Archives, Academy, and Access: Food Producer Life Stories

This paper draws from a collaborative research project between the British Library, the University of Sheffield, and the British food retailer Marks & Spencer. The project collected oral history recordings of poultry producers to contribute to a national archive of food production history and to be used as the basis for analysis of the politics of contemporary poultry production. The paper demonstrates how partnerships across the archive, academy, and industry, though challenging, provide an opportunity for researchers to critically engage with the complexities of contemporary food production.