PREPARING and eating food is one of the most fundamental activities of humanity. Over the centuries, our eating habits have evolved as our physical and social environments changed. These changes have always been gradual happening over a period of years and decades but recent technological advances greatly accelerated this process.

Not only has it changed the way we shop and cook; its also changed who we are and how we think, and has literally opened up a world of culinary options.

Tweets at the table

Meal times have always given people the opportunity to gather and share stories and ideas. With more and more people using technology as their primary method of socialisation, it is no wonder so many of us are giving up around-the-table meals to dine with our computers or phones.

According to a recent US study Clicks and Cravings, The Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture, by the Hartman Group up to a third of social media users are on a social networking website while eating or drinking at home and almost half of us text or socialise on our mobile devices during meal times.

Dont think yourself above or immune to this form of social interaction. Recently, while at a food and wine pairing event with my husband, I realised that I too use social media to interact with others while eating. It turns out that both my husband and I tweeted a picture and a comment after each of the seven courses served.

It seems the traditional family meal and the social interaction that comes with it could well be a thing of the past.

Information intake

Another US study, by the Rochester Institute of Technology in March 2011, is one of the first that set out to examine how new-media technology, like the internet and smartphones, is altering university students eating habits and their association to food. The findings show the respondents are more likely to have meals while sitting at the computer than at the kitchen table, and they use social media as the primary method of obtaining recipe and nutritional information.

The same study found people are more likely to ask friends on Facebook or Twitter for recipes than consult a cookbook, and they often used social media to judge the importance and legitimacy of food and nutritional information.

Original post:
NUTRITION MATTERS: The downside of technology at the table