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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how young people with food allergies negotiate workplace expectations to eat and drink together and argues that their (in)ability to gain their colleagues understanding of their food constraints shapes both daily experiences and how they imagine their futures.

Paper long abstract:

Food and work are often closely linked in Japan. Expectations to join post-work drinking parties and/or to eat together during the day are often a reality for people at work (albeit currently mitigated by Covid-19). However, for those with multiple food allergies, such expectations can be difficult to navigate, especially when the negotiation occurs between individuals of different ages and positions. Drawing on fieldwork with young adults since 2017 this paper explores how young people with food allergies experience workplace expectations to eat and drink together and the different strategies they use to negotiate this. Their (in)ability to gain their colleagues understanding of their food constraints shapes not only their day-to-day experiences but also influences how they imagine their futures, with some being hopeful and others struggling to imagine a happy and successful life. I consequently argue that individuals with food allergies imagine their futures - at work and beyond - through the prism of their food constraints, putting food at the center of their future hopes and imaginings. This paper illustrates the important, but often overlooked, influence of food on workplace relationships and how it contributes to shaping imagined future possibilities.