Changing food habits in the Otago community : a content analysis of sixteen community cookbooks, 1931-2001

Abstract

Community cookbooks are a product of our society which are often overlooked for a variety of reasons. This research focuses on the food habits of the Otago communities who have produced these cookbooks as fundraising ventures, from the 1930s to the present day. The study of changing food habits is an enormous task which must be examined in relation to politics, economics, geography, history, linguistics and religion, to name but a few. For the purposes of this study however, community cookbooks are examined within the context of 'material culture', the study of art and objects to give meaning to human culture. Content analysis of the primary sources (the cookbooks themselves) is the main method used to find out about the changing food habits of the Otago Community. This is not an attempt to pinpoint the diet of Otago residents, but rather to reveal what people say they eat, and thereby gain an understanding of the circumstances and processes that created the need and popularity of such culinary ephemera. As community cookbooks are varied in their content, a case study of the 'Main Meal' section of each book will be conceptually analysed. This focus is necessary to indicate the more realistic, and daily food habits of the contributors - as opposed to analysing 'Cake' sections, which are eaten as a treat, or special occasion. The sample analysed comprises two books from each decade (a total of sixteen books), taken from a collection of fortytwo community cookbooks.