本研究以苗栗公館芋頭為個案，探討地方特色食物如何被建構，以及公館芋頭為何雖具備生產基礎，卻尚未穩定形成外部市場可辨識的地方品牌。本研究以行動者網絡理論（Actor-Network Theory， ANT）作為分析視角，透過文獻回顧、農業統計、新聞文本分析、田野觀察與深度訪談，分析公館芋頭在生產運銷、媒體再現與品牌建構中的發展過程。 研究發現，公館芋頭並非沒有地方特色，也不是缺乏推廣經驗。公館芋頭的公共能見度主要仰賴農會、地方政府與媒體等中介行動者推動；在實際產業運作中，則仍受到品質分級不穩、盤商通路依賴、加工量能有限、觀光場景不足與消費辨識不強等因素限制，並在歷史上可分為四個時期：1971-1990年公館芋頭萌芽轉作期、1991-2005年食物主題節慶與地方發展期、2006-2015年公館芋正名期及2016-2025年治理常態化與聲量回落期。 本研究認為，地方特色食物並非自然形成，而是人類與非人行動者共同協作、轉譯與協商的結果。公館芋頭從被種出來、被推廣跟被正名，但卻沒有完成大眾印象中「公館＝芋頭」的穩定連結。未來建議苗栗公館可將芋頭放入多元物產與食農教育的脈絡中，透過季節遊程、地方教具、體驗活動與整合銷售平台，發展不同於單一物產品牌化的地方特色食物路徑。;This study takes Gongguan taro in Miaoli County as a case study to examine how local specialty foods are constructed， and why Gongguan taro， despite having a solid production base， has not yet developed into a stable and recognizable local brand in external markets. Drawing on Actor-Network Theory （ANT）， this study analyzes the development of Gongguan taro in production， distribution， media representation， and brand construction through literature review， agricultural statistics， news text analysis， field observation， and in-depth interviews. The findings show that Gongguan taro is neither lacking in local distinctiveness nor without promotional efforts. Its public visibility has largely depended on intermediary actors such as the farmers’ association， local government， and media. However， in actual industrial operation， Gongguan taro remains constrained by unstable quality grading， dependence on traders’ distribution channels， limited processing capacity， insufficient tourism settings， and weak consumer recognition. Historically， its development can be divided into four stages: the emerging conversion-cropping period from 1971 to 1990， the food-themed festival and local development period from 1991 to 2005， the Gongguan taro naming and recognition period from 2006 to 2015， and the period of routinized governance and declining media visibility from 2016 to 2025. This study argues that local specialty foods do not emerge naturally， but are the result of collaboration， translation， and negotiation among human and non-human actors. Gongguan taro has been produced， promoted， and renamed， yet the stable association of “Gongguan = taro” has not been fully established. In the future， Gongguan may situate taro within a broader framework of diverse local products and food and agricultural education. Through seasonal tours， local teaching materials， experiential activities， and integrated sales platforms， Gongguan can develop a pathway for local specialty food that differs from the branding model centered on a single agricultural product.
