Michele Filippo Fontefrancesco is an assistant professor of cultural anthropology and convenor of the Bachelor program in Gastronomic Sciences and Cultures at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. He is one of the convenors of the Anthropology of Economy Network at the European Association of Social Anthropology. His research focus on the intersection between artisanship, entrepreneurship and local development with attention on the food sector. He conducted fieldwork in Southern Europe and Eastern Africa, publishing numerous works. Notably The End of the City of Gold?:
Industrial and Economic Crisis in an Italian Jewellery Town (Cambridge Scholars, 2013), Food Festivals and Local Development in Italy: A Viewpoint from Economic Anthropology (Palgrave, 2020), and, in Italian, Il cibo nel futuro. Produzione, consumo e socialità (Carocci, 2021, edited with Paolo Corvo).