Complex meals

An approach to food cultural sustainability

Abstract

This article aims to broaden the concept of food sustainability. Current definitions are based on ideas of measurable ecological and bodily balances, which make it possible to objectify the health of the planet earth or the human body, universally considered. But they do not take into account the cultural variable. And since culture, which is essentially arbitrary, plays a major role in the processes of food production, processing and consumption, it is necessary to take it into account for a comprehensive conceptualisation of food sustainability. Thus, issues that can make food systems culturally unsustainable, such as the proximity of processes, the imperative of commensality and the need to share, the ability to mark differences, or the need for support in mythical, political, allegorical, pedagogical or humorous narratives, must be addressed.