The complexity of food choices in an everyday context

This study aims to understand the complexity of food choices in an everyday household context. The qualitative data are based on homemakers’ (n = 18) context‐specific accounts of their choice of milk brand, i.e. milk varieties with different fat contents (noted in a 4‐day qualitative food diary and a semi‐structured interview based on the diary). These accounts were considered an approximation of real food choices in households. The necessity of making compromises between contradictory expectations makes food choices, as well as milk brand choices, problematic. The homemakers' accounts involve various levels affecting household activities. At the individual level, the most important motive of choice is the taste and practical use of a product. At the level of households, the traditions stemming from one's childhood and the social aspect of acknowledging other family members’ taste preferences are important. The influence at the level of society and culture leads towards healthier choices, e.g. by providing examples of new, healthier food habits. Here, the special nature of everyday knowledge is emphasized as context dependent. This provides a complementary view to the more traditional, cognitive views of studying the relationship between knowledge of nutrition and food choices. Choices are determined not only by stimulus, cognition or societal structures, but are also constrained by everyday conditions, as well as by the activities of other people.