Navigating precarious foodscapes: discourses and everyday practices of eating chicken meat in Japan

Abstract

ABSTRACT As consumers grow distanced from food production, prominent discourses increasingly emphasize the importance of ethical food. These dynamics are indicative of precarious foodscapes, a concept that I delve into through a case study of discourses and everyday practices of eating chicken in Japan. For discourses, I contrast the media’s treatment of two incidents: a 2016 domestic food incident in which scores were poisoned scores that received scant media coverage and a 2014 foreign incident in which meat was mishandled in a Chinese factory that received extensive media coverage as a food scandal. For everyday practices, I analyze 22 focus groups in which participants discussed the strategies and motivations that they draw on to navigate Japanese foodscapes. Participants strongly preferred domestic chicken over imported chicken. Raw chicken emerged as an alluring delicacy for some and a dangerous hazard for others. Prominent discourses informed participant’s embodied sense of trust and shaped the factors they perceived to be (un)important when buying food. I argue that discourses of ethical food and consumer strategies for navigating precarious foodscapes vary based on context. Close attention to context is necessary to navigate the barriers introduced by precarious foodscapes and continue to build transformative linkages across food systems.