by Marsha Smith, PhD Candidate
Perhaps one of the most ubiquitous manifestations of human sociality is commensality: the human practice of eating together or, to put it more exactly, of eating together in groups. Eating together is a powerful mechanism for reproducing the social values, priorities and roles of a society and is essential for the integration of a society. Indeed, it has been stated that communal meals are perhaps the single most important thing we can do for both our personal wellbeing and the cohesion of society (Dunbar 2016). New forms of group eating practice, such as ‘social eating’ or the public consumption of surplus foods at mealtimes, suggest that group eating activities can be a socially-organising force for change. This potential for both transforming and maintaining how society is organised is of interest to researchers across disciplines.
In this blog post I reflect upon my attendance at a recent conference, discussing why an interdisciplinary approach to researching emergent group eating practices, and research I undertook with a colleague from the University of York, intersects with my scholarly interests and ambitions. To convey a sense of the convivial, social atmosphere of group eating activities that we are researching, let’s start with a vignette which records a research visit to a social eating space in Nottingham.
“The first thing I notice is the smell of food cooking; I can smell good food from right across the street. This is a church hall on a small side street in the east end of Nottingham city. There are no banners or signs, save for an a-board jamming the door open. However, the smell is enticing and the chink of light coming through the doorway is welcoming. The thing I notice on entering the space is the sound of people talking and greeting one another; a low conversational hum punctuated by the occasional shout from a group of children who are running into the building.
We step inside and the noise levels rise, with many people chattering, greeting one another and the scrapings of chairs being pulled out so people can sit together. It’s warm and well-lit and the tables are set with tablecloths and vintage flower displays. A queue at the serving hatch begins to form. There are two meat-based meals and one vegetarian meal on the menu. A buffet of additional items, condiments and refreshments is laid out attractively on a large side table. It’s getting crowded near the hatch, with people paying a lady sitting with a bucket for the money collection. A shout rings out from the kitchen. It’s 5.07pm on a Thursday evening. “Dinner is served!”.
How can we better understand the social eating movement by distinguishing the phenomena from other types of group eating practices? What are the benefits and challenges of ‘social eating’? By capturing these insights, our research can support groups, such as the Nottingham Social Eating Network, who want to amplify the benefits of eating together and encourage more participation in this practice. One way this can be achieved is to collaborate with like-minded academics and practitioners, each of whom build differing types of knowledge that can be put to work in service of the participants they research.
In order to progress these ideas, conferences offer ideal sites for dialogue, discussion and networking across and between disciplines. I attended the 2018 European Social Marketing Conference (ESMA) to co-present a formative paper ‘From Health to Wellbeing: Exploring the Role of Community-Based Projects’ with Dr. Nadina Luca from the University of York. This was funded by N8: AgriFood.
The presentation concerned a new way of looking at the use of surplus foods by community groups. By engaging with user-groups to find out how they used and viewed surplus foods, we gained insights into the ways in which eating together in groups was about much more than food. Our formative research demonstrated that the use of surplus foods enables community groups to offer support beyond sustenance and calories, involving the purposeful use of meals and food provisioning to facilitate social connections and support. This approach called ‘food as wellbeing’ (Block 2011) encompasses the constraints and challenges of using an emergent food-stream as well as the benefits, placing individual experiences within broader connections to food literacy, food education and food marketing.
This was my 4th Social Marketing conference, despite not being a ‘social marketeer’. As a sociologist who has returned to academia after 7 years of working in the social enterprise, community and charity sectors, I am drawn towards approaches that balance the scholarly, reflective side of research with tangible, practical outputs such as campaigns. Engaging with researchers beyond my discipline presents opportunities to see my own research differently and to work with scholars who have competencies that I do not have, such as campaigning and marketing skills. Social marketing is engaged primarily with behaviour-change research, interventions and evaluation to enact social transformation, just as the corresponding commercial field also utilises this range of creative, co-created techniques and technologies to sell products. This occurs through methods such as segmenting target audiences, asset mapping, developing audience insights and value-propositions. This places user-groups at the centre of designing, delivering and evaluating the social and community services they use.
The discussions I have been most interested in at these conferences however, have concerned the ongoing desire of social marketers to identify and engage with the structural or ‘upstream’ drivers of individual behaviour, such as the effects of policies, geographical location, product pricing and access to resources. When thinking about ‘social eating’, this might include strategic funding agendas around health and wellbeing, ideas about the eligibility or deservedness of customers accessing community food services, the logistics and supply of surplus foodstuffs, and the social values attached to group eating practices and activities. These are all forces that influence individual behaviour but are not always apparent when we think about people eating together in groups. These ongoing discussions reflect the requirement of social marketing to encompass broader, contextual approaches in order to craft sustainable, lasting social change.
In this way, the research focus of sociology might be effectively utilised alongside social marketing to create user-led campaigns that encompass both the broader aspects of practices such as timings, spaces and places that are involved in eating practices, as well as the behaviours, habits and dispositions of individuals: in effect, crafting rich, reflective interventions for and about groups and group practices. Collaborations which are mindful of the connections between behaviours and contexts, and which are coproduced in partnership with the participants of our studies, can enable sociologists, such as myself, to see impact beyond research publication; amplifying the shout out of “dinner is served!”
References:
Block, L. G. et al (2011) From Nutrients to Nurturance: A Conceptual Introduction to Food Well-Being, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Spring 2011, Vol. 30, No. 1, p. 5-13.
Dunbar, R. (2016) Breaking Bread, Report on a national Survey for The Big Lunch, p5.
Hello this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I have to express my appreciation for your generosity in support of all those that should have guidance on this particular matter. Your very own dedication to passing the message along appears to be exceedingly beneficial and have always enabled those just like me to reach their dreams. Your amazing important useful information entails a lot to me and especially to my peers. Best wishes; from all of us.
Its fantastic as your other posts : D, thankyou for putting up. “A great flame follows a little spark.” by Dante Alighieri.
You are my breathing in, I possess few blogs and occasionally run out from to post .
Hello! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any methods to protect against hackers?
Hi my friend! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and come with approximately all significant infos. I would like to peer more posts like this.
You have remarked very interesting details ! ps decent website .
I like this blog very much, Its a rattling nice office to read and obtain info .
I love your writing style truly loving this website .
This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
I do consider all of the ideas you have offered for your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are too short for newbies. May just you please lengthen them a little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
What Is Sugar Defender? Sugar Defender is a natural blood sugar support formula created by Tom Green. It is based on scientific breakthroughs and clinical studies.
Rattling wonderful visual appeal on this web site, I’d value it 10 10.
Some genuinely nice stuff on this website , I like it.
I like reading through and I conceive this website got some really useful stuff on it! .
I like this website very much, Its a very nice position to read and get info . “…when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” by Conan Doyle.
Some truly superb information, Glad I found this.
Your place is valueble for me. Thanks!…
Would love to incessantly get updated great web blog! .
Wow, superb weblog layout! How long have you been running a blog
for? you made blogging glance easy. The entire glance of your web site is fantastic, let alone
the content material! You can see similar here najlepszy sklep
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you continue this in future. A lot of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Magnificent goods from you, man. I’ve keep in mind your stuff previous to and you’re simply extremely wonderful. I really like what you have received right here, certainly like what you are stating and the way in which through which you assert it. You’re making it entertaining and you continue to take care of to keep it sensible. I can not wait to learn far more from you. That is really a great web site.
Spot on with this write-up, I truly assume this web site needs much more consideration. I’ll probably be again to learn much more, thanks for that info.
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!
I’m still learning from you, while I’m improving myself. I certainly enjoy reading everything that is posted on your blog.Keep the information coming. I loved it!
I’m now not certain where you are getting your information, but good topic. I must spend a while finding out more or working out more. Thanks for wonderful info I used to be searching for this info for my mission.
I went over this web site and I believe you have a lot of wonderful info, saved to my bookmarks (:.
I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again!
I’ve recently started a site, the info you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work. “One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.” by Walter Bagehot.
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Hello.This article was extremely remarkable, especially because I was looking for thoughts on this issue last Tuesday.
I beloved up to you will obtain performed proper here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nevertheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you want be handing over the following. unwell certainly come more until now again as exactly the similar just about a lot continuously inside case you protect this hike.
But wanna say that this is very beneficial, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
You made some good points there. I looked on the internet for the issue and found most guys will agree with your blog.
Thank you for another informative website. Where else could I get that type of information written in such an ideal way? I have a project that I’m just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.
Appreciate it for this marvelous post, I am glad I found this website on yahoo.
I would like to show my admiration for your generosity giving support to men and women who really need assistance with in this niche. Your personal dedication to getting the solution all over appeared to be especially productive and have usually encouraged many people like me to reach their targets. The useful guide entails a lot a person like me and additionally to my office workers. With thanks; from everyone of us.
Outstanding post, you have pointed out some fantastic points, I also believe this s a very great website.
Having read this I thought it was very informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself spending way to much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
Whats up this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Renew is not just another sleep aid; it’s a comprehensive nutritional formula
I relish, cause I discovered just what I used to be having a look for. You have ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
you’re actually a excellent webmaster. The web site loading speed is incredible. It sort of feels that you are doing any unique trick. Moreover, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a wonderful task in this matter!
Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “Dreams are real while they last. Can we say more of life” by Henry Havelock Ellis.
Great post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Kudos!
Greetings from Idaho! I’m bored at work so I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, amazing blog!
magnificent issues altogether, you simply won a new reader. What may you suggest in regards to your post that you simply made some days in the past? Any sure?
What is Leanbiome? LeanBiome is a dietary supplement that is formulated with nine critically-researched lean bacteria species.
Good V I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs and related info ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the least. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, site theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Nice task..
Outstanding feature
Somebody essentially help to make seriously articles I would state. This is the first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I amazed with the research you made to create this particular publish incredible. Great job!
Greetings from Florida! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, good blog!
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
I?¦ll right away seize your rss as I can’t in finding your email subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please allow me understand in order that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
I was curious if you ever considered changing the layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for inexperienced blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it.
I got what you mean ,saved to bookmarks, very decent site.
I like this post, enjoyed this one appreciate it for posting.
Loving the information on this site, you have done great job on the articles.