The aim of the study was to map the field of internal and external conditions that Swedish Home and Consumer Studies teachers and pupils have contend with. A questionnaire was constructed and delivered online in November 2010. It contained 27 question covering teacher qualification, quality of premises and equipment, lesson time and collaboration, and the use of national syllabi. A total of 385 persons across the country answered the questionnaire; about 21% of those teaching Home and Consumer Studies in Swedish compulsory school during the school year 2009-2010. These respondents taught in a total of 392 compulsory schools, which equalled about 22% of the schools teaching grades 7-9 in Sweden. Almost a quarter (23%) of the teachers lacked formal training for Home and Consumer Studies. Respondents without an appropriate degree qualification included those trained as nursery school teachers, dietitians and civil engineers. As regards classrooms, while 88% of respondents reported access to fully equipped kitchens with stoves, sinks and work surfaces, 5% used regular classrooms and the remainder were obliged to come up with alternative solutions, such as using portable kitchens in regular classrooms or conducting their lessons in the school restaurant. This study raises many questions about the quality of Home and Consumer Studies provision in a number of schools. The local deficiencies in the nationally decided frame factors for Home and Consumer Studies found by the present study gives us reason to doubt that all pupils achieve the overall learning goals of 'knowing in practice' and making informed choices utilizing environmental, economic and health perspectives. This might affect the health and economy of the individuals in the long run, with implications for the national economy and public health. On the basis of these findings, we therefore recommend that current conditions for Home and Consumer Studies and how the subject should operate in schools become a focus for national debate.

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Objective: This study aimed to describe Discourses on vegetarian food in the Swedish school subject Home and Consumer Studies. Design: The study involved the observation of naturally occurring classroom talk, with audio recording and in some cases video-taping. Setting: The study was conducted during Home and Consumer Studies lessons in five different northern Swedish schools. Method: Fifty-nine students and five teachers were observed, recorded and in some cases video-taped. The resulting data were analysed with a focus on big 'D' Discourses. Results: Results indicated that gendered Discourses of absence, deviance and unattainability restricted some students' access to vegetarian food. The absence of meat was constructed as simultaneously healthy and unhealthy, a lack of cultural familiarity with vegetarian cooking made finding recipes difficult and students perceived the loss of taste as very negative. The vegetarian was seen as deviant, with vegetarianism being conceptually equated with sickness. Access to meat-free food required a commitment to a vegetarian lifestyle, and this was seen as a sacrifice and as too much work, not only for the individual but also for others. Conclusion: To counteract the restricted access to vegetarian food, Home and Consumer Studies teachers can redesign activities in the subject with the help of critical food literacy. For example, cooking could focus on popular plant-based dishes instead of 'empty' vegetarian themes, all students could be allowed to share vegetarian dishes instead of reserving them for vegetarians, the possibly strict rules of vegetarianism could be relaxed for those who do not wish to commit to them and vegetarian food could be deliberately connected to strength and masculinity. However, this presupposes sufficient economic resources and ample food storage space.

The aim of this study was to explore how time frames affect pupils and teachers in cooking activities during lessons of different durations for Home and Consumer Studies, with a specific focus on the pupils' experiences. To investigate this, classroom observations were carried out in 2011 and 2012, with the help of audio and video recordings in three different schools in Sweden and included altogether 22 pupils (18 girls, 4 boys) in grade 9 (15-16 years). Each class was observed during two separate lessons, lasting between 1 h 50 min (110 minutes) and 2 h 20 min (140 min). The six lessons resulted in 12 h of video recorded time and 80 h of sound recordings. The study showed that the importance of finishing on time seemed to be ingrained in most pupils in all classes and the end result was perceived as more important than the process of cooking. The study also showed that knowledge of cooking skills and time management seemed important for success in grade-related tasks. Pupils demonstrated different ways of handling the time frames, e.g. using various methods to speed up the cooking process. This study raises important questions about the relationship between national and local time frames and the curriculum aims in Home and Consumer Studies.

The aim of the study was to describe classroom Discourses about vegetables during the planning, cooking, eating and evaluation of meals in the Swedish school subject Home and Consumer Studies. Fifty‐nine students and five teachers were recruited from five northern Swedish villages and towns, and then observed, recorded and in some cases video‐taped during lessons that took place between 2010 and 2012. Based on 56 instances of talk about vegetables, four Discourses were identified and related to the three aspects of Belasco's culinary triangle of contradictions: identity, responsibility and convenience. The results indicated that the identity‐based sensory and cultural Discourses sometimes clashed with the more responsibility‐oriented health and evaluation Discourses. The health Discourse was only used when there was an element of evaluation, with assignments connected to grades. In all other cases, the sensory and cultural Discourses guided vegetable use. Sometimes different sensory or cultural assumptions could clash with each other, for example when the teacher insisted on the use of a specific recipe regardless of a student's taste preferences. Since these preferences did not always harmonize with curricular demands for responsibility, there might be a risk of basing grades on aspects of students’ identity. Alternatively, students might feel constrained to argue against their own identity in order to be favourably evaluated. Then again, if teachers always bow to student tastes, this limits their chances of learning about food and physical health. Viewing the dilemma through the lens of the culinary triangle of contradictions may help teachers and researchers develop teaching methods that take all aspects of food choice into account.