Bake or buy? Comparative and theoretical perspectives on divisions of labour in food preparation work

Abstract

The proportion of food preparation work undertaken in the home varies historically and spatially. Many countries have witnessed a shift in the overall division of labour of ‘food work’, from household to market, and from unpaid domestic labour to work undertaken by paid employees, whether in factories or restaurants. This article undertakes comparative analysis of the changing place of domestic food preparation in the wider division of labour drawing on the concept of ‘consumption work’ understood as including ‘all work necessary for the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of consumption goods and services’. Two countries with distinct culinary cultures and recent histories of food preparation are compared: Taiwan, where a strong national culinary culture is maintained alongside a rapid and dramatic shift to food prepared by commercial outlets, and the UK which has experienced significant decline in the time spent on meal preparation in the home, and proliferation of ready-prepared meals available in supermarkets for consumption at home. The consumption work lens reveals that despite certain similarities, there is no single trajectory or temporality of change.