Abstract
Background and objectivesWomen’s food choices and preferences are important as key decision-makers in household food handling, especially the selection of local and traditional foods that can potentially affect health and disease profile. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the barriers and facilitators of choosing local and traditional foods from the perspective of women living in Iran.MethodsThis qualitative study was carried out using a semi-structured in-depth interview with 22 women aged 30–64 years old in Tehran (capital of Iran). The participants were recruited through purposive sampling with the maximum variation such as occupation, the district of residence, and education. Data collection and analysis were done simultaneously from the beginning of the study using the MAXQDA 10 software.Results and conclusionsThe four main themes explored from the participants’ statements included: “cultural contexts,” “social barriers and motivations,” “convenience, accessibility, and skills,” and “religious considerations.” The lessons derived from family, experiences, beliefs, ethnicity patterns, influences from traditional medicine, and priorities in a lifetime, family preferences, routine complications, facilities and ingredients, cookery skills, and religious rules and occasions were extracted as sub-themes including the barriers and facilitators of local and traditional foods in women. Considering the diversity of local and traditional foods in Iranian culture, encouraging the varied consumption of these foods could contribute to the sustainability of diet in communities. Therefore, emphasizing the special role of Iranian women in the household, it is necessary to educate women in order to regenerate the local and traditional food patterns in our country.
Highlights
The modern view of food is not solely for satiety, and to meet the mental needs of individuals
After conceptualizing the codes derived from the statements of the participants, four main categories emerged relating to barriers and facilitators of choosing traditional and local foods for women living in Tehran
The findings of this study showed that, in a diverse cohort of Iranian women, barriers and facilitators of traditional and local foods choice can include concepts such as “cultural contexts,” “social motivations,” “convenience, accessibility, and skills,” and “religious considerations”
Summary
The modern view of food is not solely for satiety, and to meet the mental needs of individuals. Traditional and local foods, by definition, include all foods that have been prepared using local natural resources and have cultural acceptance. This term comprises social and cultural meanings, accessibility, the ways for preparing and consuming, ingredients, and their nutritional implications [3]. From the point of view of consumers, traditional foods are Haghighian Roudsari et al Journal of Ethnic Foods (2019) 6:33 defined as products that are frequently consumed or associated with celebrations and special occasions such as festivals, often contain local food items specific to a region or country and, in some seasons of the year, naturally transferred from a generation to another [4]. Iranian traditional foods have differences in various sub-cultures and geographic locations in terms of the antiquity, diversity, ingredients, and even the method of preparation that make them unique to the same region.
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