused on state-level protections of national heritage products to preserve national food cultures in the face of homogenising cultural pressures. To explore how this dynamic is manifested in circumstances of subnational homogenisation concerns, this paper has asked ‘What role does food play in the construction of Cornish national identity vis-à-vis England?’ Food and food practices have successfully been instrumentalised by institutional organisations in Cornwall to promote Cornish national identity. Gastronationalism provides a useful framework to analyse the relationship between local and state institutions’ culturally protectionist policies towards food and the identity politics of homogenisation these actions take place within. Such policies are not primarily a reactive measure to avert the loss of heritage practices. Gastronationalism serves to reassert a complex national identity that has been heavily influenced by English nationalism for centuries. Necessarily this entails conveying a cultural distinctiveness to emphasise the distinct heritage and practices of Cornwall. Food culture widely features in promotional materials aimed at encouraging tourists to visit Cornwall and experience its unique culture. These materials often draw on a rich set of traditions in a way rarely seen in parts of England. This represents a divergence from how gastronationalism is usually discussed as promotional bodies associated with local government present Cornish food as an inclusive phenomenon for visitors to sample. These materials offer a limited insight into Cornish identity projection as one form of identity projection; however, as key messengers of Cornish identity to the world that operate alongside local government, this remains indicative of wider gastronationalist narratives. The strong economic incentives to promote tourism have encouraged the role of food to become an essentially uniform marketing strategy for tourist boards and visitor information centres across Cornwall. Cornish gastronationalism should be characterised as a forward-looking movement aiming to expand the tourism sector and support a large network of food producers to further develop its food culture and thereby its national self-consciousness.
Cornish cuisine is clearly only one element of nationalism, yet food plays a major, very visible role in the national branding of Cornwall. Many visitors are relatively innocent to the cultural intricacies of Cornwall, but the outward projection of Cornish identity is not solely aimed at an external audience. Aronczyk (2013) explains the mechanism by which national branding promotes the development of nationalism. Focusing on projecting positive traits and aspirations can unify constructed nationalisms as people in Cornwall view this branding through a wider (international) perspective. Aronczyk also notes that successful campaigns may also promote greater pride in and identification with the ‘nation’ as citizens internalise messaging. Hence, successful campaigns promote a ‘lived brand’ that strengthens banal nationalism. This explains how strengthening the external promotion of Cornish culture, such as its vibrant food scene, can strengthen the sense of distinction with England, which may one day result in greater autonomy for Cornwall within the UK. The frequency at which Cornish tourist boards associate food with Cornishness reveals how commonly food is portrayed in national branding.
This dynamic strongly indicates that the institutional promotion of food heritage has been effective in promoting a uniquely Cornish cuisine as part of revivalist efforts and shares parallels to other cultural revivalist movements. The promotion of local cuisine in Greenland to promote tourism offers a similar experience to Cornwall. Ren and Fusté-Forné (2024) explain that tourism offers a means of re-production and identity promotion in a colonial context whereby eating Greenlandic foods and ingredients manifests an expression of Greenlandic identity. Chuang (2009) describes how ‘Banal Foods Recaptured by the Touristic Gaze’. Revitalisation of local, especially indigenous, cuisine in Taiwan has been a means of soft resistance against historical mainland rule as well as to help foster a distinctly Taiwanese identity against the hegemonic influence of China. Of course, Cornwall borders the rest of England and is far less autonomous, but the similarities highlight that tourism provides economic incentives for the continuation of practices and can be aimed toward a global audience. Cornwall stands out, however, for the depth of its integration with the cultural hegemony. Further research might examine how this dynamic of homogenisation is manifested for regional cuisines within one nation.
| Tourist board | Where on website | Cornish pasty? | Cream tea? | Local food? | Seafood | Explicitly local? | Which local? | Food explicitly described as Cornish? | Notes | Link |
| Cornwall | Food & drink | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Produce, ice cream | 1 | https://www.visitcornwall.com/food-and-drink | |
| Cambourne | Eat & drink | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | https://www.cambornetown.com/directory-category/eat-drink/ | ||
| Boscastle | Things to do | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/boscastle | ||
| Bude | Places to eat/cafés | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‘flavours of Devon and Cornwall’ | https://www.visitbude.info/eat/ | |
| Falmouth | Eat & drink | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | https://www.falmouth.co.uk/eat-drink/ | ||
| Fowey | Eating out | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Produce | 1 | https://www.fowey.co.uk/food-and-drink | |
| Helston | No food section | https://discoverhelston.co.uk/ | ||||||||
| Isles of Scilly | Food & drink | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‘Scillonian’ | https://www.visitislesofscilly.com/experience/food-and-drink | |
| Launceston | Where to eat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | https://visitlaunceston.co.uk/where-to-eat/ | ||
| Liskeard | Eat & drink | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Meat, fruit & veg, cheese | 1 | https://www.yourliskeard.co.uk/cat/eat-drink/ | |
| Looe | Eat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Ice Cream | 1 | Picture of cream tea but not textually referenced | https://www.visitlooe.co.uk/eat |
| Lostwithiel | No descriptions of foodscene on website | https://lovelostwithiel.co.uk/ | ||||||||
| Marazion | Restaurants and Pubs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | produce, gin, ale | 1 | https://www.marazion.info/restaurants-and-pubs-in-marazion | |
| Mevagissey | Food | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Yarg, baked goods | 0 | https://www.mevagissey.co.uk/food | |
| Newquay | Food & drink | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ice cream | 1 | https://www.visitnewquay.org/food-and-drink | |
| Padstow | No descriptions of foodscene on website | https://padstowlive.com/eating-out/ | ||||||||
| Penzance | No descriptions of foodscene on website | https://www.bookpenzance.com/places-to-eat/ | ||||||||
| Perranporth | Homepage | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | real’ Cornish pasties | http://www.perranporthinfo.co.uk/eat-drink.html | |
| Redruth | Minimal description of foodscene, only mentions independent businesses | https://discoverredruth.co.uk/food-drink/ | ||||||||
| St Agnes | No descriptions of foodscene on website | https://visitstagnes.com/eat-drink/ | ||||||||
| St Austell | About us | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | https://www.staustell.co.uk/about-us/ | ||
| St Ives | Eat & drink | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Meat, produce | 0 | https://www.stives-cornwall.co.uk/food_drink/ | |
| St Mawes and The Roseland | Food & drink | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‘seasonal ingredients’ | 0 | http://www.stmawesandtheroseland.co.uk/Food__and__Drink_42798.aspx | |
| Sennen Cove | Food & drink | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Produce, dairy, baked goods | 1 | https://www.old-boathouse.com/food-and-drink/ | |
| Truro | Food & drink | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Produce | 1 | https://www.visittruro.org.uk/eating-out | |
| Wadebridge | No descriptions of foodscene on website | https://www.visitwadebridge.co.uk/directory |
| Tourist board | Where on website | Local specialty? | Which Food is highlighted as Local? | Local | County? | Region? | England? | How is local food described? | Notes | Link |
| Devon | Food & Drink | Cream Tea, custard, cider | Seafood, veg, beef, dairy, ice cream, cheese, gin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Environmentally conscious, high quality, diverse, local SME-dominated production | Devon Food & Drink (visitdevon.co.uk) | |
| Exeter | Food & Drink | Pasty | Seafood, ingredients | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Focus on local businesses | Also mentions international cuisine | Food & Drink in Exeter (visitexeter.com) |
| Exmouth | Eat and Drink | Cream Tea, Cider | Seafood, Seasonal vegetables, artisan cheeses and locally reared meats, ale, gin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Focus on local businesses | Also mentions international cuisine | Places to Eat Exmouth - Places to Drink Exmouth (visitexmouth.co.uk) |
| Budleigh Salterton | No descriptions of foodscene on website | Where-to-eat-and-drink (lovebudleigh.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Sidmouth | No focus on food | https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=2e01c333ea9b2f01JmltdHM9MTcxODY2ODgwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZWU1N2VjNi1kNTZmLTY2M2MtMmI3Yy02Y2RiZDQ4ZjY3MzAmaW5zaWQ9NTIyMw&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=1ee57ec6-d56f-663c-2b7c-6cdbd48f6730&psq=visit+sidmouth+website&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudmlzaXRkZXZvbi5jby51ay9zaWRtb3V0aC8&ntb=1 | ||||||||
| Beer | Home | Cider | Ale, seafood | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ‘true taste of the English Seaside’, ‘Devonshire ales & ciders’ | Beer, Devon (beer-devon.co.uk) | |
| Branscombe | No focus on food | https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=411467c07e66348aJmltdHM9MTcxODY2ODgwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZWU1N2VjNi1kNTZmLTY2M2MtMmI3Yy02Y2RiZDQ4ZjY3MzAmaW5zaWQ9NTI3NA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=1ee57ec6-d56f-663c-2b7c-6cdbd48f6730&psq=visit+branscombe&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmF0aW9uYWx0cnVzdC5vcmcudWsvdmlzaXQvZGV2b24vYnJhbnNjb21iZQ&ntb=1 | ||||||||
| Seaton | Food and Drink | Seafood, meat, produce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sustainable | Food and Drink in Seaton (visitdevon.co.uk) | ||
| Blackdown Hills | No descriptions of foodscene on website | Visit - Blackdown Hills National Landscape (blackdownhillsaonb.org.uk) | ||||||||
| Honiton | Food & Drink in Honiton | Alcohol, drinks, crops | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Independent, local, quality | Food & Drink in Honiton (visitdevon.co.uk) | ||
| Dawlish | Food & Drink in Dawlish | Seafood | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Food & Drink in Dawlish (visitdevon.co.uk) | |||
| Teignmouth | Home | Seafood, jam, alcohols | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Visiting Teignmouth (visitdevon.co.uk) | |||
| Torquay | Food & Drink in Torquay | Seafood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | England’s Seafood Coast | Food & Drink in Torquay (visitdevon.co.uk) | ||
| Paignton | Food & Drink in Paignton | Cream Tea | Seafood, Meat, Veg, Cream, Ingredients | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | England’s Seafood Coast | Food and Drink in Paignton (visitdevon.co.uk) | |
| Brixham | Food & Drink in Brixham | Seafood, Dairy, Fruit, Custard | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | England’s Seafood Coast | Food & Drink in Brixham (visitdevon.co.uk) | ||
| Torbay | Food & Drink | Cream Tea | Seafood, produce | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | England’s Seafood Coast | Food & Drink on the English Riviera | Torquay, Paignton & Brixham | |
| Babbacombe | No focus on food | Things to Do in Babbacombe - Attractions and Activities - Visit English Riviera | ||||||||
| Newton Abbot | Food & Drink in Newton Abbot | Seafood, Produce | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Food & Drink in Newton Abbot - www.VisitSouthDevon.co.uk | |||
| Totnes | Eat and Drink | Produce, coffee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fresh | Totnes Restaurants, Cafes, Pubs and Food Markets | Information (visittotnes.co.uk) | ||
| Dartmouth | Food & Drink | Cream Tea | Seafood, Produce, Drinks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Food & Drink – Discover Dartmouth | ||
| East Prawle | No focus on food | Cultural Trails: East Prawle Walk (visitdevon.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Salcombe | Food and Drink | Seafood, Dairy, Beef | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Food and Drink holidays in Salcombe, South Devon (salcombeinformation.co.uk) | |||
| Hope Cove | Hope Cove | Seafood, Ice Cream | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hope Cove - Visit South Devon | |||
| Bigbury-on-Sea | Eating Out | Clotted Cream | Seafood, Meat, Ice Cream, Gin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Eating out locally. - Bigbury on Sea | ||
| Plymouth | Food & Drink | Cream Tea | Seafood | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Doesn’t specifically say ‘Westcountry’ but talks about Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset together | Visit Plymouth | Holidays in Plymouth UK | Official Tourist Board | |
| Tavistock | Eat & Drink | Cream Tea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Focus on Businesses | Visit Tavistock | Thriving Dartmoor Market Town Destination | Devon (visit-tavistock.co.uk) | ||
| Okehampton | Food & Drink | meat, fish and vegetables | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Home - Visit Okehampton | |||
| Dartmoor National Park | Food & Drink | Cream Tea | Dairy, meat | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Visit Dartmoor - Official Tourism Website for Dartmoor | ||
| Hartland Quay | Fabulous Food & Drink | Seafood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fabulous Food & Drink - Hartland Peninusla Association (hartlandpeninsula.co.uk) | |||
| Clovelly | Eating in Clovelly | Lobster, Seafood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eating in Clovelly - Clovelly | |||
| Westward Ho! | Focus on Businesses | Places to eat out in Westward Ho!, North Devon. (visitwestwardho.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Appledore | Appledore | Seafood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Appledore, North Devon (visitdevon.co.uk) | |||
| Woolacombe | Visiting Woolacombe | Seafood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Visiting Woolacombe (visitdevon.co.uk) | |||
| Barnstaple | Food and Drink in Barnstaple | Seafood, Meat, Dairy, Produce, Cream | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Food and Drink in Barnstaple (visitdevon.co.uk) | |||
| Ilfracombe | Places to Eat & Drink in Ilfracombe | Cream Tea | Seafood, Meat, Dairy, Produce | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‘Exmoor’ | Places to Eat & Drink in Ilfracombe - Visit Ilfracombe | |
| Lundy Island | Obvs its home to like 28 people | |||||||||
| Combe Martin | Focus on Businesses | EatingOut (visitcombemartin.com) | ||||||||
| Lynton and Lynmouth | Food & Drink | Cream Tea | Fish & Chips | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Food & Drink, Places to eat, Cafés & Restaurants -Visit Lynton & Lynmouth (visitlyntonandlynmouth.com) | ||
| Exmoor National Park | Food & Drink | Fruit | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Crosses to Somerset, ‘Exmoor Cream Tea’ | Exmoor Restaurants, Cafes, Pubs and other Food and Drink (visit-exmoor.co.uk) | ||
| Tiverton | Tiverton | Produce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tiverton - Visit South Devon | |||
| Crediton | Food & Drink in Crediton | Cream Tea | Meat, Dairy, Veg, Drinks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Food & Drink in Crediton (visitdevon.co.uk) | ||
| North Devon | North Devon | Produce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Visit North Devon (visitdevon.co.uk) |
| Tourist board | Where on website | Local specialty? | Which Food is highlighted as Local? | Local | County? | Region? | England? | How is local food described? | Notes | Link |
| Consett | Focus on Business | Eat and Drink - Visit Consett | ||||||||
| Peterlee | Can’t find a board for it | |||||||||
| Stanhope | No Food section | Stanhope | Tranquil Market Town in the Durham Dales (thisisdurham.com) | ||||||||
| Bishop Auckland | Dine with Us | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dine With Us | The Auckland Project | ||||
| Middleton-in-Teesdale | No Food Section | Middleton-in-Teesdale - This is Durham | ||||||||
| Barnard Castle | Barnard Castle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Barnard Castle | Historic market town in the Durham Dales (thisisdurham.com) | ||||
| Darlington | Eat & Drink | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | British | Best Places To Eat & Drink In Darlington - Visit Darlington | |||
| County Durham | Food and Drink | Cheese | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Food and Drink in Durham | Places to Eat - This is Durham | |||
| Hartlepool | Food and Drink | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | fantastic | Food & Drink (explorehartlepool.com) |
| Tourist board | Where on website | Local specialty? | Which Food is highlighted as Local? | Local | County? | Region? | England? | How is local food described? | Notes | Link |
| Suffolk | Visit Suffolk | Produce, seafood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‘The Foodie County’ | Visit Suffolk | Welcome to Suffolk | ||
| Brandon | Food & Drink | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Food & Drink in Brandon, Suffolk - BrandonSuffolk.com | ||||
| Middenhall | Mildenhall | No Food Section | Mildenhall | Visit Suffolk | |||||||
| Newmarket | Eat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Places to eat in Newmarket - Discover Newmarket | ||||
| Haverhill | Haverhill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Haverhill | Visit Suffolk | ||||
| Bury St Edmunds | Eating and Drinking | Produce | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Eating and Drinking | Bury St Edmunds & Beyond (visit-burystedmunds.co.uk) | |||
| Sudbury | Dine | No Food Descriptions | DINE | Item Categories | See and Do Sudbury | |||||||
| Stowmarket | Stowmarket | No Food Descriptions | Stowmarket | Visit Suffolk | |||||||
| Ipswich | Food and Drink in Ipswich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‘global cuisine’ | Food and Drink in Ipswich, Suffolk - All About Ipswich | |||
| Felixstowe | Eat and Drink | afternoon tea, ice creams, fish and chips | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eat and drink - Visit Felixstowe - Great days by the sea | |||
| Aldeburgh | Guide to visiting Aldeburgh | Only mentions chip shop | Guide to visiting Aldeburgh in Suffolk (thesuffolkcoast.co.uk) | |||||||
| Framlingham | Framlingham | Focus on businesses | Eating out | Framlingham | |||||||
| Saxmundham | Visit | No Food Descriptions | Visit - Saxmundham | |||||||
| Southwold | Southwold | Ale | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Southwold | Visit Suffolk | |||
| Halesworth | Halesworth | Produce, wine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Halesworth | Visit Suffolk | |||
| Lowestoft | Information about Lowestoft | Produce, Fish and Chips | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Information about Lowestoft | Discover Lowestoft |
| Tourist board | Where on website | Local specialty? | Which Food is highlighted as Local? | Local | County? | Region? | England? | How is local food described? | Key Descriptions | Notes | Link |
| Isle of Wight | Food and Drink | gin, garlic, cheese, tomatoes, fish and chips | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Discover food and drink on the Isle of Wight (visitisleofwight.co.uk) | ||||
| Totland | Focus on businesses | Totland Bay - Totland Bay - Visit Isle Of Wight | |||||||||
| Yarmouth | Eat and Drink | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eat and Drink | Yarmouth Harbour (yarmouth-harbour.co.uk) | |||||
| Cowes | Cowes and East Cowes | Fish, Meat | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Eat and Drink | Yarmouth Harbour (yarmouth-harbour.co.uk) | ||||
| Newport | Newport | Focus on businesses | Newport | Historic Town on the Isle of Wight (visitisleofwight.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Brighstone | Brighstone | Produce, garlic, breads | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Brighstone | Pretty village on the Isle of Wight (visitisleofwight.co.uk) | ||||
| Niton | Niton | No section on food | Niton - Isle of Wight | ||||||||
| Ventnor | Eating | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eating - Ventnor | |||||
| Godshill | Godshill | Focus on businesses | Godshill | Charming village on the Isle of Wight (visitisleofwight.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Sandown | Sandown | Focus on businesses | Sandown | Seaside Town on the Isle of Wight (visitisleofwight.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Ryde | Ryde | Focus on businesses | Ryde | Coastal town on the Isle of Wight (visitisleofwight.co.uk) | ||||||||
| Bembridge | Eating Out | Focus on businesses | Eating Out | Visit Bembridge & St Helens |
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Gastronationalism: This refers to the institutionalisation of foods as vehicles to preserve national identities, generally in response to fears of cultural homogenisation. By giving heritage foods protected official status, institutions hope to reinforce national pride and emphasise the cultural products that make their nation distinct.
Cultural homogenisation: This refers to the process through which cultural groups become increasingly similar. Critics argue that this results in a loss of cultural diversity and therefore the erosion of distinct national identities.
Banal nationalism: In contrast to overt nationalism, banal nationalism refers to the often unoticed, everyday ways in which national identity is subtely reinforced. This might manifest through displays of flags, through the use of language or by partaking in cultural activities (Billig, 1995).
Nation Branding: This concept refers to the process of cultivating an outward facing national brand identity. This promotion has economic benefits, such as allowing a nation to attract more tourists and investments. It also strengthens domestic national identity as citizens are affected by the articulation of what it means to be a part of that nation (Aronczyk, 2013).
Celtic nation: This refers to nations in Northwestern Europe which are characterised by Celtic linguistic and cultural heritage. This includes Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales.
Smith’s criteria of nationhood: Smith distinguishes between a ‘nation’ and a ‘nationalism’. He defines ‘nation’ as ‘a named human community occupying a homeland, and having common myths and a shared history, a common public culture, a single economy and common rights and duties for all members’ Smith (1996: 447). Whereas he defines a ‘nationalism’ as ‘an ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity for a population which some of its members deem to constitute an actual or potential “nation”’ (Smith, 1996: 447).
Integration politics: This refers to the processes and dynamics through which two or more groups pursue greater cohesion and cooperation, such as through economic or political integration. The archetypal example is the European Union where European states have ceded some sovereignty to the supranational body to collaborate more closely with other states across the continent.
Content analysis: This a research method used to systematically interpret textual, visual or audio content by recording the frequency key elements, such as specific words or topics. This method allows researchers to analyse documents and recordings for trends or biases and the systemic approach makes their qualititative evidence more convincing.
Thematic analysis: This method allows researchers to systematically approach qualitative data, especially that with heavy descriptive data, to identitfy common themes and ideas. Its systematic approach allows researchers to present their qualitative evidence more convincingly.
To cite this paper please use the following details: Bye, R. (2024), 'Gastronationalism in Cornwall', Reinvention: an International Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 17, Issue 2, https://reinventionjournal.org/index.php/reinvention/article/view/1698/1381. Date accessed [insert date]. If you cite this article or use it in any teaching or other related activities please let us know by e-mailing us at Reinventionjournal@warwick.ac.uk.