dc.description.abstract | This paper examines the role of the “Bluefin Tuna Cultural Festival” in developing and sustaining regional
identities within the context of rural regeneration, sustainability, and the creation of closer relationships between
production and consumption in the countryside. It focuses on Donggang, Southern Taiwan, an area with rural
development issues, increasing tourism impacts, and contested issues of local identity, sustainability, and an
aging society. This paper draws on public discourse and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in Donggang
to understand the conditions required for substantiating authenticity of the gastronomic products and experiences
and the promotion of an appealing gastronomic image. This study traces the process of embedding bluefin
tuna in Donggang through marketing, branding and provides a preliminary conceptualization of interrelations
between gastronomic tourism and community development in East Asia.
The paper draws attention to these particular issues issues: the commodification of local heritage and countryside
capital, strategies and challenges of hosting culinary festivals and resolving the issue of return migration. | vi |