1. Food Habits Among Spaniards. Clues to understanding their transformation in times of crisis Cecilia Díaz-Méndez, Isabel García-Espejo & Rodolfo Gutiérrez Research Group of Food Sociology Department of Sociology University of Oviedo (Spain)

2. Changes in the food habits of the Spanish population. Impact of the crisis? Aims: Food habits of Spanish people 1. Organization of Food Organization of food Organization of purchase 2. Trust and Risks Trust in food, in institutions and in companies Social participation and food 3. Attitudes towards Food Attitudes towards changes of food habits Healthy food habits Crisis as the context for food consumption  Slow pace of changes  No corroboration  Material deprivation excluded (income)

3. Survey of Food Habits ENHALI 2012  Telephone survey, CATI system, Department of Sociology, University of Oviedo  Sample: 1504  Sampling error : +/- 2.5%; confidence level 95.5%  Multistage sample, stratified for Autonomous Communities, age and sex  Field work: February-August 2012  Funding: CAPSA and FUO

4. Organization of Food I Traditional food culture shared by whole population and structured around the household  Three main and two secundary meals: breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack (tea), and dinner  Mainly at home  Eating with others People with whom they have lunch and dinner LUNCH DINNER

5. Organization of Food II Extended hours  Influence of external work and studies  Gender effect Ambiguity in eating outside of the home  Leisure and/or work  Choice (free will) and/or obligation lunch dinner

6. Organization of Food III Individual -and female- preparation: health, taste and sociability Individual -and female- purchase: quality (freshness) and frequency (proximity) Responsibility for buying food Place where food is bought

7. Food Security and Trust I Concerns about food  Because of food contamination  Because of health risks  Due to information one receives  Greater confidence in dairy products, vegetables and fruit  Greater confidence among young people and those with higher levels of education, less confidence among adults with experience Confidence in food Concerns about food Confidence in food

8. Food Security and Trust II Distrust in institutions Confidence in health professionals, in scientists and consumer associations Nonparticipating support when faced with consumer problems  Verbal complaints in establishment  Reliability of intermediate size distribution

9. Attitudes regarding food I Increasing problematization of food  Tendency to adopt healthier habits  Focussing on home-made meals (domestic and familiar)  Going on a diet (1 out of 4) on doctor’s orders Few new habits  No food consumption on the street or in the car  Preference for traditional formats (deep-frozen better than precooked)

10. Attitudes regarding food II Receptiveness to new things among youngest and most educated people Return of the lunch box among students More eating alone Weak commitment with change of habits

11. Attitudes regarding food III Fragmentation of attitudes towards food  Concerned about what we eat / Not concerned  Trust in information / confused with information  Avoiding food in case of risk / Not avoiding  Food quality has decreased / remains the same or has improved Opinion about food compared with 5 yrs ago

12. The crisis reinforces more traditional habits and has greater impact on purchase than on preparation and consumption The crisis reinforces the role of the household as the preferred place to have food and the woman’s role of housewife  More eating at home  Taking food prepared at home to eat elsewhere  Eating with relatives one does not live with  Increase in duality of the eater’s profile inside and outside for reasons of work The crisis has greater impact on purchase than on preparation and consumption  Preparation : The composition of the diet is not altered: health and taste Food is cooked so as to eat it with others: sociability One saves money when eating at home  Purchase: Searching for cheaper shops: generic brands Entrusting food security to establishment: freshness and/or proximity

13. The crisis aggravates distrust but is prior to it Distrust of food agents is prior to the economic crisis Distrust motivated by  Food risks and their health implications  The distance between producer and consumer and the growing lack of information between them Distrust towards formal institutions (Governments) and positive evaluation of new ones (associations) (Relative) trust put in intermediate agents of the agro-food chain: intermediate distribution and/or local trade

14. Crisis and change in attitudes towards food Mixed positions in a continuum of change between trust and distrust Institutional support necessary in order to restore security and trust Transmission of healthy food patterns respected by all agents Incorporation of agents in debates that generate doubt Commitment with food activism: citizens take action (silently or not) if not offered healthy, cheap and socially responsible food

15. Research Group of Food Sociology Department of Sociology University of Oviedo (Spain) http://grupos.uniovi.es/socialimen cecilia@uniovi.es