Convivencia

Finally, a third strategy which some shiftworkers used to organise meals at home was the use of 'convenience' foods. Although definitions of ‘convenience’ foods differed among respondents, as I show below, as such food had generally been commercially processed in some way, the time spent in preparation of the meal in the home was reduced. A wide range of prepared food is now available in supermarkets, ranging from individual items, such as bagged, prepared salads, pre-boiled new potatoes and ready-made Yorkshire puddings.

For some interviewees, food that was 'convenient' was food which did not require any cooking at all, such as sandwiches, chocolate bars, crisps, fresh fruit or yoghurt. Food could also be

‘convenient’ if it could be stored for long periods and so was available in the home whenever required. Frozen food was convenient in this way. Other 'convenient' forms of food, such as home-grown food, or dried food, did not feature at all in my interviewee’s accounts.

'Convenience' food could also mean food which was already prepared, such as take-away food, or food which had only to be reheated at home, such as canned food or a commercially-made, ready-meal. However, not all shiftworkers defined 'convenience' food as food which had been commercially prepared; one woman prepared large quantities of home-made soup to freeze and use later. For her, one type of ‘convenience’ food was food she had prepared herself.

Take-away fast food, such as burgers or fish and chips, was ‘convenient’ as it was bought cooked and ready to eat. 29.2% of the 117 questionnaire respondents indicated that they

‘often’ ate takeaway foods at home, and 22.5% indicated they ‘often' did so at work. It might have been that a visit to a fast food restaurant was seen as a leisure activity in itself, or that takeaway foods, such as fish and chips, were used as a ‘treat’ on non-work days or to avoid cooking. It may also have been that convenience foods, such as ready-meals, were used because the choice had been made to use a microwave oven to save time.

In summary, many shiftworkers in my study were concerned to reduce, or shift, the time spent in food-work, by using the various strategies outlined above. It was possible that shiftwork might have increased shiftworkers’ awareness of time as a factor in relation to food preparation and eating, although further research would be needed to investigate whether they differed from

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other members of the population in this. A possible contradiction between the preference for

‘proper’ meals, outlined in section 10.3 above, and the desire to save time, was resolved for some workers in my study by use of various strategies I have outlined. It was possible to prepare ‘proper’ meals by using labour-saving appliances (microwave oven), time-shifting tasks (preparing meat in advance) or by using convenience foods (canned, not fresh vegetables). Use of some or all of these strategies might have reflected a desire on the part of some shiftworkers in my study to accommodate the process of producing ‘proper’ meals with a shiftwork schedule, but it seemed they continued to regard the provision of such meals as important. Others also adopted a more individualised pattern of eating, in which individuals ate different meals at different times according to their personal commitments, tastes and preferences. This might be seen as ‘time-shifting’ the meal.

It might have been that the shiftworkers I studied in 1995 were at the forefront of changes in eating patterns which are now becoming more widespread. It may be that the strategies to organise food work in the home and erratic patterns of eating I have identified among shiftworkers would also be found among those engaged in other types of ‘flexible’ work today.

More research would be needed to explore this possibility.

10.6 SUMMARY

This chapter has shown that, although some shiftworkers felt more in control of, and more satisfied with their eating patterns on non-work than work days, eating patterns at home were constrained, however, by conceptions of appropriate meals at home. Some shiftworkers had clear ideas about the types of meals considered appropriate for themselves and their families;

notions of the 'proper' meal as involving a substantial, cooked meal of meat and vegetables, eaten at regular times appeared to be important to many shiftworkers, and such meals were perhaps emphasised more among this group precisely because they could not indulge in them as often as they might like. There were also, however, some changes taking place here as some interviewees implied that they regarded other dishes as 'proper' meals.

I also found adherence to the idea of the 'family' meal eaten by all the family together among shiftworkers in my sample, particularly in households with children, and some fathers went to great lengths to eat with their partner and children, even though they may have had no appetite for the meal.

This chapter has highlighted the extent to which organising meals at home involved work, as often these compromises involved female shiftworkers in extensive extra food-work, preparing food in advance or preparing several different meals by making use of domestic technologies such as freezers and / or microwave ovens. That they were willing to do this suggested a strong normative aspect to family eating; eating ‘proper’ meals together was an activity which they felt they should do, despite the difficulties.

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Finally, I have suggested in this chapter that it is important also when considering shiftworkers’

eating patterns to have regard for the wider context of their lives, including consideration of the composition of the family and the employment status of their partner. Meal times and eating patterns were likely to differ in shiftworker households where both partners are engaged in full time shiftwork, as compared to those where one partner is not in paid work. Similarly, it is likely that the presence of young children has an impact on eating patterns in the household.

Unfortunately, as shown in chapter 7, the small sample size of my study did not allow for investigation of these issues, but this would be an interesting area for further research. In conclusion, it seemed that some shiftwork schedules removed the regular routine around which people often structured their lives. Flexible working times required flexible sleeping and eating times, but this was very difficult for workers living in a world where the cultural assumption was that majority did not work shifts, but worked during the day and slept at night.

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CHAPTER 11 - GENDER DIVISIONS OF LABOUR AROUND MEALS AND EATING AT