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Food and Society 

Introduction

The study of food and society is increasingly recognised to be one that can make a

significant contribution to our understanding of the context within which the production andconsumption of commercial food and beverages takes place. However, within the hospitalitymanagement subject area, there are few specific texts that cover the territory. Instead, textsand resources that can contribute relevant theoretical frameworks to support the study of food and society are to be found in a range of fields of study. The following annotatedbibliography lists some examples of texts and learning resources that have been founduseful in designing and delivering courses in this subject area at honours and masters level.They are by no means either definitive or final.

Annotated bibliography

• Mennell, S (1985) All Manner of Foods; Oxford: Blackwell (Chapter 1 – introduction)• Mennell, S, Murcott, A and van Otterloo, A (1992) The Sociology of Food: Eating, Diet 

and Culture; London: Sage. (Chapter 1 - Introduction: Significance and TheoreticalOrientations)

• Wood, R (1995) The Sociology of the Meal ; Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.(Chapter 1- Food and Social Theory: States of the Art)

These three books are all concerned with the analysis and interpretation of activitiessurrounding the production and consumption of food and drink. They have been selectedparticularly for the important contributions of their first chapters. All three clearly introduce,explain and evaluate the theoretical approaches that can be used to identify, classify andmake sense of the significance of everyday human food behaviours.

All three authors focus attention upon the role of two contrasting but key theoreticalframeworks: structuralism and developmentalism. Structuralism argues that culturalmeanings are derived from the character of the structural relations that underpin all socialactivities, whereas developmentalism suggests that cultural tastes and behaviour changeover time as a result of the developments that have occurred in previous generations.

Each of these chapters offers an assessment of the role and applications of both theories.The strength of structuralism is shown to be in its ability to identify and interpret the culturalmeanings embedded in food choices and behaviours, and the authors illustrate how thisinterpretative process is relevant to the study of food and society. At the same time, a

significant weakness in structuralist theory is recognised to be its neglect of the issue of change over time. The authors move on to examine the analytical frameworks of developmentalism. In contrast to structuralism, these approaches focus on the identification

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of the process of social change, which is seen to be the mechanism that determines culturalpreferences. Thus, the developmentalist approach offers the potential to understand whyand how meanings attached to food and dining have come to be as they are. Structuralismand developmentalism are presented as two contrasting analytical frameworks that can be

used in combination, to offer increased insight and understanding of the complex role of foodin society. Examples of key exponents of each approach are given within the context of thestudy of food: Claude Levi Strauss; Roland Barthes; Pierre Bourdieu; Mary Douglas; NorbertElias; Stephen Mennell; Marvin Harris.

• Adair, G (1986) Myths and Memories; London: Fontana.

• Barthes, R (1983) ‘Chopsticks’ and ‘Food Decentred’ in Empire of Signs; London:Jonathon Cape

• Barthes, R (1993) ‘Wine and Milk’, ‘Steak and Chips’ in Mythologies; London: Vintage

• Coward, R (1984) Female Desire: Women’s Sexuality Today ; London: Paladin.

• Douglas, M (1972) ‘Deciphering a Meal’, Daedulus Studio International Vol 101, (1). pp61-81, reprinted in Douglas, M (1975) Implicit Meanings: Essays in Anthropology, pp249-275; London: Routlege & Kegan Paul

These texts all provide important examples of how structuralist analyses can applied to foodsubjects. The work of Barthes, Adair, Coward and Douglas demonstrates how seeminglytaken for granted, everyday food substances and practices are “as heavy with significanceas with cooking oil” (Adair, 1986). These food practices can be deconstructed by theapplication of structuralist approaches, such as semiotic theory, to identify their culturalmeanings and social significance in society.

• Elias, N (1994) The Civilizing Process: The History Of Manners And State Formation and Civilization; Oxford: Basil Blackwell,

• Mennell, S (1985) All Manner of Foods; Oxford: Blackwell

• Harris, M (1986) Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture;  New York: Simon andSchuster,

• Harris, M (1975) Cows, Pigs, Wars, & Witches: the Riddles of Culture; New York:Vintage Books.

These are important examples of developmentalist approaches applied to the search for thedeterminants of food tastes and behaviour. Within the developmental model, Elias’ workoffers a seminal application of his ‘figurational’ or ‘sociogenetic’ approach to developments inthe Middle Ages. He demonstrates how the reconfiguration of political, economic,technological and social changes in the medieval period led to significant changes inappetite, manners and food consumption norms. Significantly, Elias’ research identifiedconflict and competition as the major force for cultural and social development. Mennelladopts a similar approach in his comparative discussion of the tastes of England and Francefrom the Middle Ages until today.

The work of Harris offers us another version of the developmental approach, known asmaterialist. Harris supports the argument that cultural preferences emerge as a result of largely unplanned social conflicts. However, he goes further to suggest these conflictscontinue until a solution is selected that fits the overall ecological context of the society atthat time. His use of the term ecological context includes physical, political, economic and

social considerations. Importantly, Harris’ model also offers an explanation for food taboos.He suggests that once the solutions are identified, they are perpetuated by powerful

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symbolism and internalised repugnance that is perceived to be culturally coherent at the timebut may appear to be arbitrary and irrational at a later date.

• Featherstone, M (1991) Consumer Society and Post Modernism; London: Sage

This is a very significant work that identifies and examines production and consumption inthe modern post industrialised world, to provide a contextualising theoretical framework for the study of food and society. In its discursive overview, Featherstone identifies andexamines a wide range of conceptual approaches, and teases out their relevance to anunderstanding of society. Featherstone tracks the developments and reconfigurations of keypolitical, economic, technological and social developments of the last century or so, andconsiders the implications of these changes for contemporary cultural life: the nature of production; work; cultural consumption; changing class identities; constructions of taste;communications and globalisation; situated and mediated cultures; the consumption of signs; lifestyle. At the same time, he demonstrates how structuralist analyses can access thereal meanings that are attached to the symbolic productions of cultural life, and, in particular,the meanings associated with production and consumption practices. With these theoreticalframeworks, Featherstone provides an approach that gives insights to the complexity of thecontext within which food and hospitality are produced and consumed.

Featherstone’s work is comprehensive with a vast range of references that make it aninvaluable tool for the tutor. However, its breadth and depth of argument does make it achallenging resource for undergraduate students.

• Barker, C (2000) Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice; London: Sage

Chapters 4 and 5 of this relatively new text offer a clear discussion of the developments thatoccurred in the last 100 years and their impact upon the reconfiguration of modernwesternised industrial societies. It strength lies in its clarity and accessibility for all readers,and in its ability to integrate a discussion of the range of factors that have contributed to thecurrent notion of contemporary culture.

• Telfer, E (1996) Food for Thought: Philosophy and Food ; London: Routledge

This is a delightful book that is concerned with philosophical debates about the nature of food and dining. It raises questions about the moral and ethical issues underpinning our 

attitudes and practices to food production and consumption in the modern industrialisedworld. Issues covered include: food and pleasure; the concept of hospitality; food duties andobligations; hunger and the hungry; food as art.

• Gronow, J (1997) The Sociology of Taste; London: Routledge

This is a text that focuses entirely upon a concept that is central to an understanding of thefunction of food in society, that of taste. Although these issues are addressed in part in anumber of texts, Gronow offers a comprehensive survey of the philosophical andsociological dimensions of taste and considers the ideas of leading theoreticians in this area:Veblen, Simmel and Bourdieu, amongst others. Using examples, many of which are foodrelated, the discussion involves an analysis of the philosophical issues of taste andaesthetics; considers the factors involved in defining a concept of good taste; discusses the

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corruption of taste and the development of kitsch; and considers the role of taste in fashionand style. Gronow’s distillation of key conceptual frameworks appropriate to the study of thefunction of taste in food choice and behaviour makes a significant contribution to the study of food in society.

• Sloan, D (Ed)(2004) Culinary Taste: Consumer Behavior in the International Restaurant sector ; Oxford: Elsevier: Butterworth -Heinemann.

This is a very welcome addition to the texts available on the topic of taste as it offers a rangeof debates about the concept of taste in the culinary arena. The first two chapters, the Social Construction of Taste and the Postmodern Palate are particularly useful for students in their clear examination and explanation of the social construction of taste and post modernism inrelation to food and dining out.

Seymour's first chapter examines the concept of the social construction of taste and thework of Pierre Bourdieu. Although students should tackle these themes in the originalseminal version (Bourdieu – see below), Seymour carefully and clearly examines andexplains Bourdieu's arguments about the construction of taste and its dependency uponsocio-economic class hierarchies displayed via culinary consumption practices. This chapter gives the student clear insights into the complexity of Bourdieu's arguments in areas such asthe role of taste as a signifier of class distinctions, the acquisition of taste as a goal for thesocial aspirant, and cultural legitimacy and its role in establishing dominant taste ideologies.

The concept of post modernism and its implications for the significance of culinaryconsumption behaviors are explored in both chapter 2 and 3. In Chapter 2, Sloan examinesthe function of taste in postmodern societies where it is suggested that self-identity rather than traditional class adherences may dominate consumer decision-making. Chapter 3 by

Bell, Taste and Space: eating out in the city today , examines the symbolic role of dining outin post industrial economies and demonstrates how diners acquire cultural capital andenhanced self identity via the urban dining out lifestyle. He also identifies and examines theissue of choice and consumer anxiety; and of authenticity and fashionability.

Finkelstein's chapter 4, Chic cuisine: the impact of fashion on food  develops issues of fashionability and taste further by examining the significance of food and dining out in thepost modern era in terms of its aesthetics, fashionability and sophistication rather thanorganoleptic culinary appreciation.

Other chapters all make a valuable contribution covering issues of taste and health, lifestyleand gender, as well as the role of the commercials restaurant industry in shaping consumer 

tastes.

• Bourdieu, P (1992) Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste; London:Routledge

This is a seminal text, although it is not always easy to read and is probably bestapproached by students after some initial work in the area. Bourdieu’s adoption of astructuralist approach, albeit one with a Marxist influence, is based upon empirical researchin France which sought to identify the relationship between cultural tastes, consumptionpatterns and class. Bourdieu’s theory argues that consumption patterns demonstrate tastethrough the disposition of symbolic capital, which is determined by the consumer’s class,lifestyle (habitus) and occupation. He argues that those with significant symbolic capital are

the arbiters of ‘good’ taste. Although Bourdieu recognises that symbolic capital could beincreased through education, he raises questions about the importance of instinct and

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embodiment of habitus for the authentic demonstration of distinction, the lack of which willbetray the autodidact or  parvenu . He also identifies the new and particular role of the mediain the consumption process that has, in turn, created an important new class fraction, the  petit bourgeoisie. Bourdieu’s theory of the construction of taste offers an important

conceptual framework for better understanding of the formation and function of food tastesand behaviours.

• Warde, A (1997) Consumption Food and Taste; London: Sage

This is a good introductory reader, where the concepts of taste and food behaviours aredebated from the perspective of culinary antinomies and commodity culture. The debateincludes a consideration of key concepts: consumption, food and taste; new manners of food, novelty and tradition; health and indulgence; economy and extravagance; convenienceand care.

• Beardsworth, A and Keil, T (1997) Sociology on the Menu ; London: Routledge

Like Warde’s book, this is another of the limited number of texts that are explicitly concernedwith the sociology of food, and it also makes a good introductory reader. It provides afocussed synthesis of existing sociological explanations of food beliefs and practices,including a chapter on theoretical approaches. Areas covered in the discussion include: themodern food system; eating out; food and family; food scares and perceived risks; diethealth and body image; the meanings of meat and vegetarianism

• Finkelstein, J (1989) Dining Out ; Cambridge: Polity Press

Dining Out is one of a very few sociological analyses of the cultural functions of contemporary dining out. Although the evidence is largely based on the USA experience andless up to date than desirable, Finkelstein’s synthesis of empirical observations and relevanttheories make this a significant contribution to our understanding of the functions of commercial dining out.

Finkelstein offers a useful analytical framework by which the different types of dining out canbe categorised. An application of this typology allows issues and characteristics notpreviously identified or well understood, to become more explicit and significant. Finkelsteinalso demonstrates how it is possible to identify the significance associated with the

characteristics of different types of restaurant, to access the specific cultural meaningsattached to the consumption of different sorts of dining out. In addition, Finkelstein suggeststhat a central and significant activity of contemporary dining out is the consumption of emotions as commodities: romance, luxury, self-esteem; social status. In turn, she argues,this commodification has implications for the development of manners, etiquette andconcepts of civility and hospitality, as well as for potential new roles for restaurants.

• Tolson, A (1996) Mediations; London: Arnold

• O’Sullivan, T, Dutton, B and Rayner, P (1994) Studying the Media; London: Arnold

Both these books clearly introduce a discussion of the increasingly significant role of themedia. The authors outline the characteristics of modern media driven societies, anddemonstrate how the increased role of the media has important implications for the

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development of cultural norms and behaviour. Drawing upon theoretical orientations frommedia and cultural studies, the discussion offers the reader a basic understanding of theways in which the media present and circulate their messages for maximum audienceconsumption. The authors demonstrate how media messages transmit important meanings

concealed beneath the obvious surface, and provide the analytical tools by which thesemessages can be deconstructed to tease out these significant underlying meanings.

• Barthes, R (1993) ‘Ornamental Cookery’ in Mythologies; London: Vintage

• Barthes, R (1977) ‘ The Rhetoric of the Image’ in Image- Music- Text ; Glasgow: Fontanapp 33-5

• Coward, R (1984) Female Desire: Women’s Sexuality Today ; London: Paladin

• Randall, S (1999) Television Representations of Food: a case study of Rick Stein’s‘Taste of the Sea’ International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research: The Surrey Quarterly, Vol 1, (1) pp 41-55.

• Strange, N (1998) ‘Perform, Educate, Entertain: Ingredients of the Cookery ProgrammeGenre’, in C, Geraghty, and D, Lusted (eds) The Television Studies Book, London:Edward Arnold

These are all examples of analyses of media presentations on food and beverage topics:food advertisements; journal articles; television food programmes. Each of these researchpapers/essays demonstrates how very specific cultural messages about food and drink areproduced from seemingly anodyne and uncontroversial media presentations. In addition, andimportantly, they all identify the particular discourses that the media adopt to ensure thattheir messages are unwittingly and uncritically accepted by audiences and thus assimilatedinto their cultural practice.

• Wood, R (ed) (2000 ) Strategic Questions in Food and Beverage Management ; London:Butterworth-Heinemann

This recent publication contains a number of chapters that make a notable contribution to thedebates surrounding the social functions of food and dining out. Chapters 2 and 3 consider the requirements of food and beverage customers and the issues surrounding the dining outmeal experience respectively. In chapter 11, the theme of class and food snobbery isconsidered in relation to the aestheticisation of food. Chapter 14 also contributes to thedebate on taste and class in dining out, but in this case, with reference to restaurant dresscodes and food snobbery. Chapter 6 introduces a debate on how the media influence thepublic taste for food and dining, which is developed further in chapter 7 with a discussion of 

the role of food journalism, and in chapter 10, with an analysis of the significance of television celebrity chefs.

Annotated Guide to Journals and Periodicals

The study of food and society is not neatly reflected in academic journals as a discretesubject area. There is a range of journals in the food, hospitality management, servicemanagement, and consumer studies subject areas that include sociological perspectives.

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British Food Journal 

The BFJ is probably the most useful journal reference for the study of food and society. It isa multidisciplinary research journal which covers every area of food related topics. The BFJ

appears 11 times a year.

Hospitality and Tourism Research: The Surrey Quarterly (4 editions per year) International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (7 editions per year) International Journal of Hospitality Management (4 editions per year) Hospitality Research Journal (4 editions per year) These are the key research journals in the area of hospitality, and they all have amanagement orientation. However, some of the most significant research findings intospecific sociological aspects of food and beverage management are published here.

Journal of Consumer Culture This is a new publication, which already appears to offer fertile ground for the study of foodand society: for example, in Vol 1, (2): ‘The hidden injuries of media power’ by Nick Couldry;and ‘Consuming Kitchens’ by Dave Southerton. There will be 3 editions per year.

Culture, Media and Society (6 editions per year)Theory, Culture and Society (6 editions per year Journals from fields of study such as cultural studies, media studies and sociology oftencontain articles dealing with important conceptual areas that inform the study of food andsociety.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ This web site is inserted here because it is an important site where a very wide range of multidisciplinary academic journal articles can be sourced electronically with full textfacilities.

Annotated guide to web resources

There is a wide range of sites that can be relevant to this subject area. Some are what mightbe termed lifestyle sites, offering access to a large volume of media material about food anddining that is in the public domain: restaurant reviews; reports; discussion groups, chefs’profiles; etc. Others of great value to students are the web sites for restaurants locatedthroughout the world. The visual components of these sites, in particular, offer students theopportunity for a vivid simulated experience of dining out in situations from which they wouldnormally be excluded by virtue of location or expense.

http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/ This is an important site for accessing contemporary and historical records of the media’sreactions and views on food topics: restaurant reviews; food safety; food legislation; food

personalities; health reports; etc.

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http://www.which.com/foodanddrink/contents.html This site offers easy access to informed contemporary discussion as well as the results of consumer reports on controversial topics associated with food and drink: nutrition, food

safety, diets, healthy eating, wine tasting, restaurants.

http://www.epicurious.com/This is an interesting and ‘fun’ international site that covers all the essential contemporaryissues of food and dining out, but with an international flavour: food; diet; restaurant reviews;recipes; television programmes; celebrations and festivals and so on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/ This is another useful site for easy access to contemporary broadcast television and radioproducts about food and dining. The site offer the user insights into issues such as healthand diet, and recipes from the food programmes, but also gives details on the lives of topcelebrity chefs and gives the user opportunities to ask them questions.

http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Food_and_Drink/ This is a comprehensive site that demonstrates the sorts of food and society issues that arecurrently of general public interest.

http://www.ritz.com/ http://www.savoy-group.co.uk/savoy/dining/dining.html http://www.savoy-group.co.uk/connaught/dining/dining.html http://www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com/1.html These are examples of UK and international sites that illustrate restaurants with thecharacteristics of Finkelstein’s luxury formal fête spéciale. Since the opportunities for 

students to experience this type of dining out for themselves are very limited, these websites offer them a useful vicarious alternative.

http://www.grandcanyonnorthrim.com/dining/default.htm http://www.rivercafe.com/ http://www.sydney-tower-restaurant.com/index.htm http://asiatravel.com/singapore/mandarin/v2.html http://www.tower-restaurant.com/main.html http://www.dine-online.co.uk/shouting.htm 

Here are some examples of UK and international restaurants whose spectacular locationsqualify them for Finkelstein’s category of the informal fête spéciale.

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7087431 http://www.kerrymenu.com/Gramercy-Tavern.htm http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globetrotter/topten_oct.html http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes/Cafes.asp?Lc=NEWY A range of restaurant sites from New York for cross-cultural reference.

http://www.martin-wishart.co.uk/home.html http://www.gordonramsay.com/ http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/uk/restaurant.cgi?rest=801 http://www.petit-blanc.com/le-manoir-aux-quat-saisons.htm 

Sites of British chef/proprietor owned restaurants, with Michelin stars, in Finkelstein’s bistromondain category.

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http://www.jamieoliver.net/index.htm http://www.rickstein.com/ http://www.garyrhodes.com/ 

http://www.deliaonline.com/ http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9803/29/two.fat.ladies/ These are examples of the sites promoted by contemporary UK television personality chefsand cooks. These are particularly useful formats as they give students access to the menus,food and interior design of some of the leaders in elite contemporary dining out provisionwhich would otherwise not be possible.

Key words

Food; drink; dining out; restaurants; society; culture; consumption; manners; etiquette; class;social status; media; television; cultural meaning; restaurant reviews; food guides; recipes;epicurianism; hedonism; gastronomes; structuralism; developmentalism; semiotics.

Additional resources

Some of the most useful resources for the study of food in society are to be found in the foodmedia. Besides food advertising, there is huge media industry producing a range of foodrelated material that is consumed by very large audiences: television food programmes;radio food programmes; food journals; lifestyle journals; newspaper articles; restaurant

reviews; food guides; supermarket promotional literature; recipe books, booksaccompanying the series; and so on. The high level of public consumption for these foodmedia products is testimony to their acceptability. Analysis of the messages promoted inthese food texts is an important source of information about the particular ideas andpractices that are currently promoted, circulated and consumed.

In addition, media products also provide important teaching material in the pursuit of greater understanding and more confident application of some of the more complex abstractconcepts associated with the study of food and society. Concepts of cultural consumption;taste, style and fashion; characteristics of restaurants; hospitality; manners and etiquette;class and distinction; identity and belonging; and historical and cross cultural difference canall be explored and made more meaningful with the use of mediated experiences that

simulate real life. These concepts can be found in television and radio programmes, for example soap operas, where food and beverage practices are important features of the storyline. In addition, they are frequently found in mainstream cinema films such as PrettyWoman; Titanic; The Cook, The Thief, The Wife and The Lover; Pulp Fiction; Chocolat; Eat,Drink, Man, Woman; and so on. These media resources provide illuminating opportunitiesfor students to develop and consolidate their studies into food and society, in ways thatresonate with their own experiences.

Teaching sessions

This area of study is often a new one for hospitality management students. To facilitate the

introduction of key concepts of the course, simulated media examples are used inassociation with a series of tutor led seminars. Topics covered include:

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• theoretical approaches for the study of food in society;

• cultural meanings and processes of change;

• post industrial society and consumer culture;

• the construction of taste;

• dining out and the commodification of emotions;

• dining out and the consumption of signs;

• restaurant typologies;

• the functions of the menu;

• food, society and the media

For example, the theories surrounding the role of taste, manners and class in foodconsumption, are grounded with an analysis of specific scenes from film such as Titanic or Pretty Woman. Historical and cross cultural insights into the functions of manners andetiquette and their relationship to social distinction and class, can be illuminated with a

comparison of Erasmus’ (1530) treatise on table manners for German school boys or Castiglione’s (1528/1967) advice to Italian renaissance courtiers, with the homily onmanners and breeding delivered in the first scene of The Cook, The Thief, The wife and TheLover. Similarly, the film, Pulp Fiction, vividly illustrates issues of cross cultural difference,food taboos and revulsion in the discussion of the use of mayonnaise rather than ketchup onfries, in one scene, as well as offering a perfect example of what Finkelstein (1989) wouldcall a parodic restaurant in another. Other resources used in tutorials include a collection of slides that offer students additional vicarious experiences: for example, locations, exteriorsand interiors of a wide range of restaurants and dining out experiences that demonstrate theconcepts under discussion. Students are provided with guided reading from the literature for the course, and a series of notes relevant to the weekly topics.

Assessment

The suggestions for the assessment of a module of this type are designed for honours levelstudents and incorporate the assessment of higher level graduate attributes as well asmodule content. The assessment is in two complementary parts. After the introductory seriesof tutor led seminars and tutorials, the students meet in small tutorial groups for student ledseminar paper presentations. A list of assessment questions is available covering the rangeof topics for the course.

Each student chooses a different question, presents a paper to the other members of his/her group, and takes responsibility for leading and managing the discussion. This means thatevery student is obliged to engage with the concepts of the course in the preparation for their own seminar presentation and the debates arising from their peers’ papers. In this way, self confidence is increased as the students practise using the challenging theoreticalframeworks of the course. Marks in this section of the assessment are partly given for theclarity of the ideas presented so that the students are encouraged to look for ways tocommunicate key ideas meaningfully. Oral and written feedback is given on this presentationbefore the students attempt the second part of the assignment, which is to write up thequestion as a full academic essay. The range and quality of the arguments and evidenceused by students in this second part of the assessment, and the authority in their handling of wide ranging and demanding material, have been enhanced by the additional experienceand confidence derived from the presentation exercise.

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About the Author 

Sandie Randall is a lecturer in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism at Queen MargaretUniversity College, Edinburgh. She has subject expertise in the domain of Food and

Society, developing and applying this over the last ten years as a lecturer and activeresearcher. She has a strong interest in educational research and pedagogical approachesand is currently the learning and teaching co-ordinator for her department and anInstitutional Representative for the LTSN. Her main research interests are in mediarepresentations of food and hospitality. She would be happy to receive any suggestions /additional material from those working in the area.