Paper short abstract:

Exploring the mundane food work undertaken by individuals to regulate their eating behavior, we address certain oversights within the public health strategy aimed at reducing salt and sodium consumption, arguing for situated ethics in food practices.

Paper long abstract:

Our presentation delves into certain overlooked aspects of the public health strategy aimed at reducing salt and sodium consumption. We explore the everyday food work undertaken by individuals to align with the expectations set forth by public health messages. We conceptualize this effort as a form of care work, often underestimated and marginalized within nutritional campaigns that moralize food behaviors in the name of public health.

Drawing on empirical insights from French eaters regarding their daily food practices, hyper-responsibilization, and the unattainable standards of "eating healthily", we present findings from 13 ethnographic observations of meal preparation and consumption, alongside interviews with 25 participants, and in vivo observations at the experimental restaurant platform (OVALIE).

By focusing on the nuances of everyday food work, through the lens of salting practices, we propose three considerations for public health policies regarding salt: 1. The emancipatory escape and rupture from practicing "healthy salting" within the context of food vulnerability and inequalities; 2. The knowledge gained from bodily salting techniques; 3. The balance between health and pleasure values that influence the ethical and dignified aspects of eating behaviors.

We conclude by emphasizing that attention to mundane food work may contribute to the development of situated food ethics, offering an alternative to the moralization of eating behaviors that exacerbate social and gender inequalities.