The Invisible Empire: Rethinking Human-Microbial Relations in the Age of Gastronomy

In 1952, the American public was presented with a portrait of scientific triumph: a painting by Robert Thom depicting French chemist Louis Pasteur, bathed in an ethereal light, inspecting two experimental flasks with unwavering sincerity. Commissioned by the pharmaceutical titan Parke, Davis and Company as part of their "Great Moments in Medicine" series, the image served as a clarion call for the Cold War era. It framed the microbial world as a chaotic frontier, one that required the rigorous, masculine hand of Western science to tame.

However, more than seventy years later, the latest issue of Gastronomica (Vol. 26.1) invites us to look past Pasteur’s flasks. Through a rigorous multidisciplinary lens, the journal’s newest special section—and its accompanying standalone articles—argues that we are entering a "post-Pasteurian" moment. By shifting the focus from the eradication of microbes to the collaborative cohabitation with them, researchers are dismantling the centuries-old narrative that human progress is defined by our ability to dominate the microscopic world.

The Pasteurian Legacy: A Century of Combat

To understand the current shift in food studies, one must first recognize the architecture of the paradigm that preceded it. The Pasteurian regime, which dominated the 20th century, was built upon an antagonistic foundation. Pasteur’s work famously cast microbes as enemies—unruly entities that threatened both health and order.

The Chronology of Control

• 1948–1964: Parke, Davis and Company commissions the "Great Moments in Medicine" series, solidifying the image of the scientist as a triumphant warrior against nature.
• Late 20th Century: The industrialization of food production, fueled by Pasteurian logic, leads to a reliance on sterile, controlled environments where microbes are viewed solely as contaminants.
• The Anthropocene Transition: As environmental concerns mount and the limitations of hyper-sanitization become evident, scholars begin to re-examine the role of the microbiome in food systems.

In this era, the goal was simple: combat, persist, and triumph. By framing microbes as inherently dangerous, modern society created a culture of sterility that allowed consumers to ignore the "invisible center" of their food systems. Yet, as editors Maya Hey and Sarah Elton suggest, this detachment is a dangerous illusion. Microbes are not merely spoilers of food; they are the architects of taste, the regulators of nutrition, and the silent partners in our biopolitical existence.

Supporting Data: Mapping the Post-Pasteurian World

The special section in Gastronomica brings together a diverse array of methodologies—from geography and STS (Science and Technology Studies) to philosophy and the environmental humanities—to analyze how humans are redefining their relationship with the microscopic.

The Microbiopolitics of Production

The research highlights a fascinating tension between technology and nature. In "The Cyborg Politics of Milk Microbiota," Annie Sandrussi explores how gendered perceptions of bodies—whether of cows or women—dictate the level of technoscientific intervention applied to milk. When milk is viewed as "unruly" or "natural," it is subjected to intense biopolitical control. Conversely, precision-fermented milk, stripped of its biological origins, faces fewer regulatory anxieties, revealing a preference for the manufactured over the organic.

Probiotic Agriculture and the New Terroir

Contrast this with the work of Nikolai Siimes, Nick Lewis, and Emma L. Sharp, who examine biodynamic wine production. These vintners reject the "eradicatory ethics" of conventional farming in favor of a "probiotic" approach. By treating the vineyard as a multispecies ecosystem, they demonstrate that terroir is no longer just about the soil; it is about the complex, messy entanglements between human labor, land, and microbial life.

This sentiment is echoed by Sevgi Mutlu Sirakova’s concept of "connected foods." Her study of migrants carrying preserved foods across borders illustrates that microbes travel with us, co-creating cultural identity and marketplaces. When a migrant brings a jar of fermented goods to a new country, they are effectively transporting a piece of their home’s microbial landscape, challenging the sterile, border-controlled definitions of modern food safety.

The Vertical Farming Paradox: Containment vs. Connection

Not all "modern" solutions, however, represent a move toward ecological harmony. The research by Lukáš Senft, Tereza Stöckelová, and Varvara Borisova on vertical farming and aquaponics reveals a persistent, underlying desire for control. While these systems rely on microbial collaboration, they do so within highly contained, productivist frameworks.

These technologies attempt to bypass the "serendipity of soil and season," yet the researchers argue this is a fundamental misunderstanding of biology. Even in the most sterile vertical farm, microbial life continues to evolve. The attempt to regulate these spaces is, in essence, a digital extension of the 1952 Pasteurian dream: a world where we can curate the environment while excluding the unpredictable. The reality, the authors conclude, is that "new human-microbial natures" are an inevitable byproduct of such containment.

Official Responses and Theoretical Shifts

The discourse within this volume of Gastronomica is deeply informed by the work of anthropologist Heather Paxson, whose studies on American cheesemaking provided the initial framework for moving beyond Pasteurian antagonism. The contributors have expanded this by introducing new concepts like "digestive belonging," a term coined by Overstreet to describe how raw milk and farm environments physically and immunologically anchor humans to their surroundings.

The Gut as a Site of Belonging

"Digestive belonging" suggests that our gut microbiomes are not merely internal systems, but sites of interaction that link us to the animals and lands we inhabit. This shifts the focus of food studies from the consumption of food to the relationship formed through ingestion. If the body is a landscape, then the microbes are the local population, shaping our health and our sense of place.

Implications: Fear, Freedom, and the Future of Food

The volume concludes by broadening the scope to include the broader cultural anxieties of the postwar period. In "Sweet Ruin," Rebecca Burditt connects the rise of cake mixes and the visual culture of the atomic age to the fragile gender norms of the 1950s. Just as the bomb represented a "sublime power" that Americans were forced to accept, the instant cake mix represented a technological solution to domestic labor—a quick fix that masked deeper anxieties about the stability of the postwar home.

This theme of control is revisited by Phoebe Mitchem in her critique of the modern "food freedom" movement. For those with severe food allergies, the idea of "food freedom" is not just an unrealistic goal; it is a dangerous erasure of the necessary control required to navigate a potentially harmful food environment. Mitchem proposes "food fascination" as a healthier alternative—a state of engagement where we balance our need for safety with an appreciation for the complex realities of what we eat.

A New "Microbial Moment"

The overarching takeaway of this issue of Gastronomica is that we are in a unique "microbial moment." We can no longer rely on the static, heroic narratives of the past—the "Great Moments" that defined 20th-century medicine. Instead, we must embrace the messy, evolving symbiosis that characterizes the Anthropocene.

As Lisa Haushofer notes in her introduction, we are tasked with developing an "adaptable responsiveness." Whether we are managing a biodynamic vineyard, navigating border controls with fermented goods, or managing our own gut health, the message is clear: the future of food is not about conquering the invisible. It is about acknowledging that we are, and always have been, a part of a larger, microscopic collective.

In the final analysis, the articles presented here do not offer a neat, chronological progression from "bad" control to "good" collaboration. Instead, they present a dynamic, open-ended field of inquiry. By centering microbes, Gastronomica invites us to rethink not just our food, but our place in the world. We are not the masters of the microbial; we are its partners, its hosts, and, inevitably, its students.