Food, class and identity

This chapter shows, class differences in nutritional intake and food choice have diminished in a number of countries. Nevertheless, class patterns in food consumption persist, fuelling a public discourse that blames the 'poor diets of the poor' for working-class health problems. Yet the relationship between class, food and health is much more complex, particularly given the connections between food habits and class identity. Concerns by nutrition experts about working-class diets may have more to do with social differentiation than with nutrition-related health inequality. Drawing on a range of social research, this chapter examines the relationship between class and food.3rd ed