Sustainable consumption: sharing meals in an ecovillage

The focus of this thesis, within the expansive field of the anthropology of food, is the relationship between cooking, kitchens and identity. The contemporary landscape of food production and consumption is continually changing. More recently, issues of sustainable practices have entered into popular discourse around the food we eat and where it comes from. In order to understand the relationship between food and ideas of sustainable, conscious consumption, I undertook my fieldwork in an Australian ecovillage. My research was conducted over a period of eight weeks in the summer of 2014. I lived and worked in the village during this time as an active participant in the community’s practices and projects. My time in the village kitchen gave me insight into the different cooking philosophies of everyone I cooked with – their traditions, beliefs and attitudes that were just as essential to the meals they cooked as the raw ingredients. In the ecovillage, I observed people performing and reinforcing their identity through the process of creating a meal. This research also speaks to some of the rapidly growing organisations attempting to change the way Australians eat food in order to promote an appreciation of the environmental and social impact of their food choices.