What is it about?
Wet markets continue to be popular food supply sites for consumers in Southern China despite the advent of supermarkets. We have found this is due to their association with qualities of "freshness". Highly packaged, frozen or processed supplies are not seen as fresh or as healthy. Consumers develop relationships with suppliers within the market to assure themselves of trustworthy provenance, rather than being persuaded by labelling schemes in supermarkets.
Featured Image
Photo by Big Dodzy on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Still some 60% of groceries and fresh food stuffs are sourced via wet markets, in large and populous consumers markets. The valuing of freshness is likely to mean this share broadly holds up in Southern China. Predicted 'transitions' to more 'modern' or Western supermarket use have thus not come true, with supermarkets preferred or confined to dry goods
Perspectives
when COVID fascination with wet markets appeared, everyone seemed to associate them with wild game and foods, whereas the reality is much more banal.
Professor Mike Crang
Durham University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Constructing freshness: the vitality of wet markets in urban China, Agriculture and Human Values, October 2019, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s10460-019-09987-2.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
