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He Who Eats Alone Will Die Alone?

An Exploratory Study of the Meanings


of the Food of Celebration
Leticia Casotti

ABSTRACT. Every meal and every drink present in the human diet
carries with it symbolic meanings. In this exploratory study, 29 women
were interviewed about the practices and meanings of special family
meals. What is changing? What remains? What is new is food’s associa-
tion with health, illnesses, and other risks. What is old is the history, the
several social and cultural meanings of food consumer behavior. For the
interviewees, meals still seem to be essential to unite the family and
establish social bonds. In spite of technological developments and the
convenience of foods, the study suggests that the family meal and the
celebration of food will persist because they are events that bring people
together.
RESUMEN. En la actual dieta humana, cada comida y cada bebida
llevan embutidos significados simbólicos. En este estudio exploratorio,
se entrevistó a 29 mujeres sobre las prácticas y comida familiares
especiales. ¿Qué está cambiando? ¿Qué es lo que resta? Lo que hay de
nuevo es la asociación de los alimentos con la comida, la salud,
enfermedad y otros riesgos. Lo antiguo, es su historia, los distintos
significados socioculturales del comportamiento del consumidor
respecto a la comida. Para el entrevistado, las comidas parecen ser una
forma de vital importancia para unir a la familia y establecer bonos
sociales. A pesar de los logros alcanzados con el desarrollo tecnológico

Leticia Casotti is affiliated with COPPEAD-Graduate Business School, Federal


University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rua 36, n. 355, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro –
RJ 21949-900, Brazil (E-mail: letícia@coppead.ufri.br)
Latin American Business Review, Vol. 6(4) 2005
http://www.haworthpress.com/web/LABR
© 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J140v06n04_04 69
70 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

y la conveniencia de las comidas, el estudio sugiere que la comida fami-


liar y la celebración de los alimentos continúa, porque hay muchos even-
tos que reúnen a las personas.
RESUMO. Cada comida e cada bebida do cardápio humano contêm
significados simbólicos. Neste estudo exploratório, 29 mulheres foram
entrevistadas a respeito da prática e dos significados das comidas
especiais da família. O que tem mudado? O que permanece? O que há de
novo é a associação do alimento com a saúde, as doenças e outros riscos.
A história dos diversos significados sócio-culturais do comportamento
do consumidor de alimentos é antiga. De acordo com as entrevistadas, a
refeição parece ser fundamental para unir a família e estabelecer relações
sociais. Apesar do desenvolvimento tecnológico e da necessidade do
alimento, o estudo sugere que a refeição familiar e a celebração do ali-
mento persistirão, porque são ocasiões que reúnem as pessoas. [Article
copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service:
1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com>
Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Consumer behavior, special food, eating out

INTRODUCTION

Several changes in food and eating habits have taken place since
World War II–technological novelties such as the freezer and micro-
wave oven, the improvement of food quality, the increase in food quan-
tity and variety, the convenience of packaging, ready-made foods, and
an increase in the habit of eating out. The big rise of the restaurant in-
dustry, for example, reflects not only the increase of a mass market with
standard foods like McDonald’s, but also an increase in individual and
sophisticated experiences. In these cases, consumers seem to subordi-
nate their true social identities to roles prescribed by waiters and chefs.
Along the gamut in means of non-verbal communication, a meal is
one of the main gestures that enable the understanding of people. The
organizations of meals on various occasions, whether they are individ-
ual or in groups, are rituals, which bring with them several meanings.
A meal is recognized as a social bond capable of not only including but
also excluding people. At any rate, meals and celebrations function like
rituals where relationships and alliances are made, and where the bonds
Leticia Casotti 71

of friendship or the solidarity of a group are established. Therefore, this


theme seems to be rather aggregative and integrative. The food of cele-
bration or that of leisure is that which should shake up the present
structures of everyday life.
According to Beardsworth and Keil (1977), when we eat or drink, we
are not only consuming important nutrients, but we are also consuming
experiences in taste, pleasure, meanings, and symbols. Every meal and
every drink present in the human diet carries with it symbolic meanings.
This way, the image that one has of a product is influenced by the mean-
ing it has built up in societies throughout time. This study intends to call
attention, within their often symbolic meanings, not to food and drink in
themselves, but to special events, festivities, celebrations, or even wee-
kend meals. With this objective in mind, 29 women were interviewed,
and the central question was related to the practices and meanings of
special family meals.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LITERATURE

Even with factors associated with nutrition, pollution or technology


influencing the choice or rejection of specific types of foods, social and
cultural processes predominate the contemporary culinary field, since
the consumption of foods represents a mark of identity and social status.
The status acquired by the great chefs deserves attention. Besides the
changes related to food as, for instance, in the art of nouvelle cuisine,
which appeared in the 1960s in France, television, newspapers, fashion
and specialized magazines could be other factors in considering the sta-
tus acquired by chefs, their signatures and the nouvelle cuisine itself
(Ferguson and Zukin, 1998).
Camara Cascudo (1983) also calls attention to the spreading of the
culinary arts, recognizing the short course of time since the appearance
of culinary books concerned with legitimate local delicacies, as in gen-
eral, they did not include simple and popular dishes, but exotic recipes
destined for the most affluent social classes. Several chefs of sophisti-
cated restaurants began to endorse ready- or semi-ready made frozen
dishes to be sold in specialized stores or supermarkets, which might be
interpreted not only as the popularization of endorsed food, but at the
same time, as an adaptation to the lack of time in daily life.
Journalists and social analysts proclaim and deplore the decline of
the family meal–which could be “dying on the couches watching TV”–
and with it the decline of the family–“which may be literally falling
72 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

apart.” At the same time the success of convenient food, combined with
the use of freezers and microwave ovens, could be enabling people to
have more free time to watch television. This may also be contributing
to the decline of family meals where people share not only food but also
conversation (Dickson and Leader, 1998). Is this really occurring in
such proportion? Do you think that snacking between meals is making
the act of eating less social and more individual? Is the family meal still
alive?
In spite of recognizing the innumerable recent changes that alter the
choice of food and its preparation, Dickson and Leader (1998) complain
about the small amount of evidence in sociological studies as to how
these factors really affect the family meal and its continuation. Which is
more important: the sharing of the components and ingredients of a
meal, or the sharing of time and space? For the authors, meals are funda-
mentally a social event, and the fact that, for example, the habit of eating
out is becoming very popular; this does not necessarily mean that the
family is not being incorporated into this social event. The study done
by Dickson and Leader (1998) seeks to analyze how meals are pre-
sented on television shows and in advertisements, and how these meals
actually take place in real life. The study concludes that the images on
television shows and in advertisements present people predominantly
“picking at” their food or eating by themselves. This does not have any
connection with the habits described by the families interviewed–
parents and kids alike said that they value family meals a great deal.
What is the meaning of “eating out”? The main associations concern-
ing “eating out” made by the interviewees in a study in United Kingdom
were: economy of work (food prepared and served by others); something
special which can be related to what one eats, where and how often; rit-
ual or the organization of the meal (table, menu, time spent, food quan-
tity); the cost involved, the paid meal and the commercial situation, and
the social space of separation from the domestic sphere. The study has
sought to understand the main reasons for “eating out.” The many rea-
sons pointed out can be, in general, associated with pleasure (doing
something different, celebrating, enjoying eating), with respite (relax-
ing from the kitchen), and with need (hunger, being away from home,
social obligation). But, what are the main attitudes in relation to “eating
out?” The study suggests many diverse attitudes: some positives like the
experience itself, the possibility of learning, of escaping from oppres-
sive housework or having fun; and some negatives like being suspicious
about unknown foods (Warde and Martens, 2000). For Krell (1998), an
opponent of the rise in fast-food restaurants, people eat out to reflect on
Leticia Casotti 73

themselves, which is a narcissistic act and a perversion of home and of


the kitchen.
Eating out is also a variable used in research that seeks to analyze the
style of life of groups of consumers or social classes. Mennell et al.
(1992) claim that the social differences in the behavior of food consum-
ers have declined over time; that is, the contrasts related to social
classes, ages, regions, and seasons of the year have decreased, while at
the same time the variety and availability of foods have increased. How-
ever, according to Warde and Martens (2000), the frequency with which
people eat out seems to be strongly associated with their socio-demo-
graphic position; that is [those with] higher incomes, higher educational
levels, more youngsters working full-time, couples without children,
and single people tend to “eat out” more often.
Several studies have been done within a historical, anthropological,
or sociological approach, which have sought to understand dualities and
polarities in relation to foods: lack versus abundance, feasting versus
fasting, and poverty versus wealth. These dilemmas are intimately re-
lated, since all of them are linked to the quantity of food available which
different groups of people have access to at a particular moment in time.
Material well-being is associated with personal possessions, including
several types of foods (Bell, Valentine, 1997).
The nouvelle cuisine mixes new and old styles, simple and exotic
ingredients, familiar and local foods with foreign foods (Ferguson and
Zukin, 1998). Brazilian food seems to mix people when eating at home
or eating out. DaMatta (1996 p. 24), in analyzing two parties within dif-
ferent social environments–a wedding party of poor people, and a silver
anniversary of wealthy people–on the same day, discusses the abunda-
nce of drink and food available at both, and the different types of people
present, as Brazilians, in general, usually have a diversified and hetero-
geneous chain of relations: “everybody is friends with everybody.” In
focusing on food specifically, DaMatta (1996) observes that food, in
both cases, alleviates social differences; as people eat the same food,
they become more equal.
Relating food and parties, the author observes that there is nothing
more pleasant than eating with friends, because Brazilians love sharing
what they eat at home, or at a restaurant where they can lovingly place a
“provinha” [a small sampling of food] into a friend’s mouth. These
examples supplied by DaMatta (1996)–gathering different people or
giving a sample from one’s dish into a friend’s mouth–fit into what
Barbosa (1992) calls the Brazilian “jeitinho.” Jeitinho is a word in the
diminutive, which may be understood as a special way of solving a
74 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

problem or a situation through a creative solution in the face of an unex-


pected event. This creative solution is usually associated with the break-
ing of norms or rules, or a certain type of reconciliation or ability.
Barbosa (1992), however, calls attention to the fact that the practice of
“jeitinho” can be seen as something negative–when rules are broken–or
of something positive, associated with the Brazilian ingenuity for estab-
lishing relationships. Still, according to Barbosa (1992), “to give a
jeitinho” is to create personal spaces in impersonal domains without it
having been planned; that is, it is an improvisation. Food seems to have
a great connection with “improvisation.”
Another aspect pointed out by Barbosa (1992) refers to the ease with
which Brazilians break hierarchies and establish more intimate personal
relationships, whether it is between people of different social classes–
the parties described by DaMatta (1996)–or whether it is between un-
known individuals that apparently turn into big and intimate friends in
short time. For DaMatta (1996), the shameful official numbers that
Brazil demonstrates in its population’s per-capita income distribution is
incompatible with the experiences of parties and foods. Good food see-
ms to harmonize and serve as a common denominator in a strongly un-
equal society.
Outside the Brazilian social context, however, some studies have
shown an inverse relation between expenditures in food and the total of
resources received. Ritson (1986) mentions “Engel’s Law,” in which
the level of food expenditures decreases in proportion to the resources
received, and this increase of resources received is accompanied by a
decrease in the consumption of inferior products, in favor of others of a
better quality, depending on the demographic characteristics of homes,
economic position, and socio-cultural factors.
Food is still prepared with the expectation of being shared: day-
to-day meals are meant to be shared with the immediate family, and on
the weekends this sharing is to extend itself to friends and relatives.
Lukanuski (1998) explains the difficulty in talking with people about
the act of eating alone, as, in general, they get embarrassed. Eating alone
almost always shows a lack of choice, and for those who eat alone, a
standard behavior does not exist; that is, there are no expected social eti-
quettes to be followed. While there are solitaries who feel as if they are
being observed, there are others who feel free from the responsibilities
that people have when eating like the concern for a balanced meal, good
table manners, and napkins.
Beil (1998) observes that a typical big city dweller eats a sandwich
alone at a stand-up counter, and in the evening eats in front of the
Leticia Casotti 75

television. Is the affection of family meals giving way to the company of


television? It is common at lunch to see people in the company of bo-
oks, magazines, or newspapers. Lukanuski (1998) remembers an Italian
proverb, which can be understood in all cultures: “He who eats alone,
will die alone.”

THE RESEARCH

The qualitative study involves a smaller number of people who were


not chosen through a probabilistic sampling. These people were se-
lected in order to represent different categories of the population in-
tended to be studied. The decision to interview only women is related to
the indication of many studies as to the predominance of women in the
decision-making process concerning the consumption of food. Studies
done with couples suggest that the sharing of housework is still found to
be a difficult situation (Hood, 1983; Hertz, 1986; Hochschild, 1989).
Women have left home to go to work, but the main role that continues
to be associated with them is the preparation and acquisition of food
(Dickson and Leader, 1998).
The number of interviews carried out was not pre-established. The
composition and size of the sample followed the principle of “satura-
tion” (Bertaux, 1980). The choice of families with children was made
with the supposition that eating is a theme which is narrowly related to
maternity, which would help the conversation and involve the inter-
viewees to a greater extent with the prepared questions. Moreover, in
this way the study would attain habits and perceptions, not only from
the interviewees but also from the whole family. Twenty-nine inter-
views were made in depth with adult women, with an age range between
25 and 42, married or separated, with children, living in Rio de Janeiro,
and from diverse economic classes.
Calder and Tybout (1987) make an analysis of the possible kinds of
knowledge produced by research on consumer behavior, considering
three categories: day-to-day knowledge, scientific knowledge, and in-
terpretive knowledge. From among these three categories, the present
study chooses to gather information related to day-to-day knowledge
which consists of the thoughts people share about what they eat; that is,
how they interpret and give social meaning to their behavior, using their
own reference structures. Thus, the knowledge researched is that which
the group possesses naturally, manifested in their social and daily lives,
and in their verbal communications. It should be observed that fictitious
76 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

names have been used to preserve anonymity. The interviewee’s name


is followed by her age and her respective social class, determined
according to the criteria for economic classification in Brazil.
Brazil’s economic classification system divides the country into
seven economic classes (A1, A2, B1, B2, C, D, and E). It is an evolu-
tionary system that estimates the purchasing power of individuals and
families that live in cities in Brazil, taking into account data such as pos-
sessions and the educational level of the head of the family. The Brazil-
ian criteria were devised by the National Research Firm Association,
since the methods used in other countries, such as segmenting by in-
come or classification by occupational status and schooling, were insuf-
ficient in terms of reflecting certain aspects of the Brazilian reality, such
as economic instability and the informal market.
The interviewees could choose the place for the interview at their
convenience, that is, at home, at work or at the researcher’s house, and
they were told that the theme of the conversation would be “habits of
consumption.” The themes to be discussed were not given ahead of time
so as not to enable any type of preparation or elaboration on the inter-
viewee’s part, which would reduce the spontaneity expected from the
information. The main research question proposed was:

• What are the special meanings of the food of celebration or of wee-


kend meals for families, whether the food is consumed at home or
on the street?

DESCRIPTION OF THE RESULTS

What do Brazilian women say about eating out or eating at home?


The researcher has opted to divide the results according to DaMatta’s
(1984) sociological categories: celebrations or meals at “home” and
celebrations or meals on the “street”–eating out.

Eating Out

The interviewees belonging to lower social classes had little experi-


ence with “eating out,” which seemed to entail something of an emer-
gency without any planning. When asked how the decision on eating
out was made, they answered:
Leticia Casotti 77

It’s never decided. It happens sometimes . . . we’re hungry, we eat.


We never plan . . . (Lourdes, 32, C)
. . . if it’s past time for us to get home, we eat out. (Elizabeth, 42, C)

We frequently have snacks, but food, real food no . . . Sometimes


if it gets late, we end up eating out. (Arlene, 28, B2)

Another common practice cited mainly by the interviewees from


classes C and D was “eating out” at relatives’ or friends’ houses; that is
“eating out” did not necessarily involve a commercial transaction like at
a restaurant.
For the higher social classes the event, besides always being identi-
fied as a commercial transaction, was described with details involving
various aspects such as environment, what was eaten, or who was
there–eating out as part of a date, a reconciliation, or a celebration (Bell,
Valentine 1997):
Normally I like eating out with my husband only because of the
chitchat, the hors-d’oeuvre, the eating in small portions, the con-
versation . . . . (Adriana, 39, A2)
I enjoy sitting down, being served . . . (Lucia, 33, A1)
I like a beautiful environment, with nice lighting, quiet, with mu-
sic, no noise, without people talking loudly. (Sivia, 34, A2)
When I go to a restaurant, I like different foods . . . I like more ex-
otic things; a place to see people... at times we go to a Japanese, a
Thai, or to a French restaurant. (Claudia, 39, A1)
One of the aspects observed in the reports about the meaning of eat-
ing out is the separation of social spaces, that is, of the domestic
space–home and its routine–from the public space-the street and enter-
tainment - which is also one of the meanings pointed out in the study
done by Warde and Martens (2000):

I decide on eating out because I hate cooking. (Maria, 33, B2)


When I eat out, I never order what I can eat at home. (Carla, 35, B1)
Eating out means having some fun . . . leaving the routine . . . at a
restaurant you eat something new, something you’re not used to
eating at home. (Regina, 34 C)

Another aspect reported concerning the event of eating out has to do


with the work involved if compared with the work done at home. For
78 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

some interviewees, eating out means food prepared and served by oth-
ers; it means not having to work. Even with the changes in the social
roles of women who have entered the workforce–25 interviewees work
outside the house–yet, out of the 29 women from the sample, 17 said
that they cook on a daily basis; 10 reported that they cook occasionally,
and only 2 said that they never do anything in the kitchen. Dickson and
Leader (1998) claim that the main roles associated with women con-
tinue to be the preparation of meals, and the buying of food, making the
event of “eating out” seen, in general, as something special for them
(different, special, fun, pleasant, new).
This perception of eating out as something special seems to be ru-
ined, at times, by children: their choices, their presence, or some kind of
routine with them. Also it is interesting to observe that some of the inter-
viewees did not consider going to fast foods such as McDonald’s with
their children as an experience of “eating out.” Going to those fast-food
restaurants appears, at times, to be a routine, mainly on the weekends.
Warde and Martens (2000) have classified the attitude, “not having kids
around when I eat out” as an attitude of an experienced consumer; that
is, of people who nourish the habit of eating out:

With the family, I find it somewhat troublesome because my old-


est wants to eat and leave. I find it boring. I eat a lot more, my hus-
band and I, more than the whole family. (Silvia, 34, A2) (kids of 16
and 8 years of age)
When we had just one son, we’d eat out a lot ... then we had two in
a row ... it has become complicated for us to leave home ... we’ve
become very homey ... (Aline, 37, A1) (kids of 18, 12 and 11 years
of age)
If it’s to make a mess, we’d rather make a mess right here at home.
Order a pizza and not leave . . . (Andressa, 38, A1)

Besides being something special, eating out can also be associated


with a desire to learn new things, and to get to know and talk with differ-
ent people. Ana (37, A1) describes her husband as someone who loves to
experiment with everything that is different . . . he travels and experi-
ments with all the different foods from that place. Such an attitude is
called by Warde and Martens (2000) an interest in learning, and it char-
acterizes people who consider eating out as a learning experience.
Another attitude identified in the Warde and Martens study, preference
Leticia Casotti 79

for informality, may also be interpreted as enjoying feeling at home, even


while eating out (DaMatta, 1984). Maria (33, B2) describes this attitude:

I like going to a place where I feel at ease. I can’t go to a place


on the weekend where I feel repressed, that turns me off . . . my
parents, who are always together, also have to feel good . . . my
daughter also has to be able to make as much mischief as she
wants. . . .

Eating at Home

When talking about street food, the women studied in the sample
generally did not describe their preferred dishes, for example. The ob-
servations that surrounded eating out emphasized environments, differ-
ences, attitudes, habits, preferences, rituals. The same seems not to
apply when the interviewees talked about home food, the food of cele-
brations or of weekends. At home, probably because of the greater per-
sonal involvement with the function, the foods and the dishes were cited
without any difficulty.
Even recognizing that higher economic classes tend to eat a larger va-
riety and quantity of foods (Harris 1996), there were not many differ-
ences in terms of the dishes recalled by the higher and lower classes;
that is, similarities were found. This claim seems to be in accordance
with Mennell et al. (1992), who say that the contrasts related to social
classes in the behavior of the food consumer have declined throughout
time; and with DaMatta (1996), who suggests, in analyzing foods and
parties, that in Brazil what one eats appears to mitigate social differ-
ences, serving as a common denominator in an unequal society.
Some of those interviewed who acknowledged not feeling at ease in
the kitchen seemed to resort to what Barbosa (1992) calls the “Brazilian
jeitinho” for the celebrations at home: to call a relative or friend to cook.
Barthes (1961) points out that in the past only festivities were clearly
marked by food, but that today all situations may be expressed through
food, from celebrations and weekends–to work lunches, which have not
been the objective of this research. What about the day-to-day routines
of families? Do they do the meals together?
The interviewees were asked about their family habits concerning
their meals together. Further, it was explored as to how and where the
meals were made. Dickson and Leader (1998) indicate a division
among the sociologists who have studied the topic. Some suggest that
several changes have taken place, such as an increase in the habit of
80 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

snacking, new technologies like television, microwave oven and free-


zer, the new social roles assumed by women, the appreciation for con-
venience and the concern with time, which could be leading to a decline
in domestic meals. On the other hand, some sociologists admit changes
but continue to believe that families still value their meals together.
One of the changes that were noticed during meals by the interview-
ees is the presence of television, shared in different ways during family
meals. Cecilia (34, B2) said that the weekend lunch takes place while
“watching TV,” and that no one sits at the table; Maura (36, B2) empha-
sized that they have dinner with the television on, but everyone is at the
table; we don’t sit on the couch. However, Elizabeth (42, C) mixes
food, television, and talk:
We have dinner in the living-room with the TV on, talking . . . or
for lunch, we make our own dishes and eat while watching TV or
chatting . . .
Bell and Valentine (1997) have observed that in some households the
meal routine is subordinated to the schedule of television shows so that
everybody can sit together watching or not watching a favorite program.
The authors also call attention to divisions caused by television, like dis-
putes over where and when meals should be made, or even the possibility
of each one going to his/her bedroom carrying his/her own plate to watch
a favorite show. Rosa (36, A2), in contrast, seemed to get upset with the
family habit of eating while watching television when she said:
We have our meals in the living room, the TV on, always . . . It’s ter-
rible. This habit I haven’t been able to get rid of . . . it’s a struggle
...
Lina (32, C), however, seemed not to have any conflict in regard to
their children’s habits, and went beyond family meals when she talked
about the importance of television for the family:

The kids always have lunch before me, because I arrive after meal
time . . . They eat in the living-room . . . they sit at the table, but
they can watch TV from there . . . the cable TV is a great inven-
tion! Now I turn on those cartoon channels, and the kids spend all
day watching TV . . . (Lina, 32, C)

Could television be contributing to the decline of the domestic meal?


This is one of the questions brought up by Dickson and Leader (1998).
Leticia Casotti 81

However, there are other aspects which have been pointed out, also
suggesting problems for the realization of traditional family meals:
the difficulty adults have with eating next to children’s messes (Bell,
Valentine, 1997), the question of available space, the presence or
absence of the maid.
Even with a lot of television, different schedules, and a lack of maid
support, along with other difficulties cited in the descriptions of family
meals, some of those interviewed still valued the event of having meals
together. Lina (32, C), for instance, besides having the habit of eating to-
gether, suggested considering the event as a ritual when she talked about
the preparation of their youngest son to accompany his parents and older
siblings at family meals; while Cleia (42, A1) noted her satisfaction with
the traditional family meal and with the family all united at meal time:

My husband and I have breakfast together; the kids and I have


lunch together; I’m really present at meal time . . . In the evening,
we almost always have dinner all together . . . Food is a kind of af-
fection, isn’t it?

DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

In the 1950s, a real sense of permanence seemed to exist, with social


roles well defined, with the wife taking care of the house, and, conse-
quently, of all the family meals. The 1970s were a time of disruption, of
freedom, of breaking rules in behavior–the development of industrial-
ized food, which liberated women to take on other roles. More recently,
however, maybe from 1990s on, there have been signs of a rediscovery
or reinvention of old rules and habits related to food, the search for a
larger sense of permanence, but with the incorporation throughout the
past decade of many innovations within the food industry, of other com-
plementary industries and of means of communication.
There seems to be an attempt to recompose the social and emotional
universe of the family that has dinner in front of the television, but which
is ready to share the moment when it goes together to McDonald’s on the
weekends, although the parents may favor an a la carte restaurant. There
is a noticeable resurgence of values, but with inevitable changes. It is im-
possible to simply compare the eating habits of families of today with dif-
ferent families of orientation, as these are other nuclei from a different
time period. However, what is changing? What remains? What should be
fought for keeping in terms of eating habits? Certainly, what is new is that
82 LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS REVIEW

there is more information concerning, for instance, the nutritional value


of foods, their associations with health, illnesses, and other risks. What is
old is the history, the several social and cultural meanings that have been
passed on through it. For the interviewees, meals still seem to be essential
to unite the family and establish social bonds.
Food occupied a central role in the life of all those interviewed, al-
though they all seemed, at times, to be unaware of it. We may agree with
those who think that technology has altered the relationship of people
with food, but the testimonies cited have demonstrated that, in general,
food has not taken a lesser meaning in the life of people due to the mi-
crowave, freezer, or ready-made dishes. Certainly the meanings of food
change more slowly than technological transformations or the means of
communication.
Another interpretation of the relationship between the interviewees–
by one who knows Brazilians–and food, may be made by observing
how they live with modern values without abandoning a set of tradi-
tional practices which continue to influence, and at times, command, the
relationship with what one eats day-to-day or in celebrations. On the
other hand, it is possible to locate reports of more traditional or more
modern moments in buying, cooking, eating, or interacting. When they
spoke about their family eating practices, it seemed difficult to talk
about definite choices and about excluding alternatives. The women
talked more about the possible compositions to be made, not only the
composition of dishes, but mainly, the compositions of social relations
involved and the innumerable variables that surround them and influ-
ence their eating practices. References to traditions were not forgotten
when the interviewees talked about the food of celebration. Food prod-
ucts, per se, do not replace the human side of relationships, and the in-
fluences, which involve the activities, linked to food. Frequently, the
payment of the bill helps the construction of identity and the attainment
of status–restaurants are a possibility for this type of attainment.
It is true that several cultural and social roles have become more un-
certain; the nouvelle cuisine is an example of the flexibility in the rules
associated with cooking. The increasing informality of eating habits, for
example, how and where to eat should also be mentioned. However,
informality is not necessarily associated with a change in the deeper val-
ues associated with eating. In the most deep and intimate reports there is
comfort concerning the familiarity of dishes prepared at home or out-
side the home; for example, at McDonald’s, where what is available is
well known, and what is served is done in the same way, in places with
Leticia Casotti 83

similar decor and little variety. What does one choose? Familiarity or
change?
Even with the ambiguity of the natural world, a search for the perma-
nence of certain values (nutritional, social and cultural) in food con-
sumed may be noticed. Several attempts have appeared in order to
impose order and coherence on the eating reality of those interviewed
and their families. The reports show that there is a systematic behavior
in relation to the choices of food, whether it is consumed at home or out.
Nevertheless, several signs indicate a great dissatisfaction toward this
search for order and coherence, and a great desire for change.
Although in the reports there appeared several aspects concerning the
women individually, in the sample it seems evident that the consump-
tion of food is a group phenomenon, mainly that of the family. In certain
cases, everything related to family eating habits seemed to be deter-
mined by the children: the menu, eating out, the acquisition of new eat-
ing products. With the increasing fragility of the relationship between
men and women, children seem to be increasing their decision-making
power concerning food consumption within the family. The number of
births is dropping, but the importance of children is increasing. It is
important to note that in this society there is the predominance of indi-
vidual wishes on several social levels, which would not differ in fami-
lies–the strongest nuclei of Brazilian society–and which seem to supply
a social composition model that disseminates to other groups.
The study suggests that food consumption is not defined by a relation
with the choice of the cost benefit, but by past and present experiences.
Price hardly appears in the reports in regard to special meals, or when the
interviewees talk about family meals. Its importance is certainly real, but
it is also camouflaged by many other concerns and several emotional
meanings. The changes in content and in the methods of food preparation
may not be an indication of changes in meals as social events. In spite of
technological developments and the convenience of foods, the family
meal and the celebration of food will persist, because they are events that
bring people together. He who eats alone, will die alone?

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Received: 15/12/2004
Revised: 10/08/2005
Accepted: 29/08/2005

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