Eating Well with Organic Food: Everyday (Non-Monetary) Strategies for a Change in Food Paradigms: Findings from Andalusia, Spain

Abstract

In the context of nutritional disaffection with a dominant food and agricultural system and the social questioning of everyday nutritional habits, we studied what Eating Well means to people and what role organic food plays in their lives. We conducted 11 discussion groups that were carried out in Andalusia, Spain; participants had different socio-demographic characteristics—they lived in either rural or urban areas, had different purchasing channels, and practiced varying degrees of organic food consumption. The investigation revealed (1) the motives and limitations for the consumption of organic foods, as perceived by the consumers of organic foods, and (2) the everyday strategies practiced to overcome these limitations. In both cases, this research transcends the classical analyses focused on the price of a product, when proposing a framework for alternative strategies that are based on the ordinary knowledge and practices of the consumers, by looking at consumption through an integrated lens that is rooted in the notion of what consumers consider to be Eating Well. This study shows that Eating Well—according to the criteria of the consumers and the implemented strategies—breaks from the dichotomous or exclusive focus on economic or ideological motives, and revalues feminine and rural knowledge and practices, for a comprehensive management of nutrition.