Through the Missouri Regional Cuisines Project, I am introducing a new way of regional organizing for rural communities that is known in Europe but not in the United States (labels of origin for quality products). I am creating change on the ground in four regions in the state with the hope that this will demonstrate the power of this approach to rural development. Ultimately, I hope to contribute to changing US national policy on the issue of geographical indications, so that we establish a US register of regions with names and products that are associated and should be protected (Kona Coffee, Idaho Potato, Napa Valley). There are potentially tremendous benefits that can be derived from this for our rural regions, but it would also clear the path for developing countries to use this approach with the recognition and sanction of the US, something that has not been possible over the past decades due to US blockage of the concept of a global registry at the level of the WTO.
The Ozarks.
I would like to see a global registry of regional names established through either the WTO or the World Intellectual Property Organization so that efforts at the local level to maintain and renew cultural traditions surrounding food production as well as crafts would be encouraged and rewarded with stronger local economies that cannot be displaced through globalization.
Dr. Elizabeth Barham is nationally and internationally known for her research on labels of origin as catalysts for rural development, revitalization and tourism. Her work in France, Spain, Portugal and Quebec led to the establishment of the Missouri Regional Cuisines Project which now encompasses four major wine producing regions in Missouri. Her work pushes forward an exploration of how American can innovate and compete using the model of geographical indications, or labels or origin, for regionally distinct products. She holds both Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Development Sociology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She holds a masters equivalent degree from the University of Provence in France, and is fluent in French. Her specialty areas are food and agricultural systems, rural development and globalization. In 2004, she was knighted by the French government for her contributions to the field of agriculture, receiving the high honor of the order of merit in agriculture from the French state. She has also been honored to serve as the only international expert invited to serve on the founding committee to review requests for protected labels of origin in Quebec.
