The politics of eating: Food practices as critically reflexive leisure

Abstract

We eat every day; it is both leisure and work for all of us. And yet, dramatically few of us have examined food practices with a leisure studies lens. Closer scrutiny, however, reveals a deeply political practice embedded in popular culture. Three cases are used to highlight the politics of leisure and food: the Slow Food Movement, the food justice movement, and the organic farming movement. Each case represents a particular dimension—pleasure, activism, and empowerment—of a political practice that is grounded in reflection, resistance, and alternative visions. Together they constitute a form of critically reflexive leisure that broadens our understanding of the field, builds interdisciplinary relationships between leisure studies and other disciplines, and helps us to better take into account vital issues such as sustainability, health, and climate change.