Conclusion

Abstract

In this conclusion we bring together some of the themes that have run through the book and suggest some ways forward in terms of future research directions. As a first step, we would like to suggest that the evidence presented throughout the book confirms our initial premise that food is a powerful lens through which to view recent changes in family life. In this respect, the book has done more than provide an account of recent sociological evidence on ‘the family’. Instead, it has used food as a way of opening up the ‘black box’ of family life, approaching the subject from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and using the subject of food as a way of shedding light on contemporary family practices.¹ Likewise, we conclude, our choice of a practice-based approach to ‘doing family’ has been vindicated by the evidence presented in the preceding chapters. While the idea of ‘family’ (and the idealised nuclear family in particular) remains a dominant figure in British society, our research confirms that the form of contemporary families is extremely diverse as are the practices that contribute to the reproduction of everyday family life.