buying, storing, cooking food: an investigation on the boundaries between home and market. findings...

Buying, storing, cooking food: an investigation on the boundaries

between home and market. Findings from a survey on meal preparation in

Paris and suburbs

Séverine Gojard, INRA – UR 1303 ALISS

Workshop on Consumption Work and Societal Divisions of Labour, Colchester, 7- 8 November 2013

Structure of the interventionContextual elementsData and methods Results on the associations between home

cooking, provisioning, use of processed food items◦ Investment in meal preparation◦ Use of canned or frozen foodstuff◦ Quality labels and specific shopping places

Cooking styles and household propertiesConclusion: the boundaries between home and

market differ according to the households’ social characteristics and to the relevant activities

Context : Development of processed food consumption

in France during the second half of the XXth century.◦ For fruit and vegetable : decrease of fresh

products consumption, almost compensated for by an increase in processed items

Increase of the share of general stores and decrease of small groceries for food shopping

General idea that people no longer cook, no longer know how to cook, especially among young or deprived households.

But weak empirical evidence

An exploratory survey on meal preparationTo describe the different activities

engaged in meal preparationTo have a better understanding of the use

of processed food (in substitution or in combination with fresh food items)

To link those elements ◦with social and material characteristics

(income, education, household structure, available time, location, …) (in progress)

◦with other dimensions related to meal preparation (cooking skills acquisition, food waste…) (still to be done)

The surveySample of 1000 households living in Paris

and suburbs, not retired, representative of the local population (quotas on census data)◦ Both restrictions due to the special focus we

intended to put on time constraintsSurvey with

◦ face-to-face interviews◦ collection by the households of all food purchases

during two weeks◦ photos taken of fridges, sometimes also of

cupboards and freezers, and of the places in the houses where people keep their recipes

Around 800 households completed questionnaires and purchase booklet

Rationale This survey allows us to analyse the combination of

different activities linked to meal preparation :

◦ Food choice and purchase

◦ Food storage and conservation

◦ Cooking and meal preparation

Each relates to a different aspect of food quality, relying on consumption work to different levels and pertaining to delegation in distinct market spheres

◦ Choice mobilisation of skills to evaluate the quality of producst (freshness for instance) or quality labels if delegation to market

◦ Storage necessary skills to keep fresh food from decay, or use of canned, frozen, vaccum-packed food if delegation to market

◦ Cooking cooking skills or use of prepared meals

MethodsMulti Component Analysis and hierarchical

classification in order to give synthetic analysis lines

Variables selected give information on◦ Shopping places (for food purchases)◦ Use of frozen, canned or vacuum-packed food items◦ Consumption of individual-packed prepared meals◦ Frequent realisation of home made products◦ Time devoted to daily meal preparation (declaration;

for dinner on weekdays)◦ Auto-evaluation of cooking skills◦ Use of some seasoning products such as fresh herbs

Supplementary variables contain information on sociodemographic properties

1

2

34

5

Svt

Parfois

Non

0

1-2

3-5

6+

0

1+

0

1+

0

1+

<15m

<30m

<45m

<1h

1h+TB

B

Moy/MalSvt

Parfois

Jms

Svt

Parfois

Jms

TjsParfois

JmsSvt

ParfoisJms

75

77 7891

92

93

94

95

Seul

Cple

Cplenf

MonopCplexe

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NSP Agr_Art_Comm

CS/PLPIEmp OuvRet

Ho

Fe

<30ans

<45ans

>45ans

1

2

3

4

5

6

-4-2

02

4di

men

sion

1 (

9.1%

)

-4 -2 0 2 4dimension 2 ( 6.3%)

typo plats_repas nb_pdmaison pdconsacm

pdsurgacm pdssvideacm temps_de_preparation eval_cuisine

achats_plats_prepares herbes_fraiches tri_des_emballages pas_savoir

dpt type_men diplome pcs_cuisinier

sexe_cuisinier age_cuisinier g6

supplementary (passive) variables: dpt type_men diplome pcs_cuisinier sexe_cuisinier age_cuisinier g6coordinates in standard normalization

Axes 1 et 2, variables supplémentaires (sociodémographiques)

No frequent use of frozen, preserved food itemsPreference for fresh products

Frequent use of frozen,preserved or vacuum-packed food items. Less fresh products

Less time devoted to cookingWeak cooking skills declaredRare home made preparationsNo fresh herbs

More time devoted to cookingStrong cooking skills declaredFrequent home made preparationsUse of fresh herbs

AXIS 1 & 2 DELEGATION OF MEAL PREPARATION

DELEGATION OF FOOD STORAGE

1

2

34

5

Svt

Parfois

Non

0

1-2

3-5

6+

0

1+

0

1+

0

1+

<15m

<30m

<45m

<1h

1h+

TB

B

Moy/Mal Svt

Parfois

Jms

Svt

Parfois

Jms

TjsParfois

JmsSvt

Parfois Jms

75

777891

92

93

94

95

Seul

Cple

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MonopCplexe

<Bac

<bac+3>bac+3

NSPAgr_Art_Comm

CS/PLPIEmp Ouv

Ret

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<30ans

<45ans

>45ans

1

2

3

4

5

6

-4-2

02

4di

men

sion

1 (

9.1%

)

-4 -2 0 2 4dimension 3 ( 5.3%)








Shopping at conventional

placesCooking skills

Purchase of organic foodShopping at organic food shops



AXIS 1 & 3

DELEGATION OF FOOD QUALIFICATION

DELEGATION OF MEAL PREPARATION

Three dimensions of delegation from

home to market

Home cookingInvestment in

meal preparation

Delegation of meal preparation to market

Delegation of food qualificationto marketvia organic labelling

AX

IS 1

AXIS 3AXIS 2

Delegation of food conditionning and storage capacities to market

Predominance of fresh foods

Those three dimensions are, by construction, independant from each other

A typology of cooking stylesBased on this MCA, we constructed a

classification in 6 groups◦ Two groups with high delegation of meal

preparation activities◦ Two groups with low delegation of meal

preparation activities◦ Two groups with high delegation of food

qualification Subdivisions operate regarding the other

dimensions of delegationA closer analysis of those groups reveals

underlying social elements and helps furhter analyze the delegation

Low delegation of meal preparation

Delegation of food storage

Households with children Housewives Middle-aged The lowest income levels

of the sample

No delegation of food storage nor qualification

Couples More than 45 years old

Both groups are characterized by a higher proportion of households shopping at markets, spending more than an hour per day for preparing the evening meal, where cooks are more often women, whith high declared cooking skills, and stating the like preparing daily meals Low education level

Probably households with no more children

at home,Cooking style based on a lot of time and

know-how investment

Lower economic ressources but higher

time availabilityCooking style based on

organisation, know how, and avoidance of

food shortageA B(19,7 %)

(15,0 %)

High delegation of meal preparation

Delegation of food storage Singleparent or extended

families Middle aged Distant suburbs Relatively low income Almost no organic

products Middle education level

No delegation in food storage nor qualification

Living alone Less than 30 years old Middle income High education level

Both groups are characterized by a higher proportion of households shopping at super and hypermarkets, spending less than 30 mn per day for preparing the evening meal, where cooks are more often men, whith low declared cooking skills, often buying individual prepared meals, and stating the dislike cooking

Probably people who often

eat out

Time and financial constraints

C D(11,7 %) (23,3 %)

High delegation of food qualification

Delegation of food storage

Women Couples or lone parent

families More than 45 years old

No delegation of meal preparation nor food storage

Men Living alone or in childless

couples Time constraints

Both groups are characterized by a higher proportion of households shopping at places specialised in organic food products, spending 30 to 45 mn per day for preparing the evening meal. High education level, high incomes, more often living in Paris intramuros

Cooking style based on a low degree of

investment and know how, compensated for by purchases of quality

labelled food.

Higher investment and more cooking skills,

lack of time compensated for by

quality food and domestic organizationE F(12,7 %) (17,5 %)

1

2

34

5

Svt

Parfois

Non

0

1-2

3-5

6+

0

1+

0

1+

0

1+

<15m

<30m

<45m

<1h

1h+TB

B

Moy/MalSvt

Parfois

Jms

Svt

Parfois

Jms

TjsParfois

JmsSvt

ParfoisJms

75

77 7891

92

93

94

95

Seul

Cple

Cplenf

MonopCplexe

<Bac

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NSP Agr_Art_Comm

CS/PLPIEmp OuvRet

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Fe

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>45ans

1

2

3

4

5

6

-4-2

02

4di

men

sion

1 (

9.1%

)

-4 -2 0 2 4dimension 2 ( 6.3%)








No frequent use of frozen, preserved food itemsPreference for fresh products

Frequent use of frozen,preserved or vacuum-packed food items. Less fresh products



AXIS 1 & 2 DELEGATION OF MEAL PREPARATION

DELEGATION OF FOOD STORAGE A

B

C

D

F

E

1

2

34

5

Svt

Parfois

Non

0

1-2

3-5

6+

0

1+

0

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75

777891

92

93

94

95

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NSPAgr_Art_Comm

CS/PLPIEmp Ouv

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<30ans

<45ans

>45ans

1

2

3

4

5

6

-4-2

02

4di

men

sion

1 (

9.1%

)

-4 -2 0 2 4dimension 3 ( 5.3%)








Shopping at conventional

placesCooking skills

Purchase of organic foodShopping at organic food shops



AXIS 1 & 3

DELEGATION OF FOOD QUALIFICATION

DELEGATION OF MEAL PREPARATION

A

B

D

C

E

F

ConclusionDelegation of one activity does not imply

delegation of the other.◦ We can distinguish different levels of consumption

work and of delegation to market.◦ Delegation can be due to a lack of skills at home,

but not always Delegation of qualification

Higher position in social hierarchy linked to organic food consumption

Delegation of storage Linked to the presence of children at home, Reveals different temporalities (lower frequency of food purchase), Higher position in social hierarchy linked to fresh products purchase

Delegation of meal preparation Strongly connected to life cycle effects and time constraints

AcknowledgementsFundings from Region Ile de France, CPER

R1-P33 Pole alimentation ParisienThanks to Solal team for numerous

discussions about the questionnaireThanks to Delphine Guérin who took in

charge the statistical analysis and to Marie Plessz for precious help at different stages of the research.

Survey conducted by Ipsos Institute

buying, storing, cooking food: an investigation on the boundaries between home and market. findings...

Documents

food choice

food purchases

use of processed food

food waste

fresh food items

market cooking cooking

purchase food storage

meal preparation use