A woman's hand with red-painted nails puts ingredients into a planetary mixer; another woman, wearing a supposed-to-be-traditional costume, rings, and a smartwatch, is kneading dough for dumplings. Such scenes make up a promotional video for the Natura od Kuchni competition addressed to rural housewives, organized by the governmental organization State Forests, the aim of which is «… to promote the forest, a healthy lifestyle and the best products that nature gives us». Members of the Rural Housewives' Clubs (pol. KGW), a form of women's association popular in Polish non-urban areas, are expected to propose activities promoting venison, honey, and undergrowth products. This is one of many state competitions addressed to KGW that promote ways to draw from nature and a certain concept of «ecological behavior». KGW, commonly associated with local culture and tradition, also often organize actions related to environmental protection and education of the local community, among others inviting experts (e.g., in herbal medicine or cooking). Due to the origins of KGW, which were by definition auxiliary organizations for agricultural associations, some of them engage in preserving traditional practices related to agriculture and breeding. The concept of tradition is also strong within the culinary activity, which is the core direction for most clubs. In this context, the economically oriented and ecologically romantic concept of nature is intertwined, thanks to which both herbs from your own plot and meat from nearby slaughterhouses become "straight from nature".
The aim of my presentation is to show how KGW, who have great educational potential within the local community, manage traditional knowledge about nature and a new rural paradigm-like approach, offered by both state and grassroots initiatives, and how it can influence the perception of intangible heritage related to human interaction with nature.
