Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Fostering social relationships through food rituals in a New Zealand school

Fostering social relationships through food rituals in a New Zealand school PurposeFood practices, including associated routines, rituals, and habits, are an unexplored area in school health promotion. In this paper we aim to fill this gap through exploring how food rituals act as vehicles for young people to establish, maintain, and strengthen social relationships.Design/methodology/approachThrough an ethnographic inquiry, including observations and interviews with teachers and 16-18 year old students in New Zealand, everyday practices were explored in-depth across one school year. FindingsThe findings include three food rituals as significant for young people in managing their social relationships, including the lunch walk, ritualised sharing, and gifting food. The findings highlight the importance of everyday food rituals for young people’s social relationships. For instance, gifting cake mediated care to friends, showed trust in the relationship, and allowed to reciprocate; the lunch walk encouraged social interaction and was a means by which young people could integrate into a new group; and ritualised sharing food involved negotiating friendship boundaries.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is exploratory with findings reported from one school. Further research exploring how young people use food rituals in their everyday lives for managing social relationships is needed. Originality/valueA focus on social relationships in settings such as schools could broaden the scope of nutrition promotion to promote health in physical, mental, and social dimensions. Implications for school health promotion are discussed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Health Education Emerald Publishing

Fostering social relationships through food rituals in a New Zealand school

Neely, Eva; Walton, Mat; Stephens, Christine
Health Education , Volume 116 (5) – Aug 1, 2016
Download PDF
32 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/fostering-social-relationships-through-food-rituals-in-a-new-zealand-Mz5NSuXLlT
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0965-4283
DOI
10.1108/HE-03-2015-0012
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

PurposeFood practices, including associated routines, rituals, and habits, are an unexplored area in school health promotion. In this paper we aim to fill this gap through exploring how food rituals act as vehicles for young people to establish, maintain, and strengthen social relationships.Design/methodology/approachThrough an ethnographic inquiry, including observations and interviews with teachers and 16-18 year old students in New Zealand, everyday practices were explored in-depth across one school year. FindingsThe findings include three food rituals as significant for young people in managing their social relationships, including the lunch walk, ritualised sharing, and gifting food. The findings highlight the importance of everyday food rituals for young people’s social relationships. For instance, gifting cake mediated care to friends, showed trust in the relationship, and allowed to reciprocate; the lunch walk encouraged social interaction and was a means by which young people could integrate into a new group; and ritualised sharing food involved negotiating friendship boundaries.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is exploratory with findings reported from one school. Further research exploring how young people use food rituals in their everyday lives for managing social relationships is needed. Originality/valueA focus on social relationships in settings such as schools could broaden the scope of nutrition promotion to promote health in physical, mental, and social dimensions. Implications for school health promotion are discussed.

Journal

Health Education – Emerald Publishing

Published: Aug 1, 2016

There are no references for this article.