Social Isolation and Commensality
Several Exeter Food members have worked on the problem of social isolation and the detrimental effects of eating alone, and explored how commensality can address poor dietary practices and foster healthier communities.
Nutritionist Joanna Bowtell and psychologist Manuela Barreto have worked in partnership with a social enterprise, Dartmoor Community Kitchen Hub, to research how provision a daily, highly-nutritious hot meal to community dwelling, under-nourished older adults produced nutritional and physiological outcomes and addresses loneliness and isolation. Barreto’s wider interests in food, culture, and social connection include work on weight stigma and concerns about the potential for food-related (or healthy eating) projects to stigmatize people who are high or low weight.
Psychologist Victoria Tischler has studied the use of multi-sensory stimulation (food, drink, olfaction) to increase nutrition and hydration for older inpatients with dementia, as well as founding and The Imagination Café—a pop-up installation, which toured the UK, offering a high tea designed for people with dementia and showcasing creative approaches to dementia care.
Harry G West and Paul Cleave together created the Crediton Living Library of Food Memories, a mid-Devon project using food memories to foster intergenerational conversations, address social isolation and loneliness, and educate young people about historical transformations to food and foodways. Cleave is also interested in how community gardening and food production support mental and physical wellbeing.
