“We did something, but we did it differently…” Crisis, Resilience, and Innovation in Contemporary Hungarian Cheesemaking Practices

Abstract In the following paper, based on a case study of a specific business sector comprising makers of Hungarian artisanal cheese, I examine the impact of radical changes in the external economic environment on individual economic practices. These changes are often experienced in the form of sudden shocks and crises, over which individuals have little influence. I present the complex situations these individuals face, their efforts to respond, and the potential innovations that may emerge as a result. Based on fieldwork among cheesemakers in Pest, Veszprém, and Baranya counties, the case study presents the complex impacts of two recent crises — the COVID-19 pandemic and the inflation crisis — on the different localities. Focusing on the notion of resilience, I demonstrate the varying responses of the studied cheesemakers to these diverse impacts. The fundamental differences between the two crises allow us to examine important aspects of the functioning of economic practices, including the practical benefits of the strategy of pursuing security and diversification in a crisis situation. The two crises highlighted in different ways the vitally important questions of personal contact and trust in the context of businesses that produce “local foods.” Such aspects represent an important advantage in terms of marketing, and a disadvantage when it comes to pricing. At the same time, the intensifying polycrisis makes the resilience of small-scale farms a key issue for the future.