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Transitions in Culinary Cultures? a Comparative Study of France and Britain

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Transitions in Culinary Cultures? a Comparative Study of France and Britain Transitions in Culinary Cultures? A Comparative Study of France and Britain Andy Gatley A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of City University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Centre for Food Policy School of Community and Health Sciences City University London June 2012 Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................... VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................... IX ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... XI ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................... XII CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOCUS................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 THE ADOPTION OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH .................................................................................. 5 1.4 DIVERSE DRIVERS OF CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN RELATION TO CULINARY CULTURES ........................................ 6 1.5 A GLOBAL PHENOMENON?..................................................................................................................... 7 1.6 BRITAIN AND FRANCE: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS .............................................................. 9 1.7 THE RESEARCH PROCESS ...................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2 : COMPARISON OF FRANCE AND BRITAIN AND THEIR FOOD POLICY FRAMEWORKS .. 16 2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 17 2.1.1 Demographic Overview of France and the UK ..................................................................... 17 2.1.2 Economic Overview of France and the UK ........................................................................... 18 2.1.3 The changing structure of diets in France and the UK ......................................................... 19 2.1.4 Rising levels of obesity and the French paradox .................................................................. 20 2.2 FOOD POLICIES IN BRITAIN ................................................................................................................... 21 2.2.1 Culinary policies and cooking initiatives in schools ............................................................. 22 2.2.2 Policies in relation to food in schools................................................................................... 26 2.2.3 Community led food skills initiatives and local food projects .............................................. 27 2.2.4 The promotion of regional cookery and local foods ............................................................ 28 2.3 FOOD POLICIES IN FRANCE ................................................................................................................... 30 2.3.1 Culinary policies and cooking initiatives in schools ............................................................. 32 2.3.2 Policies in relation to food in schools................................................................................... 32 2.3.3 Community led food skills initiatives and local food projects .............................................. 35 2.3.4 The promotion of regional cookery and local foods ............................................................ 35 2.4 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 3 : FOOD, COOKING & MEAL PATTERNS IN FRANCE AND BRITAIN: THEORY AND PRACTICE 37 3.1 INTRODUCTION: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FOOD, COOKING AND EATING .............................................. 38 3.1.1 Functionalism ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.1.2 Structuralism ....................................................................................................................... 39 3.1.3 A Feminist perspective and cooking in the home ................................................................ 42 3.1.4 Developmental Perspectives ................................................................................................ 42 3.2 COOKING IN FRANCE AND BRITAIN ........................................................................................................ 43 3.2.1 Introduction: What is cooking? ........................................................................................... 43 3.2.2 The omnivore’s dilemma and the classification of food ...................................................... 44 3.2.3 The cooking animal ............................................................................................................. 45 3.2.4 The Culinary triangle ........................................................................................................... 45 3.2.5 Methods of cooking and social distinction .......................................................................... 46 3.2.6 The transformation and preparation of food for the table ................................................. 47 3.2.7 ‘Cooking from scratch’ and problems of definition ............................................................. 48 3.2.8 Cooking skills: change and continuity .................................................................................. 49 3.2.9 Cooking skills and their significance to food policy ............................................................. 50 ii 3.3 THE ACQUISITION OF COOKING SKILLS ..................................................................................................... 52 3.3.1 Learning to cook at school ................................................................................................... 53 3.3.2 Learning to cook via the media ........................................................................................... 54 3.4 THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL VARIABLES AND ‘LIFESTYLE’ ON COOKING HABITS ................................................... 55 3.4.1 Lack of time, convenience foods and the everyday scheduling of modern life .................... 58 3.5 THE ‘PROPER’, STRUCTURED MEAL AND EATING HABITS ............................................................................. 61 3.5.1 The ‘de-structuration’ of meal patterns and eating habits ................................................. 62 3.5.2 Snacking and the further destructuration of meal habits ................................................... 66 CHAPTER 4 : THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULINARY CULTURES AND DRIVERS OF CHANGE ................. 67 4.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 68 4.2 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH & BRITISH CULINARY CULTURES .................................................. 68 4.2.1 Early cookery books and representations of distinctive culinary cultures ........................... 71 4.3 FOOD AND CUISINES AS SYMBOLS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY ........................................................................... 72 4.3.1 Cultural apparatus and France’s culinary discourse - nineteenth century .......................... 74 4.3.2 Cultural apparatus and Britain’s culinary discourse – eighteenth & nineteenth centuries . 76 4.3.3 Political, economic, social and cultural change in the nineteenth century: Continuities and discontinuities of community & culinary practices ............................................................................ 77 4.3.4 The Glory of France: The reconstruction of regional cuisines in the nineteenth century..... 78 4.3.5 Terroir, tourism and the institutionalisation of culinary heritage in early twentieth century France 80 4.3.6 The authenticity and coherence of culinary cultures ........................................................... 81 4.4 GLOBALISATION AND DRIVERS OF CHANGE .............................................................................................. 83 4.4.1 Globalisation of culture ....................................................................................................... 83 4.4.2 Globalisation and the food supply chain ............................................................................. 85 4.4.3 The food retailing industry in France and Britain ................................................................ 85 4.4.4 The Fast Food Industry ........................................................................................................ 87 4.4.5 Eating out ............................................................................................................................ 88 4.5
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