Food consumption and cultural capital

In search of a developing habitus

Abstract

In our paper we analyse the relationship between cultural capital and attitudes toward food consumption. Our work is based on research inspired by earlier findings of Veblen and Bourdieu. Studies on consumption found a connection between food and cultural consumption (Prieur, Rosenlund, és Skjott-Larsen 2008). We argue in our paper that this pattern can also be seen in Hungary: for the consumers of high culture, consumption of high quality, healthy and ethically produced food is also important. In our study we analyse the differences in attitudes toward food-consumption among social groups using the results of a representative survey conducted in 2018 in Hungary. We aim at understanding the most important aspects of food consumption for consumers with high cultural capital, and what is the role of (increasingly highlighted) ethical and conscious consumption in the habitus of such consumers.