Event overview
What are the infrastructures, rules and practices of eating on the go and on public transport?
Food is often eaten on the go, while walking, cycling, driving, on buses, the tube, trains and airplanes. Eating on the go entails different practicalities of eating. Space is restricted. Normal infrastructures of eating, such as tables and chairs are often either entirely absent or much smaller, less convenient that those of other meals. The act of eating is also impacted, with focus on eating often impossible, and eating made difficult by the movement of transport. Most importantly, this all happens in public space, with strangers often much closer by than in other acts of eating.
Despite these challenges, in large cities like London, where commuting journeys can take up a lot of time, many people take the opportunity to eat in public transport. Different types and forms of food consumption can lead to issues around the use of public transport as a contested space. These can range from discomfort to disgust and repulsion towards other people’s food, its smell, how they eat, or towards the dirt and litter left behind.
In this event we want to collectively explore the (unwritten) rules for eating on the go, by having a meal in motion. How to we eat on public transport? What are the potentials for conflict? What kinds of meals are practical, doable, acceptable? What kinds of eating are acceptable? How do people on public transport make use of the existing infrastructure?
Guests:
Tim Edensor, Manchester Metropolitan University.
This event is part of "Where is the Meal? A Roving and Participatory Event Series on Food, Place and Communities. "Where is the Meal?" is a series of five events responding to the question of how meals relate to place, and its cultural, political, technological and legal conditions. Each event is comprised of a meal for all participants, designed collaboratively by the event organisers and two invited guests. Each individual event serves to both perform the topic of the meal, and engage the guests and audience into a relevant discussion.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Jun 2024 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
