Toward new forms of meal sharing? Collective habits and personal diets.

This article sheds light on the fact that the commensality remains a fundamental aspect of eating in French culture. However, at the same time, the expansion of the individualisation and medicalisation of the act of eating during the latest decades impacted the social representations of food. We will first place dietary practices into a general context in which the relationship to food tends to be individualised and in which health-related issues remain an important aspect of the discourse about food on internet. Secondly, we will examine how these practices are (in)compatible with the defining dimensions of the French food model, in particular those relating to commensality (the practice of eating together) and food sharing. It seems that although a personalised diet restricts the objective possibilities of food sharing, it is still central in representations of food and, in some cases, leads to the emergence of associated practices to introduce new forms of social eating behaviours, such as those made possible by the spread of the Internet.

French consumers' perceptions of nutrition and health claims: A psychosocial-anthropological approach.

UNLABELLED: French consumers' perceptions of nutrition and health claims (NHC) are studied using both qualitative (n = 89) and quantitative (n = 1000) methods. We analyse the participants' unprompted associations between nutrients and foods and construct a "lay food composition table". We find evidence for a degree of familiarity, in most cases in name only, with macronutrients and a small number of micronutrients. We then turn to assessing how compatible nutritional claims are with the « lay food composition table ¼ and with pre-existing, culture-based representations of the fate of foods in the body. We thus identify some principles predicting for positive or negative response in relation to types of claims. We also assess the credibility of types of claims according to the function cited and the carrier food. Finally, we test perception of hypothetical fortifications according to origin of nutrient and type of carrier food (e.g. omega 3 from fish oil in ham). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: we find (1) that the very principle of fortification disrupts culture-based representations French consumers have of the link between food and health, which they consider to essentially reside in a "varied and balanced diet". And that (2), in spite of a general disposition against NHC, some types of claims are deemed more acceptable and credible than others. The questions raised by these findings are whether and to what extent nutrition can, does and should replace food cultures.

A idealização das origens entre os imigrados ou exilados: a dupla função de manutenção da identidade e de aculturação

Com freqüência, entre as populações emigradas ou exiladas, constata-se que a idealização do passado, das origens e do país natal se instala e se acentua à medida que se dá a integração dos indivíduos dessa população na sociedade que os acolhe. Assim, à proporção que perdem sua língua, seus hábitos e seus costumes para assumir os da sociedade que os acolheu, eles constroem símbolos comuns e elaboram uma imagem idealizada das suas origens. Essa diferenciação progressiva do ideal das origens em relação à realidade vivida facilita a aculturação na nova sociedade, permitindo-lhes conservar uma especificidade identitária. É esta elaboração do ideal e sua emancipação das realidades cotidianas que serão abordadas aqui(AU)

A idealização das origens entre os imigrados ou exilados: a dupla função de manutenção da identidade e de aculturação / The idealization of origins among immigrants or exiled: the double function of maintaining identity and acculturation

Com freqüência, entre as populações emigradas ou exiladas, constata-se que a idealização do passado, das origens e do país natal se instala e se acentua à medida que se dá a integração dos indivíduos dessa população na sociedade que os acolhe. Assim, à proporção que perdem sua língua, seus hábitos e seus costumes para assumir os da sociedade que os acolheu, eles constroem símbolos comuns e elaboram uma imagem idealizada das suas origens. Essa diferenciação progressiva do ideal das origens em relação à realidade vivida facilita a aculturação na nova sociedade, permitindo-lhes conservar uma especificidade identitária. É esta elaboração do ideal e sua emancipação das realidades cotidianas que serão abordadas aqui.

In the case of emigrated or exiled individuals, the idealization of origins often becomes more marked in the beginning of the integration of these individuals in the host society. Thus, as they lose their language, their customs, to take those of the society of reception, they elaborate an idealized image of their past. This progressive differentiation between the idealized past and the actual reality facilitates the acculturation in the host society and at the same time allows for the preservation of their specific identity. It is this elaboration of the ideal and its emancipation of the daily realities, which will be approached here.

Souvent, dans des populations émigrées ou exilées, on constate que l’idéalisation du passé, des origines, du pays natal se met en place et s’accentue au fur et à mesure de l’intégration des individus de cette population dans la société d’accueil. Ainsi, au fur et à mesure qu’ils perdent leur langue, leurs habitudes, leurs coutumes… pour prendre celles de la société d’accueil, ils construisent des symboles communs et élaborent une image idéalisée de leurs origines. Cette différenciation progressive de l’idéal des origines par rapport à la réalité vécue facilite l’acculturation dans la société d’accueil tout en permettant à ces individus de conserver une spécificité identitaire. C’est cette élaboration de l’idéal et son émancipation des réalités quotidiennes qui seront abordées ici.

Attitudes towards large numbers of choices in the food domain: a cross-cultural study of five countries in Europe and the USA.

Telephone interviews of 6000 representative adults from France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA, included two items on attitudes to variety. One had to do with whether the respondent preferred a choice of 10 versus 50 ice cream flavors. Ten choices were preferred by a majority of respondents from each country except the United States. A second item asked whether one expected a small or large menu choice in an upscale restaurant. A majority in all countries expected the small number of choices, but this expectation was lowest in the UK and USA. High variety expectations and preferences were weakly positively correlated (r=0.19). There was no substantial relation between a variety of demographic variables and variety preferences or expectations, except that older people were less inclined to prefer the high (50) variety in ice cream choices (r=0.28). The results suggest that the US, and the UK to some extent, focus on providing choices that cater to individual differences in preferences, whereas the continental European countries are more attached to communal eating values.