Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Revue
A Literature Review
RACHEL ENGLER-STRINGER, PhD, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, SK
ABSTRACT Résumé
Over the past century, a major shift in North American food Depuis le dernier siècle, on observe un changement majeur
practices has been taking place. However, the literature on this dans les pratiques liées à l’alimentation en Amérique du Nord.
topic is lacking in several areas. Some available research on Cependant, la littérature sur le sujet présente des lacunes sur
food and cooking practices in the current context is presented, plusieurs plans. Quelques recherches disponibles portant sur
with a focus on how these are affecting health and how they les pratiques liées aux aliments et à leur préparation dans le
For personal use only.
might be contributing to health inequalities within the popula- contexte actuel sont présentées. L’accent est mis sur la manière
tion. First, cooking and cooking skills are examined, along with avec laquelle dont elles influent sur la santé et pourraient con-
the ambiguities related to terms associated with cooking in tribuer aux inégalités sur le plan de la santé dans la population.
the research literature. Food choice, cooking, and health are Dans un premier temps, la préparation des aliments et les com-
described, particularly in relation to economic factors that may pétences en cuisine sont examinées, de pair avec les ambigu-
lead to health inequalities within the population. The impor- ïtés relatives aux termes associés à la cuisine dans la littérature
tance of developing an understanding of factors within the de recherche. La santé, le choix des aliments et la préparation
wider food system as part of food choice and cooking skills is des aliments sont décrits, particulièrement en faisant référence
presented, and gaps in the research literature are examined aux facteurs économiques qui pourraient mener à des inégali-
and areas for future research are presented. Cooking practices tés sur le plan de la santé dans la population. L’importance
are not well studied but are important to an understanding of de développer une compréhension des facteurs propres au
human nutritional health as it relates to cultural, environmental, plus vaste système alimentaire dans le contexte du choix des
and economic factors. aliments et des compétences en cuisine est expliquée. De plus,
la littérature de recherche est étudiée afin de déterminer les la-
(Can J Diet Prac Res. 2010;71:141-145)
cunes, et des sujets de recherche potentiels sont présentés. Les
(DOI: 10.3148/71.3.2010.141)
pratiques relatives à la préparation des aliments ne sont pas
très étudiées. Toutefois, elles sont importantes pour compren-
dre la santé nutritionnelle des humains qui est associée aux
facteurs économiques, culturels et environnementaux.
(Rev can prat rech diétét. 2010;71:141-145)
(DOI: 10.3148/71.3.2010.141)
Introduction
In the 2005 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada report Canadian whole meals, and food will become even more portable” (1, p. i).
Food Trends to 2020: A Long Range Consumer Outlook, a major The report goes on to cite food industry statistics as evidence of
trend in Canadians’ relationship to food is described: “Consum- this trend. For instance, it states that “over half of dinners con-
ers will become even more disconnected from food preparation. sumed in Canadian homes in 2003 included a prepared or semi-
Shopping and eating habits will be sporadic; meal planning prepared item as part of the meal” (p. 27). The report paints
cycles will be shorter, snacking will replace courses, as well as a vivid picture of the type of market for food that is currently
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research – Vol 71 No 3, Fall 2010 141
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taking shape, or, it could be argued, that the food industry is women’s continued central role in domestic tasks are continu-
banking on having Canadians accept. ally referenced in research literature (4-8). At the same time,
evidence suggests that people (usually women) working many
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tial areas for further research. Little of the research reviewed was categorize as either “basic” or “pre-prepared.” For example, into
conducted in the Canadian context, and therefore it must be ap- which of these two categories do dried pasta and canned toma-
plied with some caution. toes fall? In addition, very few people prepare meals from one
category or the other on all occasions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Cooking skills today: Basing her observations on her study
Cooking and cooking skills of English people of diverse ages and social and economic back-
Evolution of cooking skills: Shapiro (2) examines the evolution grounds, Short (13,14) describes the types of skills involved in
of cooking over the past century, from the use of almost entirely today’s cooking as mechanical, technical, perceptual, conceptual,
raw ingredients (i.e., foods in their original forms transformed organizational, and academic. She specifies that these skills are
into meals in the home) to today’s thousands of available food difficult to define and are significantly more complex than how
products that are mostly processed and often require little or they have been presented in much of the research literature to
no transformation before consumption. Using evidence from date. For example, reducing cooking skills to the ability to do
both academic and journalistic sources, she argues against the tasks such as baking, broiling, poaching, and stir-frying is an
common assumption that “convenience foods” were developed oversimplification of activities involved in planning, organizing,
as a market reaction to women’s need to spend less time cook- and preparing a meal. The level of complexity involved in these
ing, particularly during the post-World War II period. Gussow tasks also depends on the size and composition of the household
(3) makes a similar argument in previous research. Shapiro (2) being fed, and on other aspects of the social context of cook-
explains: “Decade by decade, as the proponents of packaged- ing, such as the household economic situation. Short (13) also
food cuisine worked tirelessly to make it the center of Ameri- notes that cooking with pre-prepared foods must be acknowl-
can cookery, they met less resistance from women who lacked edged to involve cooking skills (such as using a microwave). In
the taste memory and the skills their mothers or grandmothers addition, she (13) explains that although a relationship exists
had brought to the kitchen” (pp. 79-80). This observation is im- between skills and knowledge and practices, the relationship is
portant because it shows that advertising for pre-packaged food not straightforward: cooks do not necessarily use convenience
products began long before middle class women moved into the foods because they cannot cook, but for other reasons, includ-
workforce. In addition, it illustrates that the food industry at ing, for example, a lack of time or a lack of interest. Short (14)
least partially created the notion that time for cooking was lack- found that study participants’ approach to cooking was what
ing, and that prepared foods therefore were necessary. This the mattered most when it came to how much, how often, and what
industry did through advertising campaigns in women’s publi- they cooked. She states: “Rather than our technical skills, it is
cations, beginning in the early 20th century. our approach to cooking that influences what and how we cook,
This does not mean that the issue of time for food tasks ‘approach to cooking’ being made up of the attitudes and beliefs
is not of concern today. Time scarcity, the juggling of house- about cooking that we share with others, our personal identifi-
hold tasks and responsibilities, the convenience of food, and cations as people who cook and our confidence in cooking and
Lang and Caraher (12) agree that the issue in cooking skills addition, food-costing research conducted
in Canada has shown the extreme difficulty,
might be a lack of confidence in using basic
teaching be
skills, rather than necessarily a decline in skills. if not impossibility, for a low-income family
They describe what they refer to as a “culinary
transition,” a “process in which whole cultures
contributing to consume a nutritious diet based on Cana-
dian government recommendations (27). As
experience fundamental shifts in the pattern to obesity and a result, Lang and Caraher (12) emphasize
that a focus on cooking skills classes “aimed
and kind of skills required to get food onto
tables and down throats” (p. 2). One par- diabetes? at the poor without context run the risk of
ticularly interesting aspect of this culinary further disadvantaging the poor and missing
transition is that food acquisition (e.g., shopping), in addition the bigger picture of why people cannot or choose not to cook.
to food “assembly,” has increased as more people travel farther The choice not to cook from basics is not always related to lack
to reach grocery stores (12,13). In many communities, grocery of skills but to aspects of food culture” (p. 3). Food culture here
stores have become more concentrated in suburban areas, while includes the relative costs for nutritious versus less nutritious
inner city areas are serviced less well. Food “assembly” refers to foods.
meals that are made using several pre-prepared components The culinary transition described by Lang and Caraher (12)
(for example, heated packaged soup, bagged salad greens with might lead to a number of health consequences. First, as cook-
prepared salad dressing, cooked frozen, seasoned, and cut meat, ing changes, reliance on ready-prepared foods could mean an
and dessert mixes). unwitting intake of fats and insufficient intake of fruit and veg-
etables, both of which are major concerns for health educators.
Lang and Caraher (12) focus on the reasons for this culinary
Lang and Caraher (12) speculate that this may have a differential
transition, or why the skills required to prepare food are chang-
impact on lower-income people because higher incomes mean
ing. They explain that influences such as globalization, changing
For personal use only.
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research – Vol 71 No 3, Fall 2010 143
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living in more food-secure settings. However, ness, not a parent; it doesn’t care what we
the study design did not make clear whether
greater preparation complexity may have
Few Canadians eat as long as we’re willing to pay for it….
Home cooking these days has far more
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research Downloaded from dcjournal.ca by SIBI/USP UNIVERSIDADE DE SAO PAULO on 05/21/18
contributed to the women’s abilities to avoid know the than sentimental value; it’s a survival skill”
more severe food insecurity, or whether (pp. 252-3).
more food-secure participants had greater conditions under When cooking skills have been
amounts of food available and therefore
more complex meal preparation. which the food evaluated in a research context, often no
clear definitions of terms are included.
shopping), food storage and preservation, and cooking and re- hold meals. These data could help in a determination of whether
lated activities of food preparation. Gaps in these areas of con- the culinary transition described by Lang and Caraher (12) is
sumer knowledge and know-how impinge on the cost of eat- part of the Canadian cooking experience.
ing, on nutrition, on health, and on the environment. They also The study of cooking poses significant methodological chal-
increase the negative social impacts of food consumption and lenges. Direct observation is challenging because it is labour
decrease the aesthetic and cultural enjoyment of foods” (p. 148). intensive, it can be intrusive, and the observer is likely to have
The political, economic, social, and environmental implica- an impact on the practices of the observed. Meanwhile, self-
tions of today’s North American food system are diverse, com- reporting in nutrition research is notoriously inaccurate (41).
plex, and well-documented (34-40). Few Canadians know the In-depth interviews in which significant rapport is built be-
conditions under which the food they consume has been pro- tween the researcher and the participant can yield a great deal
duced. Few understand the effects of the globalized food system of important information, but this is a labour-intensive form
on agricultural communities around the world, as well as on of research that is not practical for large-scale studies. Reliable
global warming and diminishing fossil fuel resources. This is a in-depth survey tools must be developed if the practices of
type of deskilling, according to Jaffe and Gertler (33). They ar- different population groups are to be captured accurately, and
gue that food and cooking skills include those required to make if their food and cooking skill needs are to be understood.
informed choices, not only about the nutritional quality of food,
but also about how food choices affect society as a whole. RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE
Significant limitations in understanding add to the difficulty
CONCLUSION of planning interventions and making suggestions for policy
The food system described in Canadian Food Trends to 2020: changes that might improve the health of populations. While
A Long Range Consumer Outlook (1) is likely to lead to health cooking today may require skills that differ from those used by
problems, particularly among people who cannot afford the previous generations, the argument that these skills continue to
more nutritious versions of highly processed foods discussed be complex is compelling. Regardless of whether Canadians are
in the report. Shapiro (2) links the health- and nutrition- becoming deskilled in cooking, significant health consequences
related problems of today with the changing food system over ensue from a diet that relies heavily on highly processed foods.
the course of the past century or so: “Back at the turn of the Also important is an examination of how changes in the types of
twentieth century, we began the long process of turning over to foods consumed may contribute to disempowerment in the face
the food industry many of the decisions about what we eat, in of the industrial food system; food insecurity must be evaluated
the name of habit or convenience or taste. Today our staggering among low-income segments of the population as they follow
rates of obesity and diabetes are testimony to the faith we put the societal trend toward using pre-prepared foods in progres-
in corporations to feed us well. But the food industry is a busi- sively greater numbers.
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