Social eating is for life, not just for Christmas
December 8, 2021
This blog sits alongside our new resource, ‘From Street Feeding to Social Eating‘, and is written by the author, Marsha Smith.
Is there something special that happens when we eat together in groups? Is there a special type of atmosphere created around mealtimes where people feel able to make a contribution to the conversation, be it asking for advice, offering opinions, or sharing stories and ideas? Are these mealtimes places where people’s inclination to be sociable could be leveraged to support their social as well as nutritional needs? And how might eating together and the convivial atmosphere which transpires around mealtimes help organisations better understand and respond to the needs of their service-users?
Over the Christmas period in the UK, we see many faith and community-based organisations opening their doors to service-users, catering to the needs of people to experience both good food and good company during the festive season. We often hear the refrain that these festive meals are about helping ‘those less fortunate than us’. But rather than focus on what other people may not have, this Housing Justice guide also asks us to think-through what we have in common- the value that we place on eating together at the same table, or commensality as it is known in academic parlance.
Research shows that eating together is about much more than food. Commensality is a powerful symbol of everyday life, its structure, rhythms and routines. ‘Social eating’ at shared mealtimes marks some of our most important life transitions such as marriage or death and it is seen as the social ‘glue’ that strengthens family and group bonds.
However, in the UK at the moment, there are rising numbers of people finding hard to eat, to eat well, and to eat together. And for people experiencing homelessness, these issues are even more acute.
Losing out on opportunities to engage in ‘social eating’ makes it harder for people to maintain their health and wellbeing, but it also impacts their ability to build, maintain and rely upon, vital social connections. So, encouraging opportunities to engage in ‘social eating’ activities where the needs of the whole person can be met, and in-common with others, can form an important part of the work that faith and community-based groups, do.
This Housing Justice guide not only shows how ‘social eating’ goes beyond the current convention of street-feeding approaches, it also provides a step-by-step guide to setting up a ‘social eating’ service.
Setting up a ‘social eating’ service is not only a way of reaching out, including and nourishing people’s mind, bodies and spirits. It can also be a fantastic way of making connections to people so that their voices, opinions, and needs can be centred in the way faith and community-based organisations shape their services.
Not just at Christmas, but all across the year.
– Marsha Smith, PhD candidate, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University.
