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The Taste of ‘the End of the Month’, and How to Avoid It: Coping with Restrained Food Budgets in a Scandinavian Welfare State Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2015

Annemette Nielsen ,
Thomas Bøker Lund  and
Lotte Holm
Annemette Nielsen
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen E-mail: anmn@ifro.ku.dk
Thomas Bøker Lund
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen E-mail: tblu@ifro.ku.dk
Lotte Holm
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen E-mail: loho@ifro.ku.dk
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Abstract

Based on a mixed methods approach, this article describes the prevalence of different levels of food budget restraints in a sample of 1,650 Danish households, and explores different types of coping strategies to deal with such restraints. Strategies concerned cooking, eating and buying food. A deeper knowledge of coping strategies was obtained by analysing qualitative data from interviews with thirty families who have experienced food budget restraints. Results revealed that more than 40 per cent reported some level of restraint on their food budget, while about 20 per cent experienced more substantial food budget restraints or food insecurity. Single parent households were at significantly greater risk of experiencing restraint than others. An investigation of coping strategies showed that some strategies, for example, using leftovers and cooking seasonal products, were common across all levels of budget restraint, while strategies affecting social life and taste preferences negatively were mostly applied when restraint was more severe. The qualitative analysis explored how the various strategies involved the potential for both positive and negative experiences for the individual, depending on the wider context surrounding the need to reduce household food budgets. Results from this study may be important for developing adequate measures to influence food purchases and eating practices in specific groups in situations of widespread economic turbulence in welfare societies.

Keywords

Food budget restraintfood insecuritycopingmixed methodsScandinavian welfare societies

Information

Type
Themed Section on Hunger, Food and Social Policy in Austerity
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 429 - 442
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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