Acquired Tastes ─ Why Families Eat They Way They Do

Magazine articles and self-improvement books tell us that our food choices serve as bold statements about who we are as individuals.Acquired Tastes reveals that they say more about where we come from and who we would like to be. Interviews with Canadian families in both rural and urban settings reveal that age, gender, social class, ethnicity, health concerns, food availability, and political and moral concerns shape the meanings that families attach to food. They also influence how parents and teens respond to discourses on health, beauty, and the environment, a finding with profound implications for public health campaigns.

Brenda Beagan is a medical sociologist and associate professor in the School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University. Gwen Chapman is professor of food, nutrition and health at the University of British Columbia. Josee Johnston is associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto. Deborah McPhail is assistant professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba. Elaine M. Power is associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen's University, Kingston. Helen Vallianatos is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta.