Feeding the melting pot: inclusive strategies for the multi-ethnic city
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Feeding the melting pot: inclusive strategies for the multi‑ethnic city Anke Brons1,2 · Peter Oosterveer2 · Sigrid Wertheim‑Heck1,2 Accepted: 4 April 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The need for a shift toward healthier and more sustainable diets is evident and is supported by universalized standards for a “planetary health diet” as recommended in the recent EAT-Lancet report. At the same time, differences exist in tastes, preferences and food practices among diverse ethnic groups, which becomes progressively relevant in light of Europe’s increasingly multi-ethnic cities. There is a growing tension between current sustainable diets standards and how diverse ethnic resident groups relate to it within their ‘culturally appropriate’ foodways, raising questions around inclusion. What are dynamics of inclusiveness in migrant food practices? And what does this mean towards the transition to healthy and sustainable food? We study this question among Syrian migrants with different lengths of stay in the Netherlands. Our theoretical framework is based on practice theories, which emphasize the importance of socio-material context and of bodily routines and competences. We use qualitative methods, combining in-depth semi-structured life-history interviews with participant observation. Our findings indicate that inclusiveness takes different forms as migrants’ food practices and the food environment change. Regarding health and sustainability in food practices, understandings and competences around particularly fresh food change over time among both short- and long-term migrants, replacing making things from scratch with seasonal products with buying more processed products and out-of-season vegetables and fruits. We conclude that the performances of food practices and their configurations in food environments and lifestyles are dynamic and cannot unequivocally be interpreted as in- or exclusive, but that a more nuanced understanding is required. Keywords Food consumption · Healthy and sustainable food · Food environment · Multi-ethnic city · Migrants · Inclusiveness · Practice theories Abbreviations ST Short-term [migrants] LT Long-term [migrants] NGO Non-governmental organisation
* Anke Brons [email protected] Peter Oosterveer [email protected] Sigrid Wertheim‑Heck s.wertheim‑[email protected] 1
Food and Healthy Living, Aeres University of Applied Sciences Almere, Stadhuisstraat 18, Almere 1315 HC, The Netherlands
Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen 6706 KN, The Netherlands
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Introduction In light of the serious threats from global climate change and the increasing world population, the need for a shift toward healthier and more sustainable diets is evident (Burlingame and Dernini 2012; Garnett 2014; Lang 2017; EAT-Lancet Commission 2019). Precisely what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet is, however, a highly debated issue, with new scientific evidence constantly being developed (Tilman and Clark 2014; Nelson et al. 2016; Mason and Lang 2017; Springmann e
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