Emotional diners and rational eaters: Constructing the urban lunch experience

Abstract

Lunch is an urban phenomenon relatable to people of all age groups. Nationally-legislated-free lunches for children at day-care, schools, universities and at workplace canteens have a long history in the Finnish welfare society. In this article, the meaning-making of having lunch is shown to be mainly – but not solely – rational, and the sensory and emotional information received from the environment is verbally and rationally interpreted by the interviewees. In comparison, local food events are experiential and embodied in terms of the senses. It is asked whether there are common elements between those two contexts of eating and if some of the findings from the experiential side of eating might be applied to everyday eating occasions, thus contributing to urban conviviality.