Education and pleasure: the paradox of food consumption

Interaction – above all, food consumption, the fact of eating together – is connected to human representations and human fears. All of these are involved in socialization, particularly in educative mechanisms (such as rules at table, regulation/moderation, apprenticeship) and pleasure (tasting discovery and games). This paper proposes to show the paradox between education (often in relation with health) and pleasure (in all forms) in food, using a cultural object appreciated in childhood, i.e. picture books.

The study is based on a sociology thesis about the representations of food in picture books (50 picture books for children under six years of age, which were selected in bookshops to identify how food, the child and daily life are represented in fiction) and how they are used, and on a collection of data from interviews with professionals and parents (qualitative approach to analysis).

The paper finds social representations which corroborate the eater paradox. Between education and pleasure, between discovery and fear, the forms of food consumption are numerous in the picture books.

The paper shows that social representations are signified in all items for children and reveals the importance of this medium.