Towards a situational taxonomy of comfort foods: A retrospective analysis

Soffin, Meagan T.; Batsell, W. Robert

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2019.02.018

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Memories of past food experiences activate emotions. This is particularly true for traditional celebratory foods, memories of mother's care and the preparations used in ancestral or cross-generational meals (Meagan et al, 2019;Locher et al, 2005). Cultural traditions have specific food items associated with rituals, which have been reported to have psychologically comforting effects and debilitating effects when they are not available.…”

Section: Benefits Of Modern Foodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural food distancing: a conceptual discourse on the evolution of seminal to present and future models of traditional food practices

Feldman

Wunderlich²

2022

BFJ

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PurposeThis manuscript focuses on theoretical past, present and future models for defining food culture and cuisine, comparing these principles with contemporary literature evidence of transformative global food practices during public health and environmental crisis. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to explain the point at which traditional practices are discernible from the effects of modern technology, globalization, marketing and the virtualization of consumption. The paper explains how current local and global ecologies contribute to the retainment or disassembly of established culinary borders.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical paper that highlights seminal and present discourse on food cultural practices. Furthermore, it underlines the cultural changes during environmental crises and whether these cultural transformations in food practices will be lasting. The authors suggest a perspective model for the future.FindingsDeciphering whether traditional foodways are moderated by modernity and environmental changes is very complex and multifactorial. This is likely nuanced by the availability of commodities and the steadfastness of particular cultures. Whether or not consumers embrace a new food product is likely contingent on their fundamental familiarity with and availability of the product's traditional components. The integrity of traditional foodstuffs will continue to be valued and demanded by broad groups of consumers into the foreseeable future.Research limitations/implicationsAs a primary objective, food producers, manufacturers and governments should not seek to actively diminish cultural borders and markets. Industry and governmental strategists should embrace and promote cultural food messages in any interventional strategies on household food security or marketing strategies and campaigns. The gathering of information from grassroot cultural groups about traditional food practices should ground the development of new policies and products.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the complexities surrounding traditional cuisines and food ways gives insight into the future of traditional food cultures and how they change. The food industry is undergoing profound transformation due to climate change; the decrease of arable land; environmental crisis, such as floods and droughts; war; food insecurity; aging populations; and chronic food-related diseases and disorders. Therefore, new food products are essential to adjust to these issues. However, the use and effectiveness of these foods would likely be enhanced if they were tailored with ingredients and techniques that have meaning to particular cultural groups.Social implicationsSocial connectivity, the shared experiences of eating together (and the contingent health benefits) may have been subject to contemporaneous or permanent change due to transformation in local and global food ecologies. Whether or not consumers embrace new food products may be contingent on their fundamental familiarity with its traditional components. The integrity of traditional foodstuffs is likely to continue to be valued and demanded by broad groups of consumers into the foreseeable future.Originality/valueSeminal food culture theories are still being utilized in recent publications to explain contemporary practices, particularly in times of crisis such as the recent pandemic. Current scholarship has indicated, to degrees, that links to traditional food practices may be strong, evolving or are becoming more obscure as they are incorporated into a global fabric. There are gaps in the literature that necessitate more exportation of the impact of environmental changes and health crisis on cultural and traditional food practices. This further raises questions about how the formative theories on food culture apply to modern and future food practices.

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Section: Benefits Of Modern Foodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modern Theories: Consumer Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural food distancing: a conceptual discourse on the evolution of seminal to present and future models of traditional food practices

Feldman

Wunderlich²

2022

BFJ

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“…The definition currently available on the Oxford Dictionary website is “foods that make you feel better, generally because they contain too much sugar or because they remind you of home” [ 8 ]. Furthermore, the term comfort food has often been used in common sense by popular media, such as food and cooking TV shows and magazines, to represent a high calorie food set [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comfort food concepts and contexts in which they are used: A scoping review protocol

Pereira,

Guedes Melo,

de Souza Medeiros

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Objective The objectives of this study are to clarify the scientific definition of comfort food, identify which methodologies are being used in research on this topic and which factors are associated with the consumption of comfort food. Introduction The consumption of comfort foods is subjective and influenced by individual experiences, as they are known and appreciated by the person. However, divergences about the definition of comfort food in the scientific literature reflect the heterogeneity of the methods used in the research, and consequently identification of possible factors associated with the consumption of this type of food, which can influence the knowledge about the consumption of these foods and their potential effects on the health of those who consume them. Inclusion criteria Works with a qualitative and quantitative approach published in full in indexed sources or in gray literature, available online in the databases consulted, without restriction on language or year of publication will be included. Methods The protocol was built based on the methodological recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) for scoping reviews and the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The Participants, Concept and Context (PCC) mnemonic strategy was built: general population, comfort food concept and world context. Based on this, search strategies were developed for different databases. Instruments were also developed for recording documents, extracting data, justifying the exclusion of documents and not obtaining access to content. A Pilot Study was conducted to test the developed methodology and instruments. The protocol has been registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF) (https://osf.io/gnza4/). The results will be presented in the review resulting from this protocol in three ways: accounting of the documents will be recorded in a PRISMA Flow Diagram, the main information of the studies and their frequencies will be presented in a table, and the union of these outcomes will be presented visually in a Graphical Abstract.

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“…Recentemente, Soffin e Batsell (2019) relataram que o consumo de alimentos confortantes ocorre principalmente em momentos de doença, dado interessante esse, pois difere do se imagina como principal motivador para o consumo deste tipo de alimento, porém, existem poucos estudos neste contexto. Analisar o consumo de comida reconfortante na enfermidade, contudo, pode ser uma abordagem situacional adequada, pois requer um episódio prévio para seu consumo, além de ser algo que pode agir de forma direta ou indireta na recuperação do indivíduo (Soffin & Batsell, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Que alimento te conforta?: uma análise retrospectiva sobre mudanças alimentares ocorridas na pandemia

Maciel

Rodrigues²,

Mocellin³

et al. 2022

RSD

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A pandemia de COVID-19 fez aumentar o interesse por alimentos de conforto. Diversas pesquisas têm demonstrado mudanças no comportamento e/ou hábitos alimentares da população na busca por uma alimentação “confortável”, ou seja, por alimentos capazes de promover bem-estar e consolo aos indivíduos. Baseando-se no conceito altamente heterogêneo de alimentos confortantes, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo compreender as mudanças alimentares da população e associá-las à procura por alimentos de conforto durante a pandemia de COVID-19. Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa com busca sistematizada por artigos publicados de 11 de março de 2020 a 31 de dezembro de 2021 nas bases de dados da PubMed, Web of Science e Embase, utilizando descritores combinados com auxílio de operadores booleanos: (COVID-19 OR Sars-CoV-2) AND (feeding behavior OR food habit* OR comfort food OR eating emotional). Foram incluídos 23 artigos originais, totalizando 120.569 pessoas avaliadas, com predomínio de estudos transversais e população adulta. Foram observadas tanto mudanças alimentares positivas, tais como: aumento no consumo de frutas, verduras e legumes, maior adesão à dieta do mediterrâneo e aumento de consumo de preparações caseiras, assim como as negativas: aumento no consumo de alimentos ricos em açúcares e/ou gorduras, maior consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados, lanches rápidos, salgadinhos e comida industrializada. Conforme a taxonomia situacional de alimentos confortantes, descrita por Julie Locher (comidas nostálgicas, comidas de indulgência, comidas de conveniência e comidas de conforto físico), e as características altamente idiossincráticas desta categoria de alimentos, esta revisão sugere que possa existir uma relação positiva entre as mudanças alimentares decorrentes da pandemia de COVID-19 e a busca por alimentos capazes de promover bem-estares físico e/ou emocional ao indivíduo.

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Towards a situational taxonomy of comfort foods: A retrospective analysis

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Cultural food distancing: a conceptual discourse on the evolution of seminal to present and future models of traditional food practices

Cultural food distancing: a conceptual discourse on the evolution of seminal to present and future models of traditional food practices

Comfort food concepts and contexts in which they are used: A scoping review protocol

Que alimento te conforta?: uma análise retrospectiva sobre mudanças alimentares ocorridas na pandemia

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