Anxious Appetites: Food and Consumer Culture (Contemporary Food Studies: Economy, Culture and Politics)

Despite government claims that food is safer and more readily available today than ever before, recent survey evidence demonstrates high levels of food-related anxiety among Western consumers. While chronic hunger and malnutrition are relatively rare in the West, food scares relating to individual products, concerns about global food security and other expressions of consumer anxiety about food remain widespread. Anxious Appetites explores the causes of these present-day anxieties. Looking at fears over provenance and regulation in a world of lengthening supply chains and greater concentration of corporate power, Peter Jackson investigates how anxieties about food circulate and how they act as a channel for broader social issues. Drawing on case studies such as the 2013 horsemeat scandal and fears about the contamination of infant formula in China in 2008, he examines how and why these concerns emerge. Comparing survey results with ethnographic observation of consumer practice, he explores the gap between official advice about food safety and people’s everyday experience of food, including a critique of ideological notions of ‘consumer choice’. A captivating, timely book which presents a new theory of social anxiety. Cover Half-Title Series Page Title Copyright Dedication Contents Figures and tables Preface Abbreviations Chapter 1 Introduction: The roots of contemporary food anxieties The paradox of contemporary food anxieties Anxiety as an explanatory term Ambiguous appetites Consumer anxieties about food The roots of contemporary food anxieties Outline of the argument Chapter 2 Mapping contemporary food anxieties The Eurobarometer surveys Mapping European anxieties about food Conclusion Chapter 3 Anxiety as a social condition Defining anxiety Existential anxiety Social anxieties The moralization of food anxieties Conclusion Chapter 4 Technological change and consumer anxieties about food The historical development of chicken production The intensification of poultry production Developing the ‘cold chain’ Rebranding intensively reared chicken Chickens as creatures or commodities? Conclusion Chapter 5 ‘Food scares’ and the regulation of supply chains ‘Food scares’ and related crises The 2013 horsemeat ‘incident’ Applying the ‘social anxiety’ framework Consumer reactions to the horsemeat incident Contemporary food supply chains The ‘crowded landscape’ of UK food governance Conclusion Chapter 6 Mediating science and nature: parental anxieties about food The 2008 infant formula crisis Contextualizing the crisis Parental anxieties about infant formula Restoring consumer confidence Conclusion Chapter 7 Celebrity chefs and the circulation of food anxieties Celebrity culture The rise of the celebrity chef Celebrity chefs and the politics of food The circulation of food-related anxieties Conclusion Chapter 8 Consumer anxieties and domestic food practices Ethnography and theories of practice Countering discourses of deficit and decline Practical knowledge and embodied skill Ethical tensions and trade-offs Conclusion Chapter 9 Rethinking ‘convenience’ and food waste Contesting ‘convenience’ The rise of supermarket ready-meals The moralization of convenience food Ethnographic perspectives Food waste and the dynamics of household practice Conclusion Chapter 10 Conclusion: The routes of contemporary food anxieties Summarizing the argument Political and moral economies of food Theoretical and methodological reflections The locus of responsibility References Index Despite government claims that food is safer and more readily available today than ever before, recent survey evidence demonstrates high levels of food-related anxiety among Western consumers. While chronic hunger and malnutrition are relatively rare in the West, food scares relating to individual products, concerns about global food security and other expressions of consumer anxiety about food remain widespread. This book explores the causes of these present-day anxieties. Looking at fears over provenance and regulation in a world of lengthening supply chains and greater concentration of corporate power, Peter Jackson investigates how anxieties about food circulate and how they act as a channel for broader social issues. The Roots Of Contemporary Food Anxieties -- Mapping Contemporary Food Anxieties -- Anxiety As A Social Condition -- Technological Change And Consumer Anxieties About Food -- Food Scares And The Regulation Of Supply Chains -- Mediating Science And Nature: Parental Anxieties About Food -- Celebrity Chefs And The Circulation Of Food Anxieties -- Consumer Anxieties And Domestic Food Practices -- Rethinking Convenience And Food Waste -- The Routes Of Contemporary Food Anxieties. By Peter Jackson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.