Evolution of Social Ties around New Food Practices. Группа авторов

Evolution of Social Ties around New Food Practices - Группа авторов


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organic baskets), or the development of “cooking together” practices (courses, tastings, tutorials, reality shows, chefs’ blogs). Downstream, we can observe the growing inclusion of gastronomy and commensality within other forms of sharing: meals are then offered not in classic and commercial places like restaurants, but in new alternative, tourist, campaigner or artistic contexts that rely on food to enrich other types of experiences. Commensality is then a pretext for sharing new experiences, emotions or convictions that go beyond their sole nutritional and hedonic objectives.

      Sharing values rather than a meal: in an often anxiety-provoking context, consumers are looking for answers to the many economic, social, health and environmental issues linked to our consumption patterns; as a consequence, they are questioning the models of food consumption in order to take greater responsibility. Food takes on the dimension of supporting values. Societal or environmental convictions lead to the critique of certain categories of products deemed harmful because of their ecological footprint or their consequences on public health (meat, processed products, etc.). This favors particular modes of consumption, increased social pressure on what is good or bad to consume and retreating into communities of practice around new principles (organic consumption, local consumption, direct distribution, responsible consumption, etc.). Are these communities the new form of socialization around food that, in many cases, would replace the traditional family and social sharing?

      While food is a means of supporting individual and social identities, it is at the heart of the relationships that we share with others. Food practices and convictions result in a chosen membership of groups, to which we identify or refer to, or on the contrary, from which we distinguish ourselves. These groups are an important element of the individual’s social environment, whether physical or virtual, made up of relatives or strangers. They influence behavior and consumption practices and structure our identity. They play a role in the construction of the self, through adherence to and identification with models, or even communities of adoption, while at the same time, relationships outside of groups allow us to assert our own difference within society. Such communities are developing; they are sharing communities (Internet communities, religious or local communities) that are structured fully or incidentally around food. What are the mechanisms of adhesion to these communities, what returns do individuals expect from them and how does the community itself influence food behaviors? This question of social influences and intra- and extra-group relations on food is at the heart of this book.

      Between social influences, norms, communities and questions of identity, the objective of this book is to bring a reflection on the current evolution of social phenomena around food and their influences on the evolution of these markets. This reflection is articulated through six chapters briefly summarized as follows.

      The recognition of the benefits of “eating together” is such that it has led to official recommendations from public authorities. This is the subject of Chapter 1, “Eating Together”, a PNNS Recommendation. How Can it be Put Into Practice? In order to promote a balanced diet on a daily basis, the French National Nutrition and Health Plan (Plan National Nutrition Santé, PNNS) is based on the social aspects of eating: eating together on a daily basis would be a guarantee of a more nutritional diet, because we would take more time to eat, we would cook more recommended products such as fruits and vegetables, and this would limit snacking. However, as with other recommendations made by public authorities (five fruits and vegetables a day), if consumers seem to know the recommendation to “eat in company”, its application is not satisfactory. It is therefore with the aim of overcoming this lack of application that this chapter focuses on the implementation of the “eat with company” recommendation. Data were collected using a qualitative study of food practices combining a projective collage method with individual interviews and observations. The results show that eating in company implies taking on a social role during meals and that culinary knowledge is used to satisfy the guests. The results also show that it is necessary to articulate our activities and those of others in time and space in order to meet around a meal.

      We thus witness a reconfiguration of the social environment of the food practice and adopting or retreating into the sharing community. This is particularly observable in vegetarianism and


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