How is value created in heritage food systems, and what role does the figure of the artisanal producer play? In this episode, anthropologists Lauren Crossland-Marr and Elizabeth Krause introduce a special section on authenticity, published in Gastronomica’s newest issue (Spring 2023). In conversation with Gastronomica’s Bob Valgenti, Lauren and Elizabeth share some of the most pressing questions around the notion of authenticity today. Drawing on culinary cases from Italy – including ethnographic research on slow figs and fast fashion - they discuss how storytelling and producers’ improvisations shape value in the face of social, environmental, and economic precarity.