Associations between Perceived Social Eating Norms and Initiation and Maintenance of Changes in Dietary Habits during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in France

Changes in dietary habits of the French population have been reported during the national lockdown that was enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated whether perceived social eating norms were associated with the initiation and maintenance of dietary changes that took place as a result of lockdown. An online study collected information on (1) changes in consumption implemented during the lockdown and the maintenance of these changes, and (2) perceptions about changes in consumption implemented during lockdown by household members, relatives out of home, and the general population. The changes in consumption were classified as foods to increase or to decrease according to French national recommendations. The perception of changes to dietary habits by household members and relatives out of home was related to the changes made by individuals for each of the food categories (all p < 0.05) but not to the perception of changes made the general population. Increased consumption of foods to increase was more likely to be maintained when there was a positive perception of the changes made by household members (p = 0.03). These results highlight the influence of the perception of social eating norms, especially by household members and relatives, on the implementation of dietary changes during lockdown and suggest that social eating norms can have a lasting influence.

The Playful Potential of Shared Mealtime

In this paper, we present an annotated portfolio of speculative ideas that emerged from a co-design process where we investigated the playful potential of day-to-day mealtime. Our portfolio illustrates the learnings from our participatory engagements: it embodies ours and our participants' ideas of how technology might support increasingly playful and socio-emotionally rich experiences around food. We contribute: (1) a list of play potentials of mealtime-i.e. people's existing playful practices with food-that will point designers towards socio-emotionally desirable play-food experiences; (2) a portfolio of speculative design ideas that illustrate how mealtime technology could help to realize that playful potential; and (3) a discussion of our participants' experiences with and responses to lo-fi prototypes of our ideas. Our work will provoke designers to carefully consider the impact of food-tech innovation on the quality of people's social eating experiences and inspire them to cultivate forms of food-play that are socio-emotionally rich.?

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

Waste on the Tip of the Tongue: Social Eating Livestreams (Chibo) in the Age of Chinese Affluence

This article investigates Chinese social eating livestreams (chibo) in the context of China’s 2020 campaign against food waste. It argues that the subgenre ‘big stomach kings’, a target of the campaign, evinces the moral implications of Chinese affluence, of which food waste is exemplary. The emerging affluence in China has normalized conspicuous, wasteful consumption and given rise to a local form of flaunting wealth called ‘xuanfu’. Chinese social media are inundated with xuanfu images, a symptom of the necessary psychosocial adaptation to affluence. Isolating the ‘big stomach kings’ livestreams from the social context of xuanfu, the anti-waste campaign glosses over the underlying social issue of the vast wealth gap between the affluent and the poor. To expose the ethical controversy of these livestreams, the article also analyzes their gender politics by parsing the mystifying image of female ‘big stomach kings’, whose slim bodies are in stark contrast to their enormous appetites.

A community-based participatory research approach to understanding social eating for food well-being

‘Social eating initiatives’ are a specific type of community-based food service that provides opportunities for people to eat together in local spaces using surplus food. These initiatives provide a meal that is fresh, affordable and more environmentally friendly than fast or convenience foods. In this research, we build upon the food well-being model to explore how food consumption is experienced in these community settings and the role of social eating projects in shaping the different dimensions of people’s foodscapes. We adopted a community-based participatory approach and engaged in a series of dialogues with staff volunteers and coordinators at four ‘social eating initiatives’. We also conducted 45 interviews with service users and volunteers at three sites in the Midlands region. The role of community-based food initiatives responding to hunger by utilising surplus food to feed local populations is often conceptualised critically. The conjoining of food insecurity and surplus food appears to instrumentally feed customers and reduce food wastage, but in ways that are stigmatising, and which position customers as passive recipients of food charity. However, closer attention to the experiences of staff, volunteers and customers at these spaces, reveals them as sites where knowledge and experience of food is being developed with this contributing to a sense of well-being beyond nutrition. Shared food practices and eating together contribute to social capital and are important dimensions of food well-being that are significantly restricted by food insecurity. The ‘food well-being’ model envisages a shift in focus from health, defined as the absence of illness, towards well-being as a positive relationship with food at the individual and societal level. In the concluding remarks of this article, it is suggested that this holistic conception is required to understand the role and function of social eating initiatives.

Eating habits in Mexican schooled children

In Mexico, 35.5 % of school-age children are overweight or obese, the main cause of this excess is related to eating habits. A multivariate study was carried out to predict the eating habits of school children in function of social eating norms and perceived food advertising. Through random sampling, 132 girls and boys from upper primary were selected, to whom a questionnaire was applied to measure eating habits, food social norms, and perceived food advertising. En México, el 35,5 % de los niños en edad escolartienen sobrepeso u obesidad, la principal causa deeste exceso ponderal está relacionada con los hábitos alimentarios.