Evolution of Social Ties around New Food Practices E-Book
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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
We live in a world of major disruption, where the individual and the collective stand in opposition against the backdrop of globalization, digital revolution, community development, growing concerns around health and the planet, and now an unprecedented global health crisis. This book explores how these phenomena influence the social ties that surround food and the way we eat together. Extensive research is presented on institutional recommendations concerning eating together, the role of online communities in supporting weight loss, the perceived consequences of diets, the social phenomena involved in vegetarianism, market segmentation in the case of ritual and religious practices, and the rising tendency to "buy local" and to value local identity. As the Covid-19 crisis adds to the complexity of these issues, its impact is also taken into account. For both interested readers and the many players involved in the agri-food industry, these reflections shed light on the current developments in "eating together".
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title page
Copyright
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Author Biographies
Introduction Eating Together, What Are We Talking About? Social Evolution of Today’s Food…
1 Eating Together, a PNNS Recommendation. How Can it be Put Into Practice?
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Eating together, a recommendation of the National Nutrition and Health Plan
1.3. Understanding the emergence and maintenance of eating together
1.4. Eating together: materials, meanings and skills
1.5. Interactions between materials, meanings and skills: particular practices or means of overcoming constraints
1.6. Does eating together always promote well-being?
1.7. What are the perspectives for promoting eating together?
1.8. Appendix: Sample summary
1.9. References
2 “Eating Together” Through the Internet: The Case of Online Weight Loss Support Communities
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Online weight loss support communities
2.3. Exchanges in these communities: informational as well as emotional social support
2.4. Social influence within online weight loss support communities
2.5. A hybrid research methodology
2.6. Analysis of the results
2.7. Conclusion
2.8. Appendices
2.9. References
3 “Eating Together”: With or Without the Dietary Constraints of Others?
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Dietary constraints, whether endured or chosen
3.3. Suffering from dietary constraints but eating with others: the case of meals between sick and healthy people
3.4. Having dietary constraints out of conviction: How do you eat with others?
3.5. Conclusion
3.6. Appendix: Characteristics of the Study 2 sample
3.7. References
4 Eating Together, Yes, But Without Meat! Social Influences Related to Vegetarianism and Veganism
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Not eating meat!
4.3. Relationships between vegetarians and non-vegetarians
4.4. Opposition between society and community, the normative dissonance
4.5. Conclusion
4.6. References
5 Eating Together and Differently: Halal Between Standardization and Segmentation
5.1. The halal meat market: eating together or differently?
5.2. Producing together AND differently: actors, complexity and differentiation: segments within the segment
5.3. Consuming together and differently: credibility, trust and differentiation: more segments within segments
5.4. Conclusion: the halal meat market in France: eating together and differently
5.5. Appendices
5.6. References
6 From “Eating Together” to “Living Together Better”, the Case of Local Products
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Eating locally in a global context
6.3. Eating locally: from local conviviality to globalized connectivity
6.4. Conclusion
6.5. Appendices
6.6. References
7 By Way of an Epilogue: “Eating Together” in the Time of Covid-19
7.1. Introduction
7.2. The change in practices
7.3. Irruption and trivialization of the digital in food and conviviality
7.4. Strengthening communities and beliefs?
7.5. A refocusing on the local and nearby
7.6. What are the possible scenarios?
Conclusion
List of Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 2
Table 2.1. The nature of advice exchanged in online communities (Gallin et al. 2...
Chapter 3
Table 3.1. Participants in Study 1
Chapter 4
Table 4.1. Glossary of practices
Table 4.2. Types and expected roles of communities
Chapter 5
Table 5.1. Summary of the three HGSs
Table 5.2. Halal products and meat purchase behavior (source: elaborated by the ...
Table 5.3. Halal meat consumption behaviors (source: elaborated by the authors –...
Table 5.4. Significance of halal and selection of place of purchase (source: ela...
Table 5.5. Halal certification and brand awareness (source: elaborated by the au...
Table 5.6. Characterization of the halal market and halal meat (Nielsen 2019 and...
Table 5.7. Main halal brands in France (source: data collection from specialized...
Table 5.8. Consumption patterns of Muslim households in France
Table 5.9. Consumer perception, satisfaction with halal offer and brand awarenes...
Table 5.10. Slaughter and certification of halal meat in France
Table 5.11. Characteristics of the questionnaire survey sample
Chapter 6
Table 6.1. Motivations to consume local products in favor of the territories and...
Table 6.2. French consumers’ distrust of food products (source: Opinion Way for ...
Table 6.3. Importance of origin and transparency in French consumers eating loca...
Table 6.4. Results of the factorial analysis of the perceived terroir image of p...
Table 6.5. Reliability and validity of the perceived value and confidence scales
Table 6.6. Validation of the effect of terroir/local image on trust
Table 6.7. Validation of the perceived value effect on brand confidence
Table 6.8. Characteristics related to territorial anchoring
Table 6.9. Selected facets and dimensions of consumption value and dietary well-...
Table 6.10. Validation of the links between IMAGT and PCV by structural analyses
Table 6.11. Examples of applications to eat healthy, local and seasonal food in ...
Table 6.12. Presentation of the qualitative fieldwork
Table 6.13. Scales for measuring constructs
Table 6.14. Socio-demographic structure of the sample groups
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1. Diagram of the conceptual framework from Shove et al. (2012), as pre...
Figure 1.2. Example of a projective collage (Paola). For a color version of this...
Figure 1.3. Summary of the components involved in the implementation of eating t...
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1. A search for advice in a weight loss support Facebook group
3
Figure 2.2. A “summary” related to weight loss in a weight loss support Facebook...
Figure 2.3. A diet-related “summary” in a weight loss support Facebook group. Fo...
Figure 2.4. Seeking informational support in a weight loss support Facebook grou...
Figure 2.5. Another example of seeking informational support in a weight loss su...
Figure 2.6. Another example of seeking informational support in a weight loss su...
Figure 2.7. The provision of spontaneous informational support in a weight loss ...
Figure 2.8. The provision of spontaneous sport-related informational support in ...
Figure 2.9. Seeking and providing emotional support in a weight loss support Fac...
Figure 2.10. Seeking emotional support in a weight loss support Facebook group: ...
Figure 2.11. Seeking both informational and emotional support in a weight loss s...
Figure 2.12. Sharing a rough recipe in a weight loss support Facebook group
Figure 2.13. Sharing a specific recipe in a weight loss support Facebook group. ...
Figure 2.14. A request for a yogurt recipe in a weight loss support Facebook gro...
Figure 2.15. An example of normative influence in a weight loss support Facebook...
Figure 2.16. An example of informational influence in a weight loss support Face...
Figure 2.17. A publication that triggers a request for information
Figure 2.18. A member’s thank you for the support received on the group. For a c...
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1. Vegetarians as a function of normative dissonance
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1. Simplified representation of the meat industry and halal actors. For...
Figure 5.2. Eating together, standardization and differentiation trends in the h...
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title page
Copyright
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Author Biographies
Introduction
Begin Reading
Conclusion
List of Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
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SCIENCES
Agronomy and Food Science, Field Directors – Jack Legrand and Gilles Trystram
Food Chain Management, Subject Head – Jean-Marc Ferrandi
Evolution of Social Ties Around New Food Practices
Coordinated by
Gilles Séré de Lanauze
First published 2021 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:
ISTE Ltd27-37 St George’s RoadLondon SW19 4EUUK
www.iste.co.uk
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030USA
www.wiley.com
© ISTE Ltd 2021The rights of Gilles Séré de Lanauze to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021943145
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 978-1-78945-044-6
ERC code:LS9 Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering LS9_5 Food sciences (including food technology, food safety, nutrition)
Foreword
Thibaut NGUYEN
Trends & Prospective Department, Ipsos, Paris, France
As becomes clearer every day, we are living in a period of unprecedented changes and challenges. For the last 50 years, we have been witnessing the progressive erosion of all the major collective reference points, together with an extraordinary opening of the field of scientific and technological possibilities.
This double movement of collapse and innovation is generating a groundswell that is disrupting our lifestyles, redefining daily life in its most essential acts: working, moving, communicating, eating.
The work carried out by Gilles Séré de Lanauze and the group he coordinates clearly and rigorously reveals the extent to which our conception of meals and food is being profoundly modified, echoing a way of living together that is fragmenting and recomposing itself into small real and virtual ideological circles.
The traditional meal that sealed the nuclear family and synchronized the home with neighboring households is gradually disintegrating as individualization of rhythms and digital nomadism become more powerful. We are seeing a similar pattern in many areas: the shift away from TV to targeted and personalized digital media, the erosion of the mainstream and the rise of more niche propositions in health, hygiene and beauty.
It seems that, in this period, what divides becomes more valued than what brings people together, even in the last bastion of living together: the meal.
Division, because today there is no more consensus about the direction of progress since this remains unresolved in the face of the ecological and economic crisis that had plagued our future even before Covid-19. From then on, several ideological currents have been fighting for the reins of progress to correct its trajectory. Degrowth and alternative thinking, affirmation and identity-based withdrawal, or belief in all-powerful technology, it is now necessary to choose our camp, our society, our future, our values; otherwise, a competing future might arise.
As this collective work demonstrates, such confrontation extends to our plates: eating is becoming an increasingly ideological and identity-based act, perhaps like all consumption. Qualified as vegetarian, vegan, religious, spiritual, hygienist, performist, meals and ways of eating increasingly divide the usual collectives and recompose networks that follow the divergent forces of today’s ideologies.
This is an important statement with far-reaching consequences: first, because it announces the ambivalence of the role of the meal, which becomes as much an act of secession as of gathering. Tell me what you eat, I will tell you who you are not. Or tell me what you refuse to eat, and I will tell you who you are fighting. Then, of course, because it is changing the entire food universe, opening up new offers in new ecosystems for a total food experience: political, communal, but also esthetically pleasing, i.e. Instagrammable.
Finally, it makes you think beyond food, by reflecting one of the great paradoxes of our time in a stressful and isolating world: the contradictory need to join AND escape the collective.
In a recent survey for the World Economic Forum (September 2020), Ipsos notes that 72% of citizens in 15 countries clearly want the post-Covid-19 world to be decidedly different from the one before. But will we be able to all agree on this difference when our capacity to accept and manage otherness has probably never been so low? Or are we heading for competing microworlds?
Will the next generations be able to resolve this paradox, starting with the subject of food, which we know is a cultural pillar of Generation Y? How will the Covid-19 crisis influence these food mutations? Will it accelerate our food identity by reducing opportunities to eat together? Or will it, on the contrary, encourage a resurgence of the need to be together when the lockdowns are over?
So many questions that make this book essential for those who want to understand and anticipate the current evolution of social phenomena around food.
July 2021
Acknowledgments
This book was supported by the Montpellier Research in Management laboratory of the University of Montpellier (MRM-Axe Agro-Alimentaire) in partnership with the UMR MoISA of Montpellier.
All the co-authors would like to warmly thank Professor Jean-Marc Ferrandi for his precious advice, help and support in the editing process of this book.
Author Biographies
Laurie Balbo is a teacher-researcher at the Grenoble École de Management. Her work is mainly in the field of Social Marketing and, more precisely, on the study of factors that can affect consumer eating behavior.
René Pierre Beylier holds a doctorate in management sciences and teaches at the IPAG in Nice and at the universities of Montpellier and Avignon. A member of the MRM Laboratory (Montpellier), his work focuses on the territorial legitimacy of retailers and on consumer behavior, particularly with regard to local brands and products.
Foued Cheriet is a lecturer in international strategy and food marketing at the Institut Agro-Montpellier SupAgro and a member of UMR MoISA. He conducts research on the strategies of agribusinesses, agricultural sectors and entrepreneurship. Some of his work focuses on ethnic consumption (diaspora/dates, halal meat).
Margot Dyen is a lecturer at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc and a member of the Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Économie (IREGE). Her work focuses on healthy and sustainable food practices and on well-being, in a social marketing perspective.
Fatiha Fort is a professor of marketing and consumer behavior at the Institut Agro-Montpellier SupAgro. She is a researcher at UMR MoISA where she conducts research on the marketing of local and regional products and on sustainable food consumption.
Steffie Gallin is a doctor of management sciences and a teacher-researcher at Montpellier Business School. Her research works focus on eating behaviors, social networks, online communities and social influence.
Andréa Gourmelen is a lecturer at the University of Montpellier (IUT Montpellier-Sète) and a member of the the MRM laboratory (Montpellier). Her work focuses on lifelong nutrition (students and seniors) and its evolution over time in relation to life events.
Félix Jourdan is a doctoral student in sociology at INRA in Montpellier. His thesis work focuses on the issues surrounding religious ritual slaughter in slaughterhouses. More broadly, Jourdan is conducting research on the evolution of norms, representations and practices of livestock killing.
Guillaume Le Borgne is a lecturer at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc and a member of the Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Économie (IREGE). His research focuses on food waste and nutritional choices.
Marie-Christine Lichtlé is a university professor in management sciences (marketing specialization) at the University of Montpellier. Her research areas are communication, consumer behavior and social marketing. Her recent work focuses on food behavior.
M’hamed Merdji has been a full professor at Montpellier Business School since 1999. His expertise is mainly in surveys, data analysis, market research and strategic marketing at national and international levels.
Thibaut Nguyen is in charge of the Trends & Prospective Department within Ipsos, the French research institute. As a futurologist, Thibaut helps private and public players understand and anticipate the key dynamics that are shaping our society, impacting the way we will think, act and consume in the future.
Andry Ramaroson is a lecturer at the Centre Universitaire de Mayotte. His work focuses on the analysis of individual behaviors (household, business, etc.), entrepreneurship and innovation, and business performance. He is a member of the CHROME (Nîmes) and MRM (Montpellier) Laboratories.
Gilles Séré de Lanauze is a professor at the University of Montpellier. He is in charge of the agri-food arm of the MRM Laboratory (Montpellier). He conducts research in consumer behavior on attitude/behavior gaps and responsible consumption.
Lucie Sirieix is a member of UMR MoISA and professor at the Institut Agro Montpellier SupaAgro where she teaches marketing and food consumption. Her research focuses on consumer relations to sustainability, with a social marketing approach.
Erick Suarez-Dominguez is a doctoral student in management sciences, specializing in marketing, at the University of Montpellier. His thesis work focuses on the effects of social influences on vegetarian and vegan consumption behaviors.
Introduction Eating Together, What Are We Talking About? Social Evolution of Today’s Food…
Gilles SÉRÉ DE LANAUZE
MRM Laboratory, University of Montpellier, France
Can we still eat together? The question posed by this book may come as a surprise, especially in France, where the food model is still overwhelmingly based on a traditional organization of three daily meals, as well as on sharing meals with other diners, at 84% for dinner and 75% for lunch. However, while Rozin (1994) has shown that in the imagination of individuals, eating means sharing with others, around a table; this seems more difficult today, and we observe that for the last 20 years, the number of people eating alone is increasing, as well as the number of people eating outside the home1. Sharing the same meal around a table is becoming complex because of distance and the different agendas, concerns and paces of life of people who are close. Societal developments such as the rise of individualism, the break-up of families, or nomadism generated by the constraints of active life, weaken the traditional links that used to be formed around meals. Several ways of not “eating together” are thus revealed: eating alone of course, as well as not eating the same thing, not eating in the same place, eating within a different and chosen community. Thus, beyond the fact that we increasingly eat alone, many other fault lines seem to appear in the practices and social perimeters of food consumption. At the same time, other links are being re-formed within new communities of practice or belief, and the implementation of the shared meal depends on new forms of daily organization. And if we do not eat together as much as we used to, we may eat more connected to others, and with more conviction.
Sharing the same meal around a table also becomes complicated when food choices tend to be individualized. Exclusionary diets (gluten-free, lactose-free, meat-free, etc.) are multiplying. The development of intolerances and allergies to certain food products leads to a departure from the traditional patterns of gastronomy and conviviality. At the same time, growing concerns for health and the environment are generating new practices, new product offerings and new forms of market segmentation. Some practices are even more committed, such as veganism which, beyond the refusal of any consumption involving animal exploitation, often takes a stance of both societal disruption and proselytism. Thus, multiple factors are likely to generate differences, antagonisms or frictions in the relations and practices related to food. The development of particular diets, motivated by health, environmental or ethical concerns or imperatives, seems to generate new barriers to eating together.
Religious prohibitions are also at the origin of withdrawal into particular ethnic or community regimes. We also note that the religious issue has led to the appearance of a wide range of new products on the market (numerous halal and kosher product lines), which find their clientele in the corresponding community, as well as among other consumer segments in accordance with trends observed towards ethnic or cross-cultural products.
These changes in terms of relationships with others, conviviality and sharing go beyond the simple perimeter of the meals themselves and also characterize the practices associated both upstream and downstream from the meal. Upstream, we can mention shared supplies, either between consumers (grouped purchases) or between consumers and producers (AMAP2, 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.
Finally, these consumer trends are obviously reflected at the level of supply. Product innovation, distribution structures and the very organization of markets and chains of actors are accompanying these changes and new ways of eating. This is the case, for example, of the halal meat production chain, which has benefited from a complete reorganization of the production, control and distribution chains, with the emergence of new players and the development of an offer that takes into account both market expansion and identity support. Another illustration is the market for vegetarian products and services (catering, advice and support, literature), which is committed to the management of facilitated relations between followers and non-adherents. And we find new ways of consuming, as well as of producing and living together at the local level around food, with the re-enchantment of the terroir3 as a place of sharing and conviction.
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.
Eating together thus implies grouping together around common practices, concerns and objectives, in particular by taking advantage of the opportunities for sharing and exchange provided by the Internet and social networks. The objective of Chapter 2, “Eating Together” Through the Internet: The Case of Online Weight Loss Support Communities” is to show how users of online communities “eat together” by sharing recipes, photos of the dishes they have made or even tips and advice on nutrition. This sharing contributes to the diversification of their diet. The study particularly explores online weight loss support communities such as Weight Watchers or forums on Doctissimo and Aufeminin in which diet is at the heart of discussions. Bagozzi and Dholakia (2002, p. 3) define online communities as “social spaces in the digital environment that allow groups to form and be maintained primarily through ongoing communication processes”. The chapter focuses on the phenomena of social influences that take place in these communities (How do individuals see their food choices influenced by others?) based on rich and varied collected material. We analyze excerpts from discussions within communities, screen captures that highlight these exchanges, as well as individual interviews, partly conducted with nutrition experts (23) and partly with users of online weight loss support communities (25).
What are the psychological mechanisms that encourage sharing values rather than meals? Concern for the future consequences of our diet is one possible explanation, for example, in the case of individuals on diets. Chapter 3, “Eating Together”: With or Without the Dietary Constraints of Others? shows how forced or chosen dietary restrictions can constrain “eating together”. Firstly, the study highlights the distinction between the chronically ill and the healthy, and the perceived consequences of an unbalanced diet which are very different in these two cases. As a result, a diet constrained by a chronic illness may lead to difficulties in eating with people who do not have these constraints. This first section identifies the variables that explain these difficulties in “eating together” as well as the consequences on eating behaviors when meals are taken together. In a second step, the analysis is extended to “chosen” eating, through the notion of consideration of future consequences. Consideration of future consequences (CFC) is defined as an individual’s consideration of the potential and distant consequences of his or her current behaviors and the fact that these behaviors are influenced by the very anticipation of these potential consequences (Strathman et al. 1994). In the case of eating, these are individuals who impose “dietary constraints” on themselves because they are aware of the consequences their eating may have on them or others. This results in food restriction behaviors on their part that depend on the consequences they take into account (e.g. veganism, organic food, weight loss diet). Based on these observations, why and how does a person go against his or her dietary principles in a situation where he or she has to eat with others? Similarly, to what extent will a person who does not impose dietary restrictions on himself/herself bend to the dietary constraints of others when eating together? What about the perceived tolerance of the other towards ourselves? Through illustrations drawn from three focus groups, made up of about 30 people with diversified diets, this chapter provides some answers to these questions.
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 veganism, where social influences play an important role. Chapter 4, Eating Together, Yes, But Without Meat! Social Influences Related to Vegetarianism and Veganism analyzes this strong trend of vegetarianism today. This restrictive diet in a society that is still predominantly meat-based generally breaks with previous habits, with the probable consequence of generating numerous psychological and relational tensions for the people who adopt it. Beyond the practices and motivations that have already been widely documented, the purpose of this research is to identify the multiple influences leading to the adoption and maintenance of this diet and to better understand the relationships that surround them and the new adopted community. An exploratory study was conducted through individual interviews with 25 young adult vegetarians. The results show that relationships with the community may have more effect in maintaining behavior than in the original adoption process and only indirectly facilitate relationships with the environment. This could have implications in terms of support, supply and communication regarding these practices.
This can also be studied at the level of religious communities for which community, socialization and food have always gone hand in hand. Chapter 5, Eating Together and Differently: Halal Between Standardization and Segmentation paints a picture of the production and consumption of halal meat in France by examining the dynamics of differentiation and standardization. The significant development of this market over the last two decades has led to important transformations in terms of production systems, logistics, communication and distribution. The involvement of the main actors of the food system and the emergence of specialized companies account for the coexistence of these two strategic dynamics of standardization and differentiation of supply, and respond to an increasingly complex demand. Based on the exploitation of secondary data and those from recent surveys on this sector, the aim here is to present the specificities of the halal meat market based on an analysis of slaughtering and processing practices upstream and distribution and consumption downstream. Assuming a hyper-segmentation of supply, the issues related to the ritual slaughter of animals and the different systems guaranteeing the “halal” character of meat are discussed, as well as the way in which the production stage is structured and organized between the main actors. The study of standardization–segmentation phenomena then highlights the economic, regulatory and production issues underlying the “transformation” of the living animal into a halal meat product identifiable by consumers. The perceptions of the latter as to the credibility of the certifications or the “halal” character of the products make it possible to identify the link between the two levels of analysis (Upstream–Downstream). Finally, this question of standardization/differentiation of supply is studied from the point of view of demand, its characteristics, its evolution and the way it is articulated with supply.
Finally, another dimension of socialization around food, geography, through the valorization of proximity and terroir, reveals another social perimeter, that of communities at the local level. Chapter 6, From “Eating Together” to “Living Together Better”, the Case of Local Products addresses these links between local products and the local area, close links that are claimed as such, within a perimeter of sharing, and around signs of quality and values linked to the terroir, but which beyond that also qualify the territory. If the links between local products and territory illustrate the evolution of the values and representations attributed to these spaces for more than half a century, we cannot help but notice today the prevalence of local consumption, more convivial, more ethical, more responsible, more committed to the territories. The multiplication of short channels, “local” brands, “terroir” brands and territorial brands attest to this search for territorial anchoring in terms of proximity, territorial identity, belonging and attachment to the territory, often with the argument of better eating and health. If food plays a major role as a support for the construction and expression of identity, eating local food symbolizes belonging to a common cultural space, marking territorial roots, and in fine a form of living together better. Is this not the objective of the glocalized eater who is trying to achieve two complementary movements that modernization had made contradictory: to be attached to terroir, on the one hand, and to become globalized, on the other hand? In other words, the networked local and the conviviality of the terroir that favors the links between the place and the body. “I am what I eat” (Fischler 1990), on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the commitment of the digital consumer using global trends, which is expressed in their desire to give meaning to their consumption and the importance of doing something for ourselves, “I eat what is good for the body and the mind”, promoting the convergence of the values of the collaborative economy and those of sustainable and local development towards a desire to consume differently and better, in search of meaning and authenticity. Small daily gestures that give the feeling of taking part in the changes, of being a “hummingbird consumer”, connected, demanding and more enlightened in search of transparency, who wishes to change things by infusing new behaviors. Isn’t the modern local entrepreneur a digitalized actor, and the post-modern client an informed consumer, rooted in the territory and connected to the world? Isn’t local a responsible commitment, a guarantee of quality and origin, of eating better and healthier for ourselves, others and the planet, of eating connected?
This local focus has suddenly been placed at the heart of current events, along with the strengthening of relational ties around meals and questions about food issues, with the Covid-19 health crisis and the experience of lockdown. Chapter 7, By Way of an Epilogue: “Eating Together” in the Time of Covid-19, sheds light on what this current period has changed and contributed to the book’s reflections and research conducted, for the most part, before the crisis broke out. Four main points structure what the health crisis has generated and revolutionized in our eating habits and in the social influences at play. This chapter first describes the main changes in our eating habits and practices. It shows how digital tools have allowed us to maintain the link and overcome the difficulties generated by physical confinement, as well as their limits. It explores the changes or reinforcements of convictions and principles of life following the awareness of health, societal and environmental issues provoked or reinforced by the crisis. Finally, it returns to the question of locality, social proximity and reinforced ties within groups or communities in response to the challenges imposed by the experiences of lockdown.
The Conclusion summarizes the contributions of the book in a cross-functional manner and proposes new avenues. The academic reflections and research presented aim to better understand the current evolution of socialization and the influence of communities on food practices, and to draw enlightening perspectives for the different actors, food companies or distributors, consumer associations and groups, or public authorities.
I.1. References
Bagozzi, R.P. and Dholakia, U.M. (2002). Intentional social action in virtual communities. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 16(2), 2–21.
Casabianca, F., Sylvander, B., Noël, Y., Béranger, C., Coulon, J.B., Giraud, G., Vincent, E. (2006). Terroir et typicité : propositions de définitions pour deux notions essentielles à l’appréhension des Indications Géographiques et du développement durable. Actes du VIème Congrès International des Terroirs Viticoles, 3–7.
Fischler, C. (1990). L’Homnivore. Odile Jacob, Paris.
Rozin, P. (1994). La magie sympathique. In Manger magique : aliments sorciers, croyances comestibles, Fischler, C. (ed.). Editions Autrement, Paris.
Strathman, A., Gleicher, F., Boninger, D.S., Edwards, C.S. (1994). The consideration of future consequences: Weighing immediate and distant outcomes of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(4), 742–775.
1.
See
Baromètre santé nutrition
, available at:
http://www.ireps-picardie.fr/News/News_Cres_OR2S/Newsletters2010/17newsavril2010/Barometre_nutrition.pdf
.
2.
A French acronym designating the Association for the Preservation of Local Farming. It usually involves a partnership between a group of consumers and a local farmer.
3.
“Terroir” is a French term that derives from the Latin
terra
, meaning earth, land or soil. In this book, we use this term as there is no direct English translation. A terroir refers to “a delimited geographical area defined by a human community that has built up, over the course of its history, a set of distinctive cultural traits, knowledge and practices, based on a system of interactions between the natural environment and human factors. The know-how brought into play reveals an originality, confers a typicality and allows recognition for the products or services originating from this space and therefore for the people who live there” (Casabianca
et al
. 2006)”. See
Chapter 6
for further details on this term and its usage.
1Eating Together, a PNNS Recommendation. How Can it be Put Into Practice?
Margot DYEN1 and Lucie SIRIEIX2
1 Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Économie (IREGE), University of Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry, France
2 UMR MoISA, Institut Agro-Montpellier SupAgro, France
1.1. Introduction
What is eating well? There are many answers to this seemingly simple question. First of all, we need to define what we mean by “eating well”. Historically, the issue of health through food was, quite obviously, mainly dealt with by nutritionists, who had an almost exclusively metabolic and physiological approach to nutrition. This led to campaigns promoting a balanced diet, making individuals aware of the nature of the foods to be consumed according to their category (carbohydrates, fibers, proteins, etc.). This functional vision of food prevailed in France until the 1960s and was perpetuated in English-speaking countries, but the book Manger: Français, Européens et Américains face à l’alimentation (Fischler and Masson 2008) shows how, contrary to this vision, the French preferred to conceive food another way. Today, nutritionists are increasingly interested in the issues of social relations around food and highlight that they are determining factors in a balanced diet. Therefore, eating well does not only depend on what we eat, it is also taking the time to sit down, in the company of people who allow us to enjoy a good time. It is also about sharing a dish, about a family meal established at well-defined times. This change can be seen in the recommendations that are made and the French National Nutrition and Health Plan (Plan National Nutrition Santé, PNNS). “Eat and Move” campaign devotes an entire section to this dimension. Thus, eating together is now part of the promotion of eating well, which is no longer just a balanced diet, but an “art of living”. Eating together helps in regulating food intake and invites people to cook more and to take more time to eat, which in turn helps in better perceiving the signals of satiation. As mentioned above, this “art of living” is particularly central to French culture, whereas English-speaking societies have retained a vision that is focused on the nutritional characteristics of food.
In the context of this book, which asks the question “Can we still eat together?”, this chapter is therefore not about all the recommendations of the PNNS but about a specific recommendation: eating together.
Eating together underlines the PNNS’s concerns, as will be detailed in section 1.2. However, this recommendation is not supported by the PNNS. In order to better support these practices of eating together, it is therefore necessary to better understand them and to question the conditions of their implementation. To do this, we adopt a practice-based approach in this chapter to understand how individuals eat together: a qualitative study conducted with 23 participants is presented in section 1.3. Section 1.4 more specifically addresses the questions “what are the materials, skills and meanings associated with these practices?” Section 1.5 focuses on the interactions between these three elements – materials, necessary skills and associated meanings – to show that together they can give rise to particular practices or help overcome obstacles to eating together. On this basis, in section 1.6, we examine the links between eating together and well-being, and in section 1.7, we open up perspectives for accompanying or facilitating eating together practices.
1.2. Eating together, a recommendation of the National Nutrition and Health Plan
Since 2001, France has had a real public policy targeting food, through the Plan National Nutrition Santé (PNNS, French National Nutrition and Health Plan). This initiative, launched by Prime Minister François Fillon in December 2000, had as its general objective “to improve the health status of the population by acting on the major determinant represented by nutrition” (Hercberg 2006). The PNNS materials include food guides, poster campaigns, press articles, support documents and television campaigns. Most of the communication tools are aimed at the general public, but some of the productions are intended for health professionals. The PNNS is intended to be applied in all areas of food consumption, with interventions in schools, health systems, the workplace, neighborhoods and cities, as well as in collective catering. The overall goal of the PNNS is to “contribute to the creation of an overall nutritional environment, facilitating positive choice for the health of consumers” (Chauliac 2011). As a public policy, the PNNS is equipped with evaluation systems to assess the effects of its actions. Thus, it “integrates the regular evaluation of its quantified objectives and, as much as possible, of the actions or measures it implements (effectiveness indicators or process evaluation)”. Its objectives can be summarized in four main points:
– reduce obesity and excess weight among the population;
– increase physical activity and decrease sedentary behavior at all ages;
– improve dietary practices and nutritional intakes, particularly in at-risk populations;
– reduce the prevalence of nutritional diseases.
An assessment of the achievement of these objectives was carried out in 2006–2007 via the Étude Nationale Nutrition Santé (Castetbon et al. 2011), supplemented by the Étude Individuelle Nationale des Consommations Alimentaires (INCA2, National Individual Food Consumption Study (Afssa 2009)), the Baromètre santé-nutrition (Health and Nutrition Barometer) and regional studies (HCSP 2010). These assessments revealed that the objectives had only partially been achieved and that the program needed to be strengthened to continue to promote the desired behaviors (e.g. only a very slight increase in the purchase of fruits and vegetables had been observed) (Hercberg 2006). From this observation, the PNNS2 (2006–2010) emerged.
At the end of the PNNS2, the evaluation report noted that the expected results had not been obtained (particularly in terms of obesity screening (IGAS 2010)). This report recommends, among other things, revising the feasibility of certain objectives, correcting the formulation of certain principles that are sometimes the source of a binary vision of nutrition (“good” vs. “bad” products) and systematically citing the programs with which the PNNS is linked for better coherence between the public policy programs (Menninger et al. 2010). The PNNS is also criticized for not taking sufficient account of local specificities or social groups, which risks stigmatizing certain sectors of the population (Poulain 2006). For example, the PNNS3 includes a special section on overseas territories and emphasizes the importance of social, economic and cultural determinants of diet. This version explicitly emphasizes that it aims to banish “any stigmatization of people based on a particular dietary behavior or nutritional status” from the PNNS (Ministère du travail, de l’emploi et de la santé 2010). The PNNS3 also ensures overall coherence with other national food programs (such as the Programme National pour l’Alimentation (French National Food Program) resulting from the law on the modernization of agriculture and fishing, as well as the Obesity Plan, of which the PNNS is a component (Chauliac 2011)).
From its first version, the ambition of the PNNS was to “take into account the biological, symbolic and social dimensions of the food act” (Chauliac 2011). Thus, “eating well”, a concept that is more encompassing than “nutritionally healthy eating”, takes into account the social dimensions of eating and includes eating together in its program. However, eating together is not explicitly addressed in the evaluation. It is mentioned in the general parts of the reports, such as the preface, the foundations or the objectives of the program, but is not the subject of any explicit recommendations in the same way as there are consumption guidelines for fruit and vegetables, dairy products, etc. Despite this, on the Manger Bouger website, a section asks the question “Why is it important to get together for regular meals?”1. Eating together is therefore a more comprehensive practice of balanced nutrition, and is more in line with a balanced lifestyle. Indeed, eating together is beneficial for several reasons:
– promoting the structuring of meals (starter–main course–dessert), which itself promotes nutritional diversity;
– avoiding skipping meals;
– taking the time to eat (favorable to better digestion and a better perception of the signs of satiation);
– cooking fresh products (healthier than processed products, which are generally saltier, more fatty and less natural).
In France, despite the fact that the conviviality of meals remains central among the discourse of the French population (Mathe et al. 2014), eating together is less and less in line with the evolution of lifestyles, affected in particular by demographic changes (e.g. composition of households, activities of their members) or changes in food supply (e.g. prepared and individualized dishes). The INCA2 study published in 2009, based on data collected in 2006 and 2007, highlights a trend towards a destructuring of eating patterns among the youngest members of society (15–35 years), which has been increasing since 1999.
Similarly, it is clear that the time spent in front of screens and the solicitations of smartphones at all hours of the day and night can interfere with maintaining time to eat together, parasiting the interpersonal relationships essential to conviviality. The INCA3 study (Anses 2017) emphasizes that the time spent daily in front of screens (excluding work time) is constantly increasing, with an average increase over the last 7 years of 20 minutes in children and 1 hour and 20 minutes in adults. As a result, eating together is not self-evident, and more support is needed.
In conclusion, eating together is at the heart of the PNNS’s concerns but is not the subject of accompanying measures, and current lifestyles make it difficult to maintain this practice which contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Faced with this observation, a study of the different practices of eating together and a reflection on the conditions of implementation of these practices are necessary.
1.3. Understanding the emergence and maintenance of eating together
This section adopts a practice-based approach to study eating together
