Lian Angelino, MSc student Health and Society, wrote her MSc thesis with the Rural Sociology group. In the thesis Lian discusses the sharing economy, in particular meal sharing. She studied a particular meal sharing platform, Thuisafgehaald, looking at the practices of the so-called foodies – people picking up meals cooked by their neighbours. The title of the thesis is ‘Meal sharing in people’s everyday life: An analysis of meal sharing participation from a Social practice theory perspective’.

This is a short abstract of the thesis: The sharing economy has become an increasingly popular phenomenon across society and academia. Engagement in the sharing activities has been previously studied but lacks a focus on the practical aspects of sharing activities in specific segments of the sharing economy. The aim of this study was to explore the practical aspects of meal sharing. Specifically, this research was set out to study the role of meal sharing in people’s everyday life. This was done by both exploring the practical aspects of meal sharing and motivations for participation in meal sharing. Social practice theory, which centres around the reality of everyday life, and how people shape and give meaning to that reality, has been used as theoretical lens to guide data collection and analysis. This study concerned an explorative case-study using semi-structured interviews with users of the platform, a review of social media and participant observations. Overall, it can be concluded that meal sharing plays an instrumental role in people’s everyday life: meal sharing serves a practical solution as one method for food provisioning, amongst other options, to provide an evening meal in a convenient and enjoyable way where ideological motivations do not play a prominent role.

For more information, download the thesis here: Meal sharing in everyday life-Lian Angelino.