Food policy and the unruliness of consumption: An intergenerational social practice approach to uncover transforming food consumption in modernizing Hanoi, Vietnam.

Sigrid C.O Wertheim-Heck,Jessica E Raneri

doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100418

Sigrid C.O Wertheim-Heck, Jessica E Raneri

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100418

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Abstract

Globally, food policies strive to steer citizens in specific directions, however consumption remains largely unruly. This is also the case in Hanoi, Vietnam, where the food safety driven supermarketisation policy is only minimally successful in diverting consumers from traditional markets. Previous research demonstrated that low-income urbanites do not shop at supermarkets and maintain their minimally adequate diet quality through market shopping. Nevertheless, shifts in diets are occurring. The traditional local plant-based diet, which may be considered a ‘planetary health diet’, is shifting towards an increased uptake of animal proteins, ultra-processed foods and sugar sweetened beverages. This begs the question of how dietary shifts are shaping up. This paper aims to uncover emerging dietary trends by understanding the more hidden dynamics of food consumption in the everyday life of low-income urbanites. We use an intergenerational social practice approach to household food security, focussing on food access and utilization in balancing diet quality and food safety priorities within the context of Hanoi's changing food retail environment. Our qualitative methods, consisting of multi-generation household interviews and shopping trips, uncovered: (i) younger women prefer traditional food acquisition and preparation practices for modern convenience; (ii) the changing food environment is mitigated by informal relations and networks that are increasingly online; and (iii) fast-food is entering the home through pester power. Our results demonstrate food security is a dynamic interplay of food environments, food acquisition and preparation preferences, and creative agency, wherein food security takes different forms within changing contexts. We discuss the usefulness of our approach and recommend policy makers consult with populations directly impacted by planned food policies to ensure they are relevant and leverage the creative agency demonstrated by this population.

Highlights

Food policies strive to steer citizens in specific directions, consumption remains largely unruly
Combining past and current food shopping practices within the dynamic food retail environment of Hanoi, we demonstrate how food security is dynamic, whereby what is preferred and socially acceptable is changing over time
Our research provides insights into low-income households’ food consumption practices relative to the changing food environment beyond food retail and to their household dynamics and changing life styles

Summary

Introduction

Food policies strive to steer citizens in specific directions, consumption remains largely unruly. The traditional local plant-based diet, which may be considered a ‘planetary health diet’, is shifting towards an increased uptake of animal proteins, ultra-processed foods and sugar sweetened beverages. This begs the question of how dietary shifts are shaping up. In the context of emerging economies, modern shops like supermarkets replace traditional markets This ‘supermarketisation’ (Reardon et al, 2005) is associated with an increased consumption of un-healthy foods such as processed meat and sugar sweetened beverages (Kelly et al, 2014; Leite et al, 2018; Santos et al, 2019). Socio-economic disadvantaged populations are at highest risk of obesity and are disproportionally affected by NCDs (Branca et al, 2019)

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