Sharing norms and adapting habits. The eating practices of immigrants and immigrants’ children from Malian and Moroccan origins in France

Abstract

This article presents the results of a comparative study conducted in France, Mali, and Morocco, and it seeks to understand the food cultures of immigrants and immigrants’ children, as well as their evolution across space and time. This survey shows that, according to the context, children reproduce certain of their parents’ norms, representations, and practices, as well as some that are dominating in the country of origin, which are also transformed on a local and on a global scale. There is no transition to a model that would break with the old one and would superimpose on that of the society of residence. The various eating styles of immigrants, as well as of immigrants’ children, fashion themselves and are transformed according to the evolution of family situations, socio-cultural characteristics, and economic resources. Individuals adapt to different social and commensal situations, shifting from a cultural register to another.