TY - JOUR

T1 - The entrenchment of food habits in everyday life

T2 - a qualitative investigation of the links between food and other practices

AU - Jørgensen, Morten Wendler

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - This paper investigates how food practices are shaped by theirlinkages to configurations of other everyday practices in thelives of consumers. It contributes to discussions of relationsbetween everyday practices, by suggesting the term entrench-ment as a way of zooming in on how the performance of sin-gle or compound practices, such as food practices, are shapedby their linkages to configurations of other practices in thelives of practitioners. This is done based on an analysis of datafrom 27 interviews with young Danish meat reducers (aged18–30). The analysis shows how the food performances of theparticipants are spatiotemporally and socially entrenched tovarying degrees. I discuss how the categories of spatiotemporaland social entrenchment may contribute to practice-theoreticaldiscussions about how to understand the interrelations ofeveryday practices and argue that thinking in terms ofentrenchment may help us understand the ways in which theperformance of any practice is shaped by the organization ofthe performances of the other everyday practices they arelinked to. Finally, I discuss the potential implications of foodpractice entrenchment for behavior change initiatives andargue that understanding the entrenchment of food perfor-mances can both help explain the ineffectiveness of individualbehavior-change initiatives and help point toward alternativeapproaches.

AB - This paper investigates how food practices are shaped by theirlinkages to configurations of other everyday practices in thelives of consumers. It contributes to discussions of relationsbetween everyday practices, by suggesting the term entrench-ment as a way of zooming in on how the performance of sin-gle or compound practices, such as food practices, are shapedby their linkages to configurations of other practices in thelives of practitioners. This is done based on an analysis of datafrom 27 interviews with young Danish meat reducers (aged18–30). The analysis shows how the food performances of theparticipants are spatiotemporally and socially entrenched tovarying degrees. I discuss how the categories of spatiotemporaland social entrenchment may contribute to practice-theoreticaldiscussions about how to understand the interrelations ofeveryday practices and argue that thinking in terms ofentrenchment may help us understand the ways in which theperformance of any practice is shaped by the organization ofthe performances of the other everyday practices they arelinked to. Finally, I discuss the potential implications of foodpractice entrenchment for behavior change initiatives andargue that understanding the entrenchment of food perfor-mances can both help explain the ineffectiveness of individualbehavior-change initiatives and help point toward alternativeapproaches.

U2 - 10.1080/07409710.2024.2333120

DO - 10.1080/07409710.2024.2333120

M3 - Journal article

VL - 32

SP - 142

EP - 162

JO - Food and Foodways

JF - Food and Foodways

SN - 0740-9710

IS - 2

ER -