In the Land of Feta Cheese: Negotiating Greek Identity in the European Context

Territories in Question: Routes in Territories
By Elia Petridou
English

Greece requested the protection of feta cheese within the framework of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) labeling of agricultural products. However, this issue reached serious proportions, since other member states of the European Union (EU) were against Greece’s request. The Greek press and some official institutions and media even turned it into a national claim similar to those relative to the use of the term “Macedonia” and the repatriation of the Parthenon marble sculptures from the British Museum. As a result, the PDO labeling request for feta cheese at the EU was seen as a “name battle” and a threat that Greek culture be appropriated by foreign powers. Greece used the feta cheese problem as a basis for negotiating its identity within Europe. As such, the PDO label that was supposed to reinforce regions culturally and economically and facilitate the convergence of EU’s member countries became a vehicle for one expression of nationalism.

Keywords

  • greekness
  • european union
  • milk production
  • feta cheese
  • nationalism
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