Food, publics, science

Mundane science use in a practice theoretical perspective: Different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public communication initiatives build on scientific claims

Public communication initiatives play a part in placing complicated scientific claims in citizen-consumers' everyday contexts. Lay reactions to scientific claims framed in public communication, and attempts to engage citizens, have been important subjects of discussion in the literatures of public understanding and public engagement with science. Many of the public communication initiatives, however, address lay people as consumers rather than citizens. This creates specific challenges for understanding public engagement with science and scientific citizenship. The article compares five different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public issue communication involving science, where the first four types are widely represented in the Public Understanding of Science discussions. The fifth understanding is a practice theoretical perspective. The article suggests how the public understanding of and engagement in science literature can benefit from including a practice theoretical approach to research about mundane science use and public engagement.

Newspaper debates on milk fats and vegetable oils in Finland, 1978-2013: An analysis of conflicts over risks, expertise, evidence and pleasure

The study analysed public debates on the association of milk fats, vegetable oils and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) between 1978 and 2013 in Finland, a country with a decades-long history of public health initiatives targeting fat consumption. The main agendas, conflicts and participants were analysed. The data were collected from the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and consisted of 52 threads and 250 texts. We identified four themes around which there were repeated, often overlapping conflicts: the health risks of saturated fats, expertise of the risks of fat consumption, the adequate evidence of the risks of fat consumption, and framing the fat question. During the research period, the main arguments of the effects of consumption of fats have remained the same. References to epidemiological and intervention studies and framing of the fat question as a public health issue, have been ongoing, as has the definition of what constitutes genuine expertise. Yet, we also found discontinuities. In the early 2000s new emphases began to emerge: personal experiences were increasingly presented as evidence of the effects of dietary choices on human health, and the question of fat consumption was framed either as one of enjoyment or of a consumers' right to choose rather than only being a public health question. Moreover, new professional groups such as chefs and creative professionals now joined the discussion.

Citizen-Consumer Oriented Practices in Naturalistic Foodways

Today's consumers are more apt to enact the “politics of choice” rather than “politics of loyalty” as responsible members of society. This shift from being the consumer with the sole intent of pursuing self-interest to that of the normative “citizen-consumer” who practices consumption with an eye towards the greater good, denotes the overlapping aspect of consumption and citizenship in everyday practices. Through qualitative analysis the authors posit a conceptual framework of citizen-consumer orientation. The framework highlights the way citizen-consumers navigate constraints and tensions posed by the dominant food system (and mainstream lifestyle paradigm) through sustainability oriented, shared practices in naturalistic foodways. Shared practices are advanced as ways in which the individual burden of sustainable practices is reduced.

Gut Health in the era of the human gut microbiota: from metaphor to biovalue

The human intestinal ecosystem, previously called the gut microflora is now known as the Human Gut Microbiota (HGM). Microbiome research has emphasized the potential role of this ecosystem in human homeostasis, offering unexpected opportunities in therapeutics, far beyond digestive diseases. It has also highlighted ethical, social and commercial concerns related to the gut microbiota. As diet factors are accepted to be the major regulator of the gut microbiota, the modulation of its composition, either by antibiotics or by food intake, should be regarded as a fascinating tool for improving the human health. Scientists, the food industry, consumers and policymakers alike are involved in this new field of nutrition. Defining how knowledge about the HGM is being translated into public perception has never been addressed before. This raises the question of metaphors associated with the HGM, and how they could be used to improve public understanding, and to influence individual decision-making on healthcare policy. This article suggests that a meeting of stakeholders from the social sciences, basic research and the food industry, taking an epistemological approach to the HGM, is needed to foster close, innovative partnerships that will help shape public perception and enable novel behavioural interventions that would benefit public health.

A "naturally sweet" definition: an analysis of the sugar association's definition of the natural as a terministic screen

The political nature of sugar as a cultural commodity can be traced back for centuries. While the issues surrounding sugar consumption have changed, power struggles still exist as stakeholders struggle to identify, make sense of, and manage the relationship between sugar and obesity. I explore the rhetorical contributions of the Sugar Association to public understandings of sweeteners. Specifically, I argue that the Sugar Association positioned sugar as the best choice for consumers by positioning their sweetener within a definition of the natural that the organization constructs. I draw on Burke's (1966) notion of terministic screens as a theoretical framework through which sugar was positioned as the best sweetener option and HFCS and artificial sweeteners were isolated as unnatural and, therefore, unwise choices for consumers. Then, I argue that the association's definition of "the natural" was strategically ambiguous, serving to distinguish sugar from other sweeteners. I conclude by evaluating the soundness and sustainability of the association's discursive contributions to public understandings of health and its implications for key stakeholders in the sweetener community.

"Healthy" discussions about risk: The Corn Refiners Association's strategic negotiation of authority in the debate over high fructose corn syrup

Many foods and eating practices have been framed as risky by risk societies. Recently, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has become a highly scrutinized food additive. Informed by a social construction of risk framework, I analyze the discursive contributions of the Corn Refiners Association, a trade association, to public negotiations of HFCS risks. I describe how the association's Sweet Surprise campaign advertisements rely on a deficit model to shape understandings of who should participate in conversations about HFCS. I conclude by exploring the practical implications of this analysis, particularly how trade associations can negotiate tensions between promoting health and serving commercial interests, and how these decisions contribute to understandings of the public's role in risk negotiation.

Frames, claims and audiences: Construction of food allergies in the Canadian media

Food allergies are newly emerging health risks, and some evidence indicates that their prevalence is increasing. Public perception, however, is that the prevalence of food allergies is much greater than systematic estimates suggest. As food allergies increasingly permeate everyday life, this paper explores how associated risks are constructed through the mass media. In particular, nine years of media coverage of food allergies are analysed through the lens of issue framing and claims-making. Results show that advocates and affected individuals dominate discussions around policy action, while researchers and health professionals are diagnosing the causes of food allergy. Results also suggest that there is competition over the definition of food allergies, which may, in turn, be shaping public understanding of the related risks. There is also an indication that the framing of food allergies is evolving over time, and that the discussion is becoming increasingly one-sided with affected individuals leading the charge.

Disgust in bioethics

“Dissecting Bioethics,” edited by Tuija Takala and Matti Häyry, welcomes contributions on the conceptual and theoretical dimensions of bioethics.

The section is dedicated to the idea that words defined by bioethicists and others should not be allowed to imprison people’s actual concerns, emotions, and thoughts. Papers that expose the many meanings of a concept, describe the different readings of a moral doctrine, or provide an alternative angle to seemingly self-evident issues are therefore particularly appreciated.

The themes covered in the section so far include dignity, naturalness, public interest, community, disability, autonomy, parity of reasoning, symbolic appeals, and toleration.

All submitted papers are peer reviewed. To submit a paper or to discuss a suitable topic, contact Tuija Takala attuija.takala@helsinki.fi.