SOCIOLOGY OF FOOD AND EATING FOOD PREFERENCE AND FOOD CHOICE FACTORS
Introduction The sociology of food has allowed for a great deal of insight into the selection and choice of food in modern British society. Since the intense study of the sociology of food begun in the 1990s, several trends have been discovered which lead to food selection preferences. These trends include McDonalization which suggests less diversity in food selection in Western cultures, social differentiation which suggest more diversity in food selections and self-regulation or self-rationalization which correlates food selection and eating habits with the perception of the self and the body. Food preference has also been greatly influenced by industrialization, national research and nutritional guidelines and commercial and national advertising campaigns. All of these factors combine to allow the consumer to pay more attention to personal preference in foods and eating habits while at the same time allowing for individuality and diversity. Sociology of Food and Eating Since its origin in the early 1990s, the sociology of food has now become central to research in the areas of nutrition, dietetics, consumption, the body, risk, science and technology (Franklin, 2001; Germov and Williams, 1999). Recently, the disciplines associated with the sociology of food and eating are said to fall within three central categories termed by Germov and Williams (1999) as “McDonaldization, “social differentiation” and “self-rationalization”. ... The idea of McDonaldization in recent food trends follows that society has begun a trend toward “standardized and homogenized forms of food production, which effectively limit the variety of food choices available to the public” (Germov and Williams, 1999, 7). When the trend of social differentiation is discussed however, it offers a slightly opposite perspective to the trend of McDonaldization in that it is seen as “the diversification of food consumption clearly serves material interests, but the greater variety of food products and food discourses from which individuals can choose means that food choices are a method by which people can create forms of social differentiation” (Germov and Williams, 1999, 7). When these two trends are viewed together, it can be difficult to ascertain whether or not food choices are becoming more or less diverse. While McDonaldization is a key term used almost exclusively by Germov and Williams (1999), it can really only be applied to certain trends in Western culture as many other parts of the world which suffer from hunger fall within other social guidelines to their food selection. Even in Western society food choices seemed to be influenced not only by commercial and marketing giants but also by nutritional guidelines supported on a national level which constantly undergo review and updates depending on health research, social trends and recommendations. In the aspect of social differentiation and its relation to food choices, sociologists have pointed to the recent trends of many people removing meat from their diets; how the concept of meat can be separated from the living animal; and how some sociological concepts can be used in the understanding of vegetarianism (Franklin, 2001).