The act of volunteering allows us to not only provide a service to the community, but also to reflect on our everyday lives. Whilst volunteering at ‘Meals on Wheels’, an Australian non-profit organisation that provides meals for people requiring support, I delivered meals to recipients’ homes. Since ‘Meals on Wheels’ revolves around providing meals, it has led me to reflect on the everyday aspect of mealtime. Prior to learning about sociological theories, I took food for granted without thinking about society’s influence on the routines we perform at mealtime. As such, I will argue that the sociological theory of structural functionalism transforms my understanding of mealtime by first describing mealtime in relation to me, before applying
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As I come from an Asian culture, my family prefers using chopsticks to eat rather than forks and knives. Depending on the type of meal consumed during the time and day of the week, the food I eat also varies from being Western-cuisine or Asian cuisine. Breakfast normally consists of western-style foods of cereal, porridge and toast, as these foods require little preparation and are quick to consume, preventing us from being late for school or work. Lunch and dinner however are typically Asian-style dishes as my mother has more time to prepare and cook. Since my mother cooks extra portions, lunch is normally leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. As I am in university, it is likely that I will continue eating my mother’s cooking until I move out which will then change the food I eat. These practices that my family perform during mealtimes may differ from other families, however it can be understood through the lens of structural …show more content…
In theorising that social facts are like thermostats regulating individual behaviour, it presumes that individuals have no agency/free will and are like mere puppets whose strings are pulled by society (Nash, 1997). Moreover, as structural functionalism focuses on a macro-level approach – that is observing large scale patterns and forces influencing individual behaviour, it doesn’t look at individuals or small groups and therefore can miss out other factors that contribute to the workings of society (Smith, 2014). When applying this to mealtime, individuals can reject the time conventions structuring eating by choosing to eat at different times. Similarly, what people eat may not just be constrained by societal expectations but can also be due to the environment they’re living in. For example, some crops may be more accessible in a country that has more rainfall than others, thus affecting what people in that country eat (Khoury et al.,
As I come from an Asian culture, my family prefers using chopsticks to eat rather than forks and knives. Depending on the type of meal consumed during the time and day of the week, the food I eat also varies from being Western-cuisine or Asian cuisine. Breakfast normally consists of western-style foods of cereal, porridge and toast, as these foods require little preparation and are quick to consume, preventing us from being late for school or work. Lunch and dinner however are typically Asian-style dishes as my mother has more time to prepare and cook. Since my mother cooks extra portions, lunch is normally leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. As I am in university, it is likely that I will continue eating my mother’s cooking until I move out which will then change the food I eat. These practices that my family perform during mealtimes may differ from other families, however it can be understood through the lens of structural …show more content…
In theorising that social facts are like thermostats regulating individual behaviour, it presumes that individuals have no agency/free will and are like mere puppets whose strings are pulled by society (Nash, 1997). Moreover, as structural functionalism focuses on a macro-level approach – that is observing large scale patterns and forces influencing individual behaviour, it doesn’t look at individuals or small groups and therefore can miss out other factors that contribute to the workings of society (Smith, 2014). When applying this to mealtime, individuals can reject the time conventions structuring eating by choosing to eat at different times. Similarly, what people eat may not just be constrained by societal expectations but can also be due to the environment they’re living in. For example, some crops may be more accessible in a country that has more rainfall than others, thus affecting what people in that country eat (Khoury et al.,