Sweet Bedfellows Continuity, Change, and Terroir in Maple Syrup

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Michael Lange

Abstract

The making of maple syrup is an important part of the livelihood and identity of many people in Vermont. A sense of purity and authenticity is connected to the syrup, and eventually to Vermont itself. This article explores the connections between maple and the state, and between notions of purity and authenticity. My ongoing fieldwork with sugarmakers delves into those connections. I have been asking sugarmakers themselves how purity and authenticity play a role in their own understandings of what they do and what they make. I have been learning from them how they see stasis and change as an inherent part of their lives. In this article, I explore the evolving nature of maple as a part of Vermont’s identity in the face of technological, social, and economic change.

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Lead Essays