Using relevant theory, explain how our social environment, social identity and demographic characteristics may influence food consumption.

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Using relevant theory, explain how our social environment, social identity and demographic characteristics may influence food consumption.

By Gareth Griffiths

The following essay will focus on the connection between food consumption and people’s social environment for example is a working class family more likely to eat more filling foods than a middle class family who for whatever reason have more time and taste when it comes to food consumption. The way in which people consume food these days has changed greatly; this essay will explore the vast differences that occur depending on their location, social identity and demographic characteristics.

Using Bourdieu’s theory which looks at the relationship between social positions food tastes and that people’s food consumption is linked directly to their economic capital. Bourdieu’s theory illustrates how a person’s social identity, environment and demographic characteristics influence their food consumption.

There are many ways in which food consumption may be influenced and they are usually instilled in the population as a young child by parents or siblings. These influences play a huge part in developing tastes and acceptance of social environment and culture people find themselves living in. For example, a child living in a rundown council estate from a working class family would not recognise exotic foods as an everyday food such as lobster or salmon whereas a child from a middle class family would be more inclined to eat these items as Bourdieu mentions in habitus that people are more inclined to act in certain ways (Bourdieu, 1991). This example shows the great influence parents have on socialisation from a very young age. Another factor that plays a part in taste and consumption is that the higher classes will always attempt to create or invent new foods to keep their class that step higher than the working class as their tastes change to copy the higher classes.

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The socialisation theory also plays a part in a person’s food tastes such as their education this was focused on by Oygard (2000) which stated that “Cultural capital (e.g. education) - perceptions and behaviours are embodied in individuals because they have grown up in a special milieu. Food tastes are thus a product of the conditions in which individuals have grown up” (Oygard, 2000, 161).  

In contrast to the economists Bourdieu did not see consumers as similar apart from the economic capital but argued that a link between a person’s social position and food tastes actually existed. This can also ...

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