Public good: Wheat assemblages and the revalorization of culinary and handicraft practice in Bio-Bio, Chile

This chapter approaches the landscape as a methodological reality from which to explore the livelihoods of smallholder family farmers, identifying the material characteristics of a territory for a mode of rural life, and analyzing the transformative features of agriculture as a form of existence (see Gastó and Gálvez, 2014; Dewsbury, 2015). The aim of the chapter is to address two public concerns over agricultural realities. First, externalities associated with policies that promote intensive use of the landscape (e.g., the effects of forestation policies) and second, the potential benefits of public recognition in a territory (e.g., the valuation of skills and knowledge). 1 2 In other words, it examines the material goods and services generated and brought forth in a rural landscape, in this case those related to cuisine and handicraft.