Shared Meal Research Articles

Sensing Sociality: Disruptions of Social Life When Living With Chemosensory Dysfunctions After COVID-19.

Taste and smell are of direct importance in most social interactions. Radical disruptions in these senses can, therefore, substantially disrupt sociality. This paper focuses on the experiences of a particular type of disruption: persistent chemosensory dysfunctions after COVID-19. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 patients undergoing treatment for chemosensory dysfunctions and analyzed the ways in which their experiences have influenced social relations and activities, particularly regarding food and eating. The findings reveal that these dysfunctions have made the participants markedly aware that food and eating are pivotal to full participation in social life. As is smell, both surrounding smells and the perception of one's own smell, with dysfunctions leading to several social consequences. Such problems are handled through both avoidance behavior and adaptations. While adaptations facilitate interactions, they come at the cost of feeling a burden to others or not fully appreciating an event (e.g., a shared meal). Social support is of great importance, ranging from minor practical assistance, such as a friend checking if the milk is sour, to the profound emotional relief felt from empathic treatment and recognition that the problems are real. Here, healthcare professionals can play a vital role, even in the (perceived) absence of clinical effectiveness of the treatment. The experiences expressed are partially in line with other manifestations of Long COVID and with chemosensory dysfunctions due to other illnesses, but only partially, since this is a patient group with needs and experiences that are unique, in that sociality is so strongly affected solely by disruptions in sensory abilities.

Relationship between Household Shared Meal Frequency and Dietary Intake among Men and Women Aged ≥20 Years: Cross-Sectional Analyses Based on 2018 and 2019 National Health and Nutrition Surveys in Japan.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between the frequency of household shared meals and the intake of 17 food groups and 21 nutrients. Participants were 3310 men and 3386 women ≥20 years old living in a household of ≥2 members from 2018 and 2019 National Health and Nutrition Surveys in Japan. A one-day household dietary record was used to classify an individual's shared meal frequency and dietary intake. A shared meal is defined as an eating occasion (i.e., breakfast, lunch, and dinner) where ≥1 food item-other than sugars, fats and oils, beverages, and condiments-was recorded with an assigned approximated shared proportion. The shared meal frequency for each individual was classified into one of four categories: 0, 1, 2, and 3 times/day. Dietary intake was compared across the shared meal categories adjusted for age, occupation, household size, meal skipping, snacking, residential areas, and within-household correlations. Both men and women who had more frequent shared meals showed higher intakes of potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms, and condiments but less confectioneries and beverages. A higher shared meal frequency was also related to a higher intake of many (12/21) nutrients (e.g., protein, dietary fiber, and potassium). However, in women, there was a positive association between shared meal frequency and sodium intake. A higher frequency of household shared meals may be related to a more favorable dietary intake; except for concerns about sodium intake in women.

Dismantling Methodological Silos and Normative Confinements in Qualitative Research: A Shared Meal of Knowledge in a Postqualitative Langar Space

Building on qualitative approaches, post-qualitative is a turn of “becomings,” never reached but always moving. Turning from and beyond established qualitative traditions, in the post-qualitative, we pursue the leads of St. Pierre and Lather to push qualitative boundaries and offer Langar – a Sikh cultural practice of collective cooking and consumption of a shared meal as an alternative site of knowledge creation. As part, we harness the philosophical virtues of Langar and utilise its resistive prowess to put forward a methodological footprint that turns from the qualitative yardstick of rigor-tested legitimisation of knowledge. We navigate the ontological turns to locate the post-qualitative determinants of Langar and argue for its methodological rightness that disclaim scientism-based warrantability of knowledge building and acceptance.

The Health and Well-being Impacts of Community Shared Meal Programs for Older Populations: A Scoping Review.

There are social and economic benefits to supporting individuals to live independently for as long as possible. Structured shared meal programs provide opportunities for older individuals to connect in their communities and likely impact their health and well-being. Research in this area has not been summarized in recent years. This scoping review was undertaken to explore the impact shared meal programs may have for older community-dwelling adults. Nine databases were systematically searched in 2020, and 5,996 unique studies were identified. Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full text for inclusion. Reference lists of included papers were hand searched, and the search was updated in 2021. Eighteen studies were included in the final review. Studies were published between 1980 and 2021 and most were published in the United States. Most studies were cross-sectional, two adopted a qualitative design, one a cohort design. Significant associations were reported between shared meal programs and improved dietary intake; however, minimal improvements were reported for physical health measures. The programs had a positive impact on attendees' social networks and perceived well-being. Structured shared meal programs show promise in supporting the health and well-being of older adults in the community. They provide additional nutrition, opportunities for social connection, and are perceived to contribute to perceived well-being. More investigation is required to understand how these programs work to facilitate health and well-being, and how they can best be used to improve health outcomes for older populations.

Feeding Iran: Shi`i Families and the Making of the Islamic Republic by Rose Wellman

Reviewed by: Feeding Iran: Shi`i Families and the Making of the Islamic Republic by Rose Wellman Anne Meneley Wellman, Rose. Feeding Iran: Shi`i Families and the Making of the Islamic Republic. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2021. 263 pp. Nuclear weapons, contested treaties, and fraught international relations are at the forefront of what Western audiences hear about Iran these days. In Feeding Iran, Rose Wellman offers us something quite different: a rare window onto the quotidian lives, including the foodways, of those who support the current Iranian state, in contrast to the dissident voices within and outside of Iran. Wellman's ethnographic fieldwork took place amongst the Iranian Basij, the paramilitary group that supports the principles behind the Iranian revolution of 1979. These Basiji Iranians are committed to the Islamic Republic, in contrast to those it describes as "Westernstruck." Wellman's primary field site for a year and a half is the provincial town of Fars-Abad, where she was not quite family, but also not quite a guest for the duration of her fieldwork, abiding by the standards of respectability of her host Basiji family, participating in their vibrant social life of hosting and visiting as well as in their everyday chores of cooking and preparing food. While the term "paramilitary" normally evokes political or religious extremists, that is not the view we get from Wellman's book. Instead, we read of the very ordinariness and practicality of these Basiji families, as they attempt to live decent lives. The proper comportment of their bodies is envisioned as essential to their own souls, the moral and physical wellbeing of their families, and to the ongoing success of the Islamic Republic. Far from the state unilaterally imposing ways of being on their people, she shows how Basiji understand their everyday practices to uphold the state and its current interpretation of the Shi`i Islam. Religion is not cordoned off as a separate sphere; the words and traditions of the Prophet Mohammad and his martyred grandson, Imam Husayn, continue to inform [End Page 907] quotidian behaviors of Wellman's interlocutors. These texts are consulted to make interpretations of everyday events and to justify actions and decisions. Wellman also demonstrates how for her Basiji interlocutors, the more recent religious history of the 1979 revolution overthrowing the Shah permeates everyday life. Equally important are the effects of another key historical moment: the eight-year, Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988. The everyday effects of the vicious violence and the chemical weapons are still felt in the persistent coughs of the veterans, the injuries of the survivors, and the dead, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, who are understood as martyrs. The book opens with a moving account of a reburial of two of these unknown martyrs in the town of Fars-Abad in 2010, brought from the border of the Iran-Iraq war during the yearly commemoration of this war. The ceremony, both military and religious, culminates in a collective shared meal of lentils and rice, introducing us to the main theme and undoubted strength of the book, the weaving of food, kinship, religion, and commitment to the state. These commemoration rituals involve careful cooking and distributing of foods as a means by which local participants constitute themselves as pious religious individuals and committed subjects of the Islamic Republic. The first chapter is entitled "Blood, Physio-Sacred Substance, and the Making of Moral Kin." Wellman, inspired by the work of Susan McKinnon, Janet Carstens, and Gillian Feeley-Harnik, breathes new life into the anthropological study of kinship, offering nuanced discussions of how patrilateral, matrilateral, and milk kinship continue to structure quotidian lives in Iran. Lest we become too fixated on biological kinship, Wellman demonstrates how essential food (beyond breast milk) is to actively creating these kinship ties. Her reflections on how the "esteem" of the descendants of the Prophet, the sayyeds, and their "physio-sacred" position in local communities is recognized, and in many ways constituted, by food practices is particularly interesting. In the second chapter, "Feeding the Family: The "Spirit" of Food in Iran," Wellman describes how, in this context, food is never separate from morality. Food is always "religio...

Paso a paso se va muy lejos: Traveling the Path with AFS

<i>Paso a paso se va muy lejos</i>: Traveling the Path with AFS

Knowledge Meals, Research Relationships, and Postqualitative Offerings: Enacting Langar (a Sikh Tradition of a Shared Meal) as Pedagogy of Doctoral Supervision

In research, particularly within the pedagogies of doctoral supervision, the significance of relational experiences is less explored and understood. Such relational aspects determine the nature and quality of the doctoral research output and are a crucial element of successful doctoral completions. A conscious assessment, estimation and management of the vulnerable sensibilities surrounding these relation fosters a deeper insight into the way student-researchers and supervisors experience their doctoral journeys. In this paper, to feature the importance of these relational experiences and to accentuate ideas and concepts for pedagogical change, my co-authors and I forsake the repetitious and employ Langar - a Sikh cultural practice of congregational cooking and consumption of a shared meal as a postqualitative methodological alternative. We utilise the innovative insights of Langar to reflect on our own research experiences and demonstrate the complexities of ‘becoming’ researchers to explicate how a sometimes-distant cultural practice could induce a shift in our research thinking. In context of methodological approaches, and within an educational framework, we argue that such a shift may instil freshness into the way doctoral journeys and cognate supervision pedagogies are viewed, navigated, and experienced. Methodological innovation, we submit, may occasion pedagogical transformation.

Comparisons of statistical distributions for cluster sizes in a developing pandemic

BackgroundWe consider cluster size data of SARS-CoV-2 transmissions for a number of different settings from recently published data. The statistical characteristics of superspreading events are commonly described by fitting a negative binomial distribution to secondary infection and cluster size data as an alternative to the Poisson distribution as it is a longer tailed distribution, with emphasis given to the value of the extra parameter which allows the variance to be greater than the mean. Here we investigate whether other long tailed distributions from more general extended Poisson process modelling can better describe the distribution of cluster sizes for SARS-CoV-2 transmissions.MethodsWe use the extended Poisson process modelling (EPPM) approach with nested sets of models that include the Poisson and negative binomial distributions to assess the adequacy of models based on these standard distributions for the data considered.ResultsWe confirm the inadequacy of the Poisson distribution in most cases, and demonstrate the inadequacy of the negative binomial distribution in some cases.ConclusionsThe probability of a superspreading event may be underestimated by use of the negative binomial distribution as much larger tail probabilities are indicated by EPPM distributions than negative binomial alternatives. We show that the large shared accommodation, meal and work settings, of the settings considered, have the potential for more severe superspreading events than would be predicted by a negative binomial distribution. Therefore public health efforts to prevent transmission in such settings should be prioritised.

Commensality in Renoir's Le déjeuner des canotiers and Maupassant's Boule de Suif

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Le déjeuner des canotiers depicts a shared meal in an open-air restaurant on the banks of the Seine. Painted in 1880–81, Renoir's large toile provides a static, spatial representation of commensality. In his short story Boule de Suif, Guy de Maupassant describes a shared meal in a carriage. Published in 1881, the fictional representation privileges a temporal, sequential medium. Thinking comparatively about the visual representation and the fictional one allows us to better appreciate each one, by heightening our awareness of each medium used by the painter and the writer to create meaning.

CULTURALLY DRIVEN MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN HMONG AND CAMBODIAN REFUGEE POPULATIONS

CULTURALLY DRIVEN MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN HMONG AND CAMBODIAN REFUGEE POPULATIONS

Performance and Temporalisation: Time Happens eds. by Jodie McNeilly, and Maeva Veerapen

Reviewed by: Performance and Temporalisation: Time Happens eds. by Jodie McNeilly, and Maeva Veerapen Julia Moriarty Performance and Temporalisation: Time Happens. Edited by Stuart Grant, Jodie McNeilly, and Maeva Veerapen. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015. ix + 247 pp. $95.00 cloth. Performance and Temporalisation: Time Happens is a new addition to Palgrave MacMillan's Performance Philosophy series, edited by Laura Cull, Alice Lagaay, and Freddie Rokem. The series includes monographs and collections of essays that explore the relationship between performance and philosophy, allowing for a wide range of understanding within each of those terms. Its expansion of performative modes and philosophical studies allows the series to address not only the philosophy of performance but also performance-as-philosophy and philosophy-as-performance. This collection of essays is divided into four parts, and in this way, the collection is able to explore comprehensively its central argument: that time is "not a given, natural, objective phenomenon, but a condition and product of processes of human activity" (1). The book takes a necessarily interdisciplinary approach, including writings from not just the expected theatrical artists, dancers, and visual artists but also a variety of performance-makers (broadly construed), including architects, poets, and critics. The collection is intentionally wide in scope, allowing it to become a work of "performance philosophy" that addresses the many iterations of and approaches to both performance and philosophy, plus the many combinations thereof. Part I: World, Space, Place contains five essays that look at the ability of a physical place to affect the understanding of time. Jeff Malpas kicks the book off [End Page 336] with a deconstruction of the positionality of time and space in "Timing Space-Spacing Time." He breaks the philosophical argument into five major subarguments that peruse the points of layering and differentiation between temporality and spatiality and roots these explorations in philosophy and practical examples. "Situated Structures," by Amanda Yates and Gemma Loving-Hutchins, examines the performativity and temporality of architecture through the presentation of microarchitecture, as well as site- and time-specific pieces of architecture, as examples of how architecture can engage time and space. "Suspended Moments," by John Di Stefano and Dorita Hannah, works from Antonin Artaud's demand that theatre be a space of immediacy to investigate how real-life events can take the theatre from a place of artifice to a liminal space of change for the audience. In Ian Maxwell's "My Big Fat Greek Baptism," the reader is taken on an autoanthropological study of the transcendent quality of ritual in the Greek orthodox tradition, as different rituals lie on top of each other, creating a cultural palimpsest of community and meaning. And finally, "A Shared Meal," by Jeff Stewart, looks at meals as cross-sections of divinity within the everyday mundane. Part II: Self, Movement, Body includes five essays that evaluate the role of movement and body in the performance of time. "The Crannies of the Present," by Brian Massumi, plumbs the murky depths of the cognitive gap between sensation and action, finding that the potentiality of action is directly tied to time and the subjectivity of experience. Jack Reynolds's "Time Out of Joint" presents the converse argument to Massumi's chapter; Reynolds engages Heidegger's triple layering of the temporal to argue that a poststructuralist understanding of the cognitive gap is an insufficient means of viewing that phenomena. Erin Manning ping-pongs the argument back to the poststructuralist side in "Three Propositions for a Movement of Thought" by proposing that the body is not a subject that moves but a movement in itself: The body begins in movement, is more than itself, and does not depend on an a priori intentional subject. Conversely, Lanei Rodemeyer, in "The Body in Time/Time in the Body," uses non-visual bodily activities to consciously situate and gender bodies in a fundamental structure. Maeva Veerapen's "A Moment of Creation" lives in the "moment of waiting" between two dance partners in an improvised social dance, reflecting that dance reveals the performance of time. Part III: Image, Performance, Technology presents another five essays but moves more firmly into the realm of performance. Jodie McNeilly constructs her own method of analyzing the temporal...

Improving ward environments and developing skills for discharge with the implementation of self-catering on a low secure forensic unit.

The opportunities for service users to develop skills for more independent living and take control of their environments are limited in secure mental health units. This paper will outline a...

Gastro Diplomacy and French Cuisine:Towards Divining a Gastro-Cultural Heritage between Paris and Puducherry

Puducherry has a unique ambience of colonial culture and ethnicity because of its connections with France for more than 138 years, creating a niche for heritage and gastronomical practices till today that stands as a living monument of French culture. France’s greatest treasure is its rich cuisine. The French have an ongoing love affair with food and beverages and their reverence in eating is evident throughout the world especially in Puducherry. French cuisine is one of the most popular types of food for its quality attracts several visitors to eat and talk a lot of all ages because of a homely social life in restaurants. There are two traditions running through French cooking, la hautecuisine as practised by the great chefs and restaurants and la cuisineregionale which consists of the natural specialities utilising the best local and seasonal ingredients. The notable aspect in the faculty of history is the study of heritage where food takes centre stage in revealing the nuances of culture and where Paris is the gastronomical capital of the world. French food is unique, a cultural experience that moulds flavourful, nutritious food with beauty, leisure, and therapeutic preparations. The symbolism inherent in any shared meal has the ability not only to create relationships between the countries and difficult to define them as well. As ubiquitous tools in the art of statecraft, diplomatic meals give participants and planners the opportunity to predict, identify, and fully understand the subtle messages such occasions create. A solid understanding of the semiotics of diplomatic gastronomy will allow researchers to decode and analyze state dinners and other diplomatically significant meals. The present study emphasises on French food as a heritage product and how stereotypical French dishes are still prevalent among the peoples of Puducherry inculcating a sense of pride. How French food becomes Unique Selling Preposition (USP) as well as the identity of the destination for the rich experiences creating added value for the cultural promotion is analysed. The paper deals with primary and secondary sources of information and the findings of the study will showcase the rich French legacy and lifestyle of the peoples of Puducherry.

Beef with potatoes: food, agriculture and sustainability in modern Ireland

Shared consumption of food can generate a sense of belonging among a group with those eating together developing a sense of ‘we’, as opposed to ‘they’. The content of the shared meal can then emerge as a metaphor for a wider social formation. We call this cultural institution commensality. Shared meals are evolving rituals that form and reproduce families, confessional groups and social classes. Until recently Irish identity was not expressed overtly through food. This is a legacy of inter alia painful famine, stoic Catholicism and the enduring influence of a wider British culture. The nineteenth century shift in agriculture from tillage to pasture, due to a change in British demand, shaped not only our food culture but also the wider economy and demographic patterns. Priorities have not changed since then. The development of ‘alternative agriculture’, drawing on a variety of international toolkits, has the potential to increase employment, lower agricultural emissions and perhaps improve the health of the population, thereby producing a food culture in which we can take pride.

A Review of Associations Between Family or Shared Meal Frequency and Dietary and Weight Status Outcomes Across the Lifespan

To summarize the research literature on associations between family meal frequency and dietary outcomes as well as weight status across the lifespan. Reviewed literature of family or shared meals with dietary and weight outcomes in youth, adults, and older adults. Across the lifespan, eating with others, particularly family, is associated with healthier dietary outcomes. Among children and adolescents, these findings appear to be consistent for both boys and girls, whereas mixed findings are seen by gender for adult men and women. The findings of associations between family or shared meals and weight outcomes across the lifespan are less consistent and more complicated than those of dietary outcomes. Now is the time for the field to improve understanding of the mechanisms involved in the positive associations seen with family meal frequency, and to move forward with implementing interventions aimed at increasing the frequency of, and improving the quality of, food served at family meals, and evaluating their impact. Given the more limited findings of associations between family or shared meals and weight outcomes, capitalizing on the positive benefits of family and shared meals while addressing the types of foods served, portion sizes, and other potential mechanisms may have a significant impact on obesity prevention and reduction. Future research recommendations are provided.

Shared meals among young adults are associated with better diet quality and predicted by family meal patterns during adolescence.

To describe shared meal patterns and examine associations with dietary intake among young adults. Population-based, longitudinal cohort study (Project EAT: Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults). Participants completed surveys and FFQ in high-school classrooms in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, USA in 1998-1999 (mean age = 15·0 years, 'adolescence') and follow-up measures online or by mail in 2008-2009 (mean age = 25·3 years, 'young adulthood'). There were 2052 participants who responded to the 10-year follow-up survey and reported on frequency of having shared meals. Among young adults, the frequency of shared meals during the past week was as follows: never (9·9 %), one or two times (24·7 %), three to six times (39·1 %) and seven or more times (26·3 %). Having more frequent family meals during adolescence predicted a higher frequency of shared meals in young adulthood above and beyond other relevant sociodemographic factors such as household composition and parental status. Compared with young adults who never had family meals during adolescence, those young adults who reported seven or more family meals per week during adolescence had an average of one additional shared meal per week. Having more frequent shared meals in young adulthood was associated with greater intake of fruit among males and females, and with higher intakes of vegetables, milk products and some key nutrients among females. Nutrition professionals should encourage families of adolescents to share meals often and establish the tradition of eating together, and work with young adults to ensure that healthy food and beverage choices are offered at mealtimes.

How to Make the Most of a Shared Meal: Plan the Last Bite First

If you are sharing a meal with a companion, then how is it best to make sure you get your favourite mouthfuls? Ethiopian Dinner is a game in which two players take turns eating morsels from a common plate. Each morsel comes with a pair of utility values measuring its tastiness to the two players. Kohler and Chandrasekaran discovered a good strategy—a subgame perfect equilibrium, to be exact—for this game. We give a new visual proof of their result. The players arrive at the equilibrium by figuring out their last move first and working backward. We conclude that it's never too early to start thinking about dessert.

Diplomatic Gastronomy: Style and Power at the Table

When world leaders sit together over a meal, much more can be communicated than their conversation. Typically, the event itself is more important than the food on their plates. A diplomatic meal can have the ceremonial splendor and protocol of a state dinner or the quiet power of a working lunch—but the symbolism embedded in both has potential to impact geopolitical issues. All commensality signals information to the individuals at table, including messages of status and symbolic kinship. The symbolism inherent in any shared meal has the ability not only to create relationships but to define them as well. As ubiquitous tools in the art of statecraft, diplomatic meals give participants and planners the opportunity to predict, identify, and fully understand the subtle messages such occasions create. A solid understanding of the semiotics of diplomatic gastronomy will allow researchers to decode and analyze state dinners and other diplomatically significant meals. This article explores the complex nature of semiotics associated with diplomatic gastronomy by examining four dining events hosted by American president John F. Kennedy.

The Shared Meal—a Therapeutical Device The Function and Meaning of Hos 6:6 in Matt 9:10-13

AbstractIn Matt 9:10-13, the disciples of Jesus are asked why their master eats with tax-collectors and sinners. Both the question and the threefold answer are analysed in this study. Wisdom traditions prescribe Torah teachers not to engage with blatant sinners. This approach becomes contested in the first century C.E., as is clear from Pharisaic disputes on sinners and tax-collectors. In his answer, Jesus characterises himself as the divine doctor, who stirs the capacity to repentance by his sheer presence. The quote of Hosea functions as a legal justification of this strategy. Hos 6:6 points to the concept of good works, benevolent actions that save even blatant sinners.

Involvement of Young Australian Adults in Meal Preparation: Cross-Sectional Associations with Sociodemographic Factors and Diet Quality

Involvement in meal preparation has the potential to affect diet quality, but has not been thoroughly investigated. The study aims were to describe the involvement of young adult men and women in meal preparation and to investigate whether extent of involvement was associated with diet quality. During 2004 to 2006, a national sample of 2,814 Australian adults aged 26 to 36 years completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographics, diet, and lifestyle factors. Participants were asked to report who was usually responsible for preparing the main meal on working days. Responses were categorized as “myself,” “shared,” or “someone else.” Diet quality was assessed by calculating the mean number of daily servings for each food group. Analysis of variance was used to test for differences in means of dietary intake data. More women (65%) than men (29%) had sole responsibility for meal preparation. Shared meal preparation was reported by 23% of women and 27% of men. Factors associated with greater involvement in meal preparation included marital status, education, occupation, and physical activity. After adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, men who prepared the main meal themselves had a higher intake of lean meat and alternatives. Women who shared the meal preparation had higher intakes of vegetables and dairy; however, these differences in diet quality were only small. These results suggest that strategies seeking to motivate greater involvement in meal preparation might not be sufficient to markedly improve diet quality in young Australian adults.