With rising rates of diet-related diseases, and concerns about food system sustainability, people are being encouraged to do more involved foodwork (e.g. cooking from scratch, shopping conscientiously). On the other hand, many people feel too busy to put more time into cooking and shopping. Men especially might feel time crunched because of employment responsibilities. This is partly why women do twice as much cooking as men in Canada^.
At the same time, home-based work or telecommuting – paid employment done in the home – is on the rise. One in five Canadians now works from home*. Home-based work increases physical access to domestic activities and decreases commuting. In theory then, home-based work could facilitate involved foodwork.
Despite this, there have been very few studies on the relationship between working from home and food habits, especially among men. This research project will help advance our knowledge about these issues.
Main project questions are:
Does working from home influence men’s household foodwork (e.g. cooking, food shopping)? How?
Does working from home influence the division of labour among heterosexual couples in the realm of food? How?
^ Statistics Canada (2010). “Overview of the Time Use of Canadians”. Retrieved September 25, 2013 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-647-x/89-647-x2011001-eng.pdf
* Turcotte, M. (2010). “Working at Home: An update”. Statistics Canada. Catalogue no. 11-008-X. Retrieved September 21, 2012 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2011001/article/11366-eng.htm
