Abstract

“What is good rice?” In Taiwan it is easy to get a standard answer to this question. In this paper, we problematise the consciousness underlying this situation. This paper questions the definitional processes underlying concepts of goodness and the criteria for judgment, as well as the creation of meanings and values through the judgment process. The concept of cultural economy is methodologically used to analyse the meanings and values produced and distributed through the qualification of rice and the actors in the rice supply system, in order to understand their quality assessment frameworks and strategies under two different food regimes. Policy discourses, historical news articles, and interview materials were collected to explore the process of the social construction of qualities. This paper argues that the quality assessment system for Japonica rice, which originated in Japan, was introduced here in Taiwan and appropriated through a process of reform of Japonica rice. At the same time, this system shaped the ideology of giving positive judgments to modernization and Japanization. The acknowledged qualities of rice in Taiwan have replicated and re-distributed the taste and meanings of rice in Japan. The definitions of goodness have been reproduced by the consumer, playing the part of the re-producer of culture in this process.