UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Food, home and health: the meanings of food amongst Bengali Women in London

Jennings, HM; Thompson, JL; Merrell, J; Bogin, B; Heinrich, M; (2014) Food, home and health: the meanings of food amongst Bengali Women in London. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine , 10 , Article 44. 10.1186/1746-4269-10-44. Green open access

[thumbnail of Heinrich. food.pdf]
Preview
PDF
Heinrich. food.pdf
Available under License : See the attached licence file.

Download (1MB)

Abstract

Background This paper explores the nature of food and plants and their meanings in a British Bengali urban context. It focuses on the nature of plants and food in terms of their role in home making, transnational connections, generational change and concepts of health. Methods An ethnographic approach to the research was taken, specific methods included participant observation, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Thirty women of Bengali origin were mostly composed of “mother” and “daughter” pairs. The mothers were over 45 years old and had migrated from Bangladesh as adults and their grown-up daughters grew up in the UK. Results Food and plants play an important role in the construction of home “here” (London) while continuing to connect people to home “there” (Sylhet). This role, however, changes and is re-defined across generations. Looking at perceptions of “healthy” and “unhealthy” food, particularly in the context of Bengali food, multiple views of what constitutes “healthy” food exist. However, there appeared to be little two-way dialogue about this concept between the research participants and health professionals. This seems to be based on “cultural” and power differences that need to be addressed for a meaningful dialogue to occur. Conclusion In summary, this paper argues that while food is critical to the familial spaces of home (both locally and globally), it is defined by a complex interplay of actors and wider meanings as illustrated by concepts of health and what constitutes Bengali food. Therefore, we call for greater dialogue between health professionals and those they interact with, to allow for an enhanced appreciation of the dynamic nature of food and plants and the diverse perceptions of the role that they play in promoting health.

Type: Article
Title: Food, home and health: the meanings of food amongst Bengali Women in London
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/1746-4269-10-44
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-10-44
Language: English
Additional information: © 2014 Jennings et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Keywords: Food; Home; Garden vegetables; Food perceptions; Health promotion; Bengalis in London; Ethnography
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Pharma and Bio Chemistry
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1431426
Downloads since deposit
558Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item