Food and social identity: Rural lives that appear through food

Abstract

Objective The objective was to analyze the interactions between food and identity by exploring the daily food eaten by a rural community. Under the gift theory view, the aim is to present readings concerning a rural identity that the research participants constituted through eating; this aim is premised on the assumption that analyzing the relationship between the identity of a group and eating becomes important because of the marked influence that belonging to a collective has in food. Methods An ethnographic approach was used including participant observation, field diary annotations, and interviews with 21 interlocutors. Results The activity of eating produced at least two categories that characterized rural identity: one marked by the stigma of the past, and the other by values that, above all, denote a reaction to stigma; a reaction to stigma is linked to the work that also sustains the honor of a family, the consumption of food/goods common in the city, inclusion in a larger society, and commitment to the collective. Conclusion Eating, in addition to the biological and individual, can also be apprehended as a complex and revealing sociocultural phenomenon, including ways of belonging to a group. With food a marked rural identity appears, mainly through reactions to stigmata.

Commensality and responsive food consumption behavior in community based canteen

“…Food interaction has created at least two types that have defined identity: one that is distinguished by the stigma of the past, and the other by ideals that, above all, suggest the answer to stigma; the response to stigma is related to work that also sustains the dignity of the family, the consumption of food/goods famous in the city, participation in broader society, and loyalty to the group (Ruiz & Gerhardt, 2019). Food choices made by citizens, either as individuals or as a group, expose beliefs, passions, context experience, assumptions, and personalities.…”