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Review of: 
 

The Meanings of Maple: An Ethnography of Sugaring 
Michael A. Lange. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2017. Pp. xxxix + 191, 
preface, acknowledgments, introduction, epilogue, b&w images, notes, bibliography, 
index. 
 
Review by: Lucy M. Long 
__________________________________________________________ 
 
Maplesugaring is the tapping of sap from trees, then condensing that sap into syrup, 
usually by boiling. Although a variety of trees can be used, sugar maples (Acer 
saccharum) are preferred, and those grow naturally in certain locations, such as 
Vermont, where the process is intertwined with the state’s history, economy, and 
identity. In The Meanings of Maple: An Ethnography of Sugaring, Michael A. Lange 
explores these intersections and offers an in-depth look into why maplesugaring is a 
meaningful representation of the state. In doing so, he demonstrates how scholarly 
theories are used as lenses to shed light on a subject, and how that subject then can be 
used to illustrate, challenge, and refine theories. 
 
Among those concepts are some that are particularly problematic in discussions of 
tradition, such as authenticity, commodification, heritage, and meaning itself. An 
important point Lange makes is that maplesugaring holds multiple layers of meanings 
rather than a singular one, and these layers overlap and impact each other. In this way, 
Lange illustrates the dynamic and constructed nature of meaning as well as the richness 
of maple as a signifier for a food product, a way of life, an occupational skill, an ethos, 
and a cultural identity. The fact that it has also become a highly effective motif for 
marketing and tourism has intensified those meanings, rather than diluted them, as 
some cultural critics might contend. 
  
Lange bases the book on extensive ethnographic research, enabling him to present views 
of the sugarers, as they are called, in their own words. It also allows him to explore the 
ways in which individuals work within a larger community, and the sometimes 
messiness of defining that community and deciding who has the power and right to 
represent it. By acknowledging those issues, the book stays away from the 
romanticization of the place and the tradition that is frequently seen in popular 
representations. 
 
The organization of the book reflects the multiple meanings of maplesugaring, with each 
chapter introducing larger theoretical questions that are then explored through 
ethnographic data. The Introduction sets a personal tone by describing Lange’s 
brother’s involvement in the tradition. It also neatly states the purpose of the book: “I 
want to delve into the many and varied ways that humans make meaning with the 
objects and processes in their lives” (xv). 

 
The first of six chapters starts with economic meanings of maple. Lange points out that 
economics is not just about money; it is a system of exchange of social and cultural 
resources as well as products and labor. Within this framework, the bulk operations now 



Long, Review, Meanings of Maple      Digest: A Journal of Foodways & Culture 7:2 (2019-2020) 

 

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characterizing the packaging, distribution, and marketing of maple syrup are still 
considered aspects of a local economy because their scale is personal and individual. 
 
Chapter 2 addresses culinary meanings, relying heavily on work by Josée Johnston and 
Shyon Baumann on the contemporary “foodies” movement (2010, for example). Other 
forces at play in current interest in and support for maple syrup could be explored more 
here, and contextualization within the regional foodways ethos and aesthetic would also 
help explain what Lange identifies as local preferences for a lighter, more delicate syrup. 
He compares that preference to the French notion of terroir, the concept of food tasting 
of the place in which it was produced. He also adds an interesting description of other 
culinary traditions associated with the sugarhouse (the structure where sap is boiled 
into syrup), such as smoking bear meat, drinking sap, and frying eggs.  
 
Chapter 3 follows with geographic meanings and the significance of Vermont as a 
physically bounded space, both legally and culturally. Physical motifs—the maple leaf 
and the state outline—publicly emphasize that place-based significance and mobilize it 
for marketing. Lange might also have addressed the customary shapes of containers 
frequently employed in packaging, since they are commonly used in the US for 
marketing moonshine, apple cider, and other “old-timey” styled foods, evoking similar 
meanings to those attached to the syrup in Vermont. The chapter ends with an analysis 
of a carving of Vermont’s outline from taphole maple (wood showing the holes made by 
taps) as demonstrating the inseparability of place, maple, and Vermont in the minds of 
sugarers as well as tourists. 
 
Ecological meanings of maple are explored in Chapter 4 from the perspectives of three 
types of ecological thought: preservation, conservation, and sustainability. Lange sees 
sugarmakers as upholding the latter two, partly because their involvement in sugaring 
requires immersion in the physical world surrounding the trees. He describes a recently 
developed technology using younger trees and allowing for “plantations” of maples to 
highlight sugarers’ traditional attitudes but discusses how the new way “violates the 
Vermont sense of ecological awareness” (101) and threatens sugaring’s traditional ethos. 
Lange calls for a more holistic cultural ecology that recognizes the meanings given by 
people to interactions with the natural environment.  
 
Chapters 5 and 6 complement each other, the first focusing on agricultural meanings, 
and the second on heritage meanings. Historically, sugarmakers were also farmers; they 
capitalized on what grows and had to be cognizant of nature’s cycles. While outsiders 
might see tapping sap as a form of gathering, the people doing it perceive of it as 
agriculture—they tend the trees and process the sap, challenging academic dichotomies 
between hunter-gatherers and farmers as well as popular assumptions that romanticize 
sugaring. Heritage in Vermont is commonly related to its agricultural history since 
small-scale agriculture has supported the state’s economy and shaped its culture. Lange 
discusses heritage as a question of what is considered “proper” (perhaps alluding to 
anthropologist Mary Douglas?) as well as property, which implies a sense of ownership 
and stewardship of the sugaring tradition. The book ends with a brief epilogue on maple 
as a vehicle for the state’s identity, both externally and internally. 
 
The Meanings of Maple offers much food for thought and “is good to think,” as 
anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss might say. It is an excellent foundation for 
examining scholarship relevant to food from both social science and humanities 



Digest: A Journal of Foodways & Culture 7:2 (2019-2020): 163 

perspectives. Lange’s approach of starting with theories, then applying them to 
ethnographic data, then using that data to comment on the theories makes the volume 
useful for classroom teaching, although perhaps not as accessible to general readers who 
might find some discussions too nuanced or “philosophical.” The book would pair nicely 
with other work on the meanings of food—folklorist Kathy Neustadt’s study Clambake 
of the New England food event comes to mind. Overall, Meanings of Maple makes an 
insightful contribution to the scholarly exploration of the meanings of food, illustrating 
how meaning is intertwined with behaviors and attitudes. Perhaps more significantly, 
Lange demonstrates that understanding how meanings are constructed and used is 
crucial to understanding how and why some traditions not only endure, but also sustain 
local environments, economies, and cultures.  
 
References Cited: 
Johnston, Josée, and Shyon Baumann. 2010. Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in 
the Gourmet Foodscape. New York: Routledge. 
 
Neustadt, Katherine D. 1992. Clambake: A History and Celebration of an American 
Tradition. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. 


	Neustadt, Katherine D. 1992. Clambake: A History and Celebration of an American Tradition. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

