The Impact of COVID-19 on Culinary Businesses: A Review

Culinary tourism also referred to as food tourism or gastronomy tourism, is engaged in by individuals who seek out culinary experiences to broaden their understanding of food culture or lifestyle while travelling. Tourism is very lucrative to local, state and national economies. Over the past decade, tourists have transitioned to seeking cultural experiences, where individuals immerse themselves in the cuisine and lifestyle of a culture, from street food to gourmet and fine dining. According to World Food Travel Association (WFTA), 80% of travellers research food and drink options while travelling to a new destination. Moreover, the organization states that 53% of these travellers consider themselves “culinary travellers.” With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting international travel, the impact has been greatly felt across all industries. The use of technology has been widespread during this time. During the height of lock-downs, with some of our favourite restaurants and food services unavailable, many people turned to social media to learn how to make their favourite dishes at home. So, from virtual cooking shows and tutorials, to live tastings and remote social eating have all been used to keep people engaged and interactive temporarily replacing the traditional experience. In support of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s #TravelTomorrow campaign, chefs from around the world, including UNWTO Ambassadors for gastronomy tourism, shared their local recipes, giving audience a taste of what to expect when people start to travel again, and highlighting the unique potential of culinary. This paper using integrative literature review will highlight some of the impacts and challenges that food business especially small and medium establishments faced as a result of this pandemic. Caring about local food businesses and markets can help preserve our culinary roots. The recovery plan might be slow, but the tourism industry has always been resilient, it will survive. Key Words: business, challenges, culinary, impact, tourism JEL Classification: M19, L83

Modern approaches towards the study of food culture in foreign scientific discourse

The subject of this research is the modern scientific discourse on food culture, while the object is the foreign approaches towards the study of food culture. Research dedicated to food culture is a crucial part of modern scientific discourse. The goal of this article lies in determination of the key approaches towards the study of food culture. The majority of foreign researchers claim that the modern study of nutrition shifted towards examination of the communicative aspects of food consumption (identity, cultural symbolism, social activity, etc.). From year to year, food and its consumption are explored by mass media and non-specialists as a form of art, leisure, source of social status, as well as method to express social / global differences, which manifests in the growing number of “trendy” food practices, magazine and newspaper publications, video blogs, cooking shows, etc. The author’s special contribution consists in outlining the three main approaches towards the study of nutrition: natural scientific, anthropological, and sociological. The natural scientific approach is associated with the basic principle of vitality of nutrition for people, which at the present stage is turning into a cult of healthy eating. The anthropological approach is based on determination of the anthropic characteristics of nutrition and is ramified and multidisciplinary. A special place is assigned to culturological direction. The sociological approach is focused of revelation of the role of alimentary culture in strengthening of social ties, social differentiation and integration on the micro- and macro levels. However, due to broadening of the research field related to nutrition, such classification can be elaborated.

Less Can Be More

My six-year-old son has a stubborn palate. Attempting to diversify his diet, my partner and I have tried it all. We've coated veggies in cheese, filled each compartment of his lunchtime bento boxes with intriguing flavors (freeze-dried strawberries!), and involved him in meal prep. We've subscribed to kid-friendly meal-delivery services, watched cooking shows together, and pointed out “your little sister's eating it.” No luck. Even if you don't have a picky eater in the house, you've encountered this situation before. When you want to improve something—whether it's a kid's diet, your own parenting, or the design of a room—you think about how to change things from the way they are to the way you want them to be. While people can get very creative in their solutions, my colleagues and I have found that one approach is consistently overlooked: subtraction. We think first about adding, whether it's piling on more options (the bento boxes), more information (the cooking shows), or more motivation (the sister). But in our eagerness to add, we neglect the other way to create change—by taking things away. For instance, removing bread as the default snack presented to my son led to more improvement than all of the additions combined. Now, bananas, rice, and granola have made their way into the regular rotation. With any luck, he will be eating vegetables by the time he turns 10.

Factors Affecting the Eating Behavior Disorders of Korean College Students

Background: University students are exposed to environments that may negatively influence their physical and mental health. New trends such as cooking shows may affect their eating habits. Objective: This study investigated factors such as general characteristics, diet, eating habits, and eating attitudes that may be associated with eating behavior disorders among university students in Korea. Methods: This descriptive research was conducted on 207 students who attend A University located in C city using an online self-administered questionnaire including questions on their general characteristics, eating habits, eating attitudes, and eating behavior disorders. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA and Scheffé test, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple linear regression (hierarchical) using SPSS. Results: Two independent variables and seven factors under general characteristics were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. In Model 1, the degree of eating behavior disorders was significantly higher among women (β = .17, p = .016) and those on diet compared to those not on diet (β = -.38, p < .001). Eating alone led to a higher degree of eating behavior disorders than eating with friends (β = -.23, p = .001). In Model 2, eating habits (β = -.24, p < .001) and eating attitudes (β = .27, p < .001) accounted for 27.4% of the explanatory power as factors affecting eating behavior disorders (F = 8.06, p < .001). Conclusion: Eating habits and attitudes affect the eating behavior of university students.

Brutal spoons and cheesy gloves

In its long presence on television and the internet, the genre of the cooking show has changed and diversified significantly. The initial principally instructional character has given way to more entertaining sub-genres, including parodic ones, that is, ‘spoof cooking shows’ on the internet. The presentation of self (Goffman 1959) takes on many forms in everyday life, but the possibilities of publicly managing one’s own impression have enormously increased on the largest stage in the world, the internet (cf. Shulman 2017). The blurring of the Goffmanian concepts ‘front-’ and ‘backstage’ are important here in the presentation of self as ‘fake’ or ‘real’ person on the web. This article looks at the diversification of the genre of the cooking show in its transition to the internet, first by investigating strategies of formality or informality (Irvine 1979, 2001), then by exploring a particular spoof show, Cooking with Paris, as an example of how genre conventions are manifested by undermining.

Exploring adolescents’ motives for food media consumption using the theory of uses and gratifications

Food media have become a formidable part of adolescents’ food environments. This study sought to explore how and why adolescents use food media by focusing on selectivity and motives for consumption. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 31 Flemish adolescents aged 12 to 16. Food media were both incidentally consumed and selectively sought for education, social utility, and entertainment. The levels of selectivity and motives for consumption varied among the different food media platforms. Incidental consumption was more prevalent with TV cooking shows compared to online food media. The dominant motives for TV cooking show consumption were companionship and entertainment, while online food media were used for a more diverse range of motives dominated by information/inspiration and social interaction. Some participants consumed food media to get motivation and inspiration to improve health and fitness (Fitspiration) while others consumed food media to watch appetizing and aesthetically pleasing food content (Food porn). The social environment in the form of friends and family as well as existing food preferences were dominant psychosocial factors for both traditional and online food media use. Future research is warranted to explore how incidental exposure and the identified motives for use relate to food media effects.