Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Deciding “what’s for dinner” is a daily task that is wrought with numerous considerations and often, stress. Nationwide, eating dinner outside of the home has continued to increase, despite efforts to encourage home-cooked, family meals for both health and psychological well-being. Furthermore, choosing what’s for dinner can be difficult for those households struggling with food insecurity. This paper is designed to share findings stemming from a photo-elicitation project featuring what America eats for dinner. Analysis will be done on submitted photographs of dinner plates. Along with their photos, participants will also share information about where their food came from or was purchased, and why these particular foods were chosen for dinner. These images and narrative allow for analysis of exactly what Americans do eat for dinner, how much they eat, and what types of nutritional choices they make each evening. These findings not only provide a visual representation of the types of food choices individuals make, but also how these choices might differ by geography, income, household makeup, and education level. Insight drawn from these analyses is designed to better understand what Americans eat, by looking at what they put on their plate, where those foods came from, and why their dinner was as presented.