ABSTRACT
Many social scientists and others have heeded Henri Lefebvre's directive that 'the commodity needs its space'. Further, consumption must be and remain equally central to theorizations of space and place. Neil Smith echoes this point with aplomb: 'Space matters, but even more so the processes and events that make nature and space'. In empirical terms, the neocapitalism and neo-imperialism share hegemony over a subordinated space split into two kinds of regions: regions exploited for the purpose of and by means of production, and regions exploited for the purpose of and by means of the consumption of space. The consumption of place and space in food networks is about economic and cultural power as it is about the desire to eat, drink and be merry in novel and alternative ways. In this sense 'space' has become invested with the cultural semiotics of 'place', it has acquired the elusive force of 'identity', so important to tourist destinations in the international tourist market.
