Contextualizing Tastes of Necessity: Understanding the Food Preferences of People of Low Socio-Economic Status

• In Event: 412 - Regular Session. Consumers and Consumption

Abstract

Sociological research on taste and aesthetic boundaries has shown that many tastes vary with socio-economic status. However, prior work that examines the logic and justifications underlying taste patterns has paid much greater attention to elite or highbrow tastes than to working class tastes. In this paper we analyze data from approximately 500 in-depth interviews and take low-SES food preferences as a case for illuminating the cultural logic of tastes among these groups. Empirically, we ask which foods respondents prefer, and for what reasons. Analytically, we argue that low-SES aesthetic preferences operate according to an alternative logic of cultural valuation from that of high-status omnivorous cultural consumption (Peterson 2005). We connect these findings on taste to the larger cultural context in which tastes are intertwined with class identity and material circumstances. Our findings suggest that Bourdieu’s (1984) “tastes of necessity” remains a relevant way of conceptualizing cultural classifications for less privileged groups.

Authors

• Josee Johnston, University of Toronto

• Michelle Szabo, University of Toronto

• Shyon S. Baumann, University of Toronto