Everyday eating in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden : a comparative study of meal patterns, 1997-2012

"The chapters in this volume concentrate on the mundane and ordinary eating practices of the everyday, showing how these are linked to change in modern society. The contributors present a collection of systematic empirical results from a unique study based on representative samples of four Nordic populations - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - conducted at two time points, 15 years apart. The results of this unprecedented longitudinal survey leads the contributors to question many commonly held beliefs about the presumed and feared collapse of the traditional eating habits, family meals, and regular meal patterns. As the social organization of eating is in many ways related to developments in other social institutions such as family, education, and work, chapters provide interesting insights into contemporary society, with key topics selected for scrutiny including gender, food types, diet and health, and cooking practices. Additionally, the chapters highlight changes in the gendering of food practices and signs of increasing informality around meals."-- Provided by publisher Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Contributors Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction Eating in Modern Everyday Life Global or national food cultures? Rhythm of daily life: Changes in time and place of eating? Meals in social life: Disappearance of family meals? Manners of eating: De-structuring or de-traditionalizing? Meals: Disruption of structure? Researching de-traditionalization and disruption of eating patterns Our study design Our questionnaires Four Nordic populations The contents of the book 2 The Food We Eat Breakfast Lunch Dinner In-betweens Discussion Conclusion 3 The Daily Rhythm of Eating Our research questions and data considerations The research method National peak times and regularities of eating Stability or change 1997–2012 Within-country differences in daily eating rhythms Is de-synchronization associated with other dimensions of destructuration? Unsynchronized eating – is there an increase over time, and can the pattern be explained by socio- structural factors? Timing of eating with working life Discussion 4 The Social Context and Conduct of Eating Theoretical background Aim of the analysis Analysis and data Changes between 1997 and 2012 in three Nordic countries Who did what? The social context and conduct of specific meal types, 2012 Discussion 5 Family Meals on the Decline? The significance of family meals Family meals in decline? Social organization of family meals Aim of analysis Have family meals become more or less frequent from 1997 to 2012? Discussion 6 The Complexity of Meals The eating system in the Nordic context Lunch and dinner complexity Context and individual variables The analysis Meal setting in the four Nordic countries Lunch sociability and complexity Dinner sociability and complexity Discussion 7 Eating Out, Having Guests A short description of the method Results Summary: A declining importance from socio-economic factors? 8 Cooking and Gender Cooking as gendered work Aims of the analysis Data and methods – design of study Results Discussion and conclusion 9 Food Insecurity Food insecurity Poverty: The seminal cause of food insecurity Access to food in the Nordic welfare states Research questions Methods Food security, income poverty and risk groups More than life-course events Concluding remarks 10 Eating Practices and Dietary Health Data analysis Results Discussion 11 Eating Sustainably Variables and methods Analysis Sustainable food consumption practices Differences between social groups Discussion Conclusion 12 Conclusions: Continuity and Change in Everyday Eating The theoretical interest De-traditionalization, and dissolution? Shared trends and differences Norms, conventions and concerns Methodological considerations Perspectives Appendix Field period and sample size Data collection mode and quota sampling procedure Response rates in 1997 and 2012 Assessing the quality of the 2012 data Non-response analysis Weighting for non-response References Index