Food as an epistemic entity. The case of bread

Bread can be used in a number of different ways, and has considerable and varied cultural significance that has led to a vast range of visions of the world. Considering bread as an epistemic entity makes it possible to realize what Yhuda Elkana defines as “images of knowledge” 1: a multidimensional reading of many phenomena and processes which “constitute the long lost bridges that effectively link the pure and simple social world (norms, values, ideologies) to the body of knowledge” 2. Thanks to these intrinsic characteristics, bread carries us onto an interdisciplinary terrain, which breaks down the traditional divisions of knowledge connecting the living world and the environment through a process of contamination by which we can rediscover the profound significance behind the production and consumption of food.