Meal box schemes a convenient way to avoid convenience food? Uses and understandings of meal box schemes among Danish consumers.
The term convenience food is subject to diversification, lack of clarity and moral ambiguity. In this paper we address these issues and critically discuss convenience food by using empirical findings from a Danish study that deals with practitioners' uses of meal box schemes. The methodological design consists of thirteen individual interviews, four focus groups and some observations of cooking practices. We combine the empirical findings with a particular definition of convenience food by Brunner et al. (2010) and selected practice theoretical concepts. This particular combination enables us to categorize meal box schemes as a new form of convenience food called convenient food. In addition, results suggest that meal box schemes reduce leftovers from dinner. Meal boxes also influence dinner related activities such as planning ahead in time and grocery shopping, which require less physical and mental effort.
Department of Communication and Arts (DCA), Roskilde University, Office Location: 40.03.06, Aboretvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Electronic address: fdhertz@ruc.dk.
Frej Daniel
FD
Hertz
Department of Communication and Arts (DCA), Roskilde University, Office Location: 40.03.06, Aboretvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Electronic address: beh@soc.ku.dk.
Bente
B
Halkier
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics; D003296:Cooking / Q000191:economics; D003718:Denmark; D000072001:Diet, Healthy / Q000191:economics; D005190:Family; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005248:Feeding Methods / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005518:Food Preferences; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D010349:Patient Compliance; D036301:Qualitative Research; D009626:Terminology as Topic
Convenience food; Danish families; Food practices; Meal box schemes