Studying food and eaters : A cocktail of perspectives and methods

Abstract

Researchers rarely reveal the details of the methodological choices on which their research is based. The theoretical and practical considerations that have guided them in these choices often remain implicit. In this book, the focus is on methods for studying food and 'eaters'. The use of the term 'eaters' is intended to distinguish them from the simple image of a consumer. It emphasises the multi-dimensionality of the act of eating, an act that engages individuals socially as much as physically and inserts them into space and time as well as into economic exchanges. This book is the result of a collective effort by some forty established researchers. The aim is to provide a critical overview of fifteen methods currently used in or at the crossroads of different disciplines: anthropology, economics, geography, nutrition and sociology. The book will be of interest to students, teachers, expert researchers and other professionals looking for methods to better understand or refine their own tools for studying food and eaters.