Looking at contemporary food: gastro-anomy and Botero's bodies

Abstract

Excess discourses and information on food results in commensals not knowing what to eat. The Durkheim concept led the French sociologist Claude Fischler to create the neologism gastro-anomy to refer to the paradox that we face today regarding food: we have never known so much about the effects of food on the body and, curiously, we have never had so many food-related health problems. The present essay is about this gastro-anomy phenomenon. How does anomy present itself in today's society with respect to food? How do dieticians understand this issue? Since art synthesizes the intrinsic properties of a society, these reflections were guided by art. We started off by analyzing two works from very different time periods: the Middle Ages and today. The Arnolfini couple represented by Jan van Eyck is a work from the 15th century, time when the medical and religious discourse mostly determined people's food choices. On the other hand, Botero's parody elicits plump bodies in reference to excess: the excess information available to commensals nowadays.

Food; Art; Feeding behavior