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Over the past two centuries, major changes in industry have shaken up the food sector, consumer habits and our entire relationship with food.

AbstractAnimal‐source food consumption is considered a key element in studying and characterising shifts in food diets. But it is most often studied from the macro‐nutritional and macro‐economic perspectives of the 'nutrition transition' model. This article advocates the need for a socio‐anthropological examination of the animal‐source food consumption, involved in the transition phenomena. Based on a review of the literature on two different cases (India and France) our study sheds light on social and cultural factors of 'de‐animalisation' processes, and advocates an alternative approach to transitions in food. This has led us to examine different forms of animal‐source food consumption and their evolutions at smaller social scales, taking into account sociocultural factors such as the symbolic dimensions of food, the eaters' viewpoints, the processes of sociocultural differentiation, the sociocultural identities, the contexts of choice and consumption or the role of critical reflexivity in the evolution of diets, particularly in the phenomena of 'de‐animalisation'. Finally, this article raises a number of further questions for researchers interested in the issue of diet transition process.

Les grandes entreprises de l'alimentation de masse font aujourd'hui face à des critiques, à une défiance croissante et à un tassement de leurs parts de marché. Si les dimensions politiques de l'assiette engagée des militants et de l'assiette caritative des pauvres et des aidés ont été pointées dans la littérature, celles de l'assiette ordinaire de la consommation de masse ont été peu abordées. Cet article dépeint l'évolution de la défiance, en France et aux États-Unis, depuis une cinquantaine d'années, et ses effets visibles dans les transformations de l'offre alimentaire, à travers le recyclage, par les industriels, des critiques à leur endroit. L'article donne à voir un processus qui conduit à une visibilité croissante des dimensions politiques de l'alimentation industrielle de masse – au sens de la multiplication des choix par lesquels l'alimentation connecte et insère les mangeurs dans un système social et technique. En effet, le recyclage de la critique conduit à une diversification des qualités : modes de production, origine et nature des matières premières. Cette diversification souligne indirectement l'opacité des marques historiques et de l'alimentation de masse. La contingence des choix qui guident leur production en devient plus apparente. Le rapport critique, voire conflictuel, à l'alimentation industrielle de masse devient ainsi moteur d'une politisation de l'alimentation ordinaire. Cette réintroduction du politique dans le marché témoigne de la dimension constructive de la défiance.

International audience ; During the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Government imposed a strict lockdown from March 17(th) to May 11(th) 2020. These extraordinary times challenged the social norm of commensality, a practice that is particularly strong and engrained in France. How has lockdown impacted meal-sharing habits? How have the rules and norms of commensality withstood the weakening of social bonds caused by lockdown? Based on a qualitative study of 20 socially diverse households, this essay proposes a typology of adaptive commensal eating patterns: 1) Eating together can provide reassurance by reproducing ordinary routines or by enacting food traditions; 2) Tinkering with lockdown rules leads to creative new forms of commensality, or to an ersatz of commensality; 3) Sharing every meal with the same people can trigger the rejection of commensal practices. These patterns may also represent possible phases in the experience of lockdown, since some individuals shifted from one pattern to another. The final part of the paper discusses the very nature of the social link highlighted through the lens of commensality.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Government imposed a strict lockdown from March 17th to May 11th 2020. These extraordinary times challenged the social norm of commensality, a practice that is particularly strong and engrained in France. How has lockdown impacted meal-sharing habits? How have the rules and norms of commensality withstood the weakening of social bonds caused by lockdown? Based on a qualitative study of 20 socially diverse households, this essay proposes a typology of adaptive commensal eating patterns: 1) Eating together can provide reassurance by reproducing ordinary routines or by enacting food traditions; 2) Tinkering with lockdown rules leads to creative new forms of commensality, or to an ersatz of commensality; 3) Sharing every meal with the same people can trigger the rejection of commensal practices. These patterns may also represent possible phases in the experience of lockdown, since some individuals shifted from one pattern to another. The final part of the paper discusses the very nature of the social link highlighted through the lens of commensality.

International audience ; During the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Government imposed a strict lockdown from March 17(th) to May 11(th) 2020. These extraordinary times challenged the social norm of commensality, a practice that is particularly strong and engrained in France. How has lockdown impacted meal-sharing habits? How have the rules and norms of commensality withstood the weakening of social bonds caused by lockdown? Based on a qualitative study of 20 socially diverse households, this essay proposes a typology of adaptive commensal eating patterns: 1) Eating together can provide reassurance by reproducing ordinary routines or by enacting food traditions; 2) Tinkering with lockdown rules leads to creative new forms of commensality, or to an ersatz of commensality; 3) Sharing every meal with the same people can trigger the rejection of commensal practices. These patterns may also represent possible phases in the experience of lockdown, since some individuals shifted from one pattern to another. The final part of the paper discusses the very nature of the social link highlighted through the lens of commensality.

International audience ; During the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Government imposed a strict lockdown from March 17(th) to May 11(th) 2020. These extraordinary times challenged the social norm of commensality, a practice that is particularly strong and engrained in France. How has lockdown impacted meal-sharing habits? How have the rules and norms of commensality withstood the weakening of social bonds caused by lockdown? Based on a qualitative study of 20 socially diverse households, this essay proposes a typology of adaptive commensal eating patterns: 1) Eating together can provide reassurance by reproducing ordinary routines or by enacting food traditions; 2) Tinkering with lockdown rules leads to creative new forms of commensality, or to an ersatz of commensality; 3) Sharing every meal with the same people can trigger the rejection of commensal practices. These patterns may also represent possible phases in the experience of lockdown, since some individuals shifted from one pattern to another. The final part of the paper discusses the very nature of the social link highlighted through the lens of commensality.

International audience ; During the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Government imposed a strict lockdown from March 17(th) to May 11(th) 2020. These extraordinary times challenged the social norm of commensality, a practice that is particularly strong and engrained in France. How has lockdown impacted meal-sharing habits? How have the rules and norms of commensality withstood the weakening of social bonds caused by lockdown? Based on a qualitative study of 20 socially diverse households, this essay proposes a typology of adaptive commensal eating patterns: 1) Eating together can provide reassurance by reproducing ordinary routines or by enacting food traditions; 2) Tinkering with lockdown rules leads to creative new forms of commensality, or to an ersatz of commensality; 3) Sharing every meal with the same people can trigger the rejection of commensal practices. These patterns may also represent possible phases in the experience of lockdown, since some individuals shifted from one pattern to another. The final part of the paper discusses the very nature of the social link highlighted through the lens of commensality.

à partir d'une enquête ethnographique menée dans la vallée pyrénéenne du Vicdessos, territoire à potentialité patrimoniale mais caractérisé par une absence de dynamique en la matière, l'article analyse les obstacles à la patrimonialisation alimentaire. La mise en récit comparative de quatre établissements de restauration donne à voir plusieurs écueils qui doivent eux-mêmes être replacés dans le contexte socio-historique de la vallée, marquée par la présence d'une aluminerie pendant près d'un siècle (1907-2003). La potentialité patrimoniale de l'agriculture, de l'élevage et des traditions culinaires apparaît ainsi impensée, peut-être parce qu'elle est aujourd'hui impensable dans ce territoire marqué par le projet déçu de « faire ville » et de s'émanciper de la condition agricole. L'article invite finalement à étendre la théorie de la patrimonialisation à des conditions sociales situées bien en amont de la marchandisation du patrimoine et qui relèvent de la construction du regard bienveillant qu'un collectif est capable ou non de porter sur son passé commun.

Researchers rarely reveal the details of the methodological choices on which their research is based. The theoretical and practical considerations that have guided them in these choices often remain implicit. In this book, the focus is on methods for studying food and 'eaters'. The use of the term 'eaters' is intended to distinguish them from the simple image of a consumer. It emphasises the multi-dimensionality of the act of eating, an act that engages individuals socially as much as physically and inserts them into space and time as well as into economic exchanges. This book is the result of a collective effort by some forty established researchers. The aim is to provide a critical overview of fifteen methods currently used in or at the crossroads of different disciplines: anthropology, economics, geography, nutrition and sociology. The book will be of interest to students, teachers, expert researchers and other professionals looking for methods to better understand or refine their own tools for studying food and eaters.

Researchers rarely reveal the details of the methodological choices that underpin their research. The theoretical and practical considerations that have guided them in these choices often remain implicit. In this book, the methods for studying food and 'eaters' are central. The use of the term 'eaters' aims to distinguish them from the figure of the consumer. It emphasises the multidimensionality of the act of eating, an act that engages the biological body as much as the sociality of individuals and inserts them into space and time as well as into economic exchanges. This book is the result of a collective effort involving some forty experienced researchers. With a view to pedagogy, it aims to critically present fifteen methods currently used in or at the crossroads of different disciplines: anthropology, economics, geography, nutrition and sociology. The book will be of interest to students, teachers, expert researchers and other professionals looking for methods to better understand or refine their own tools for studying food and eaters.