Taste, education, and commensality in Copenhagen food schools

Abstract This article analyses food schools in Copenhagen. Organized differently from the majority of Copenhagen schools, twelve food schools have chefs on site and involve pupils in preparing, cooking, and serving the daily meals. Four food schools formed the empirical basis of a qualitative study conducted in 2016, which involved interviewing pupils, food school coordinators, management, and chefs. The empirical data show that food schools entail differing understandings of a common set of visions introduced by the municipality about food education including topics such as taste, teaching and dining atmosphere. The variety of understandings and practices problematize the notion of “best practice” as a way for a municipality to unify the schools and formulate advice for new food schools. Instead, the article emphasizes the need to address the complexity and to open for a broader view on how to work with situated everyday practices also addressing e.g. materiality and bodily aspects. Only by accepting the variety of expressions, the visions of food education can be addressed and worked with in a non-essentialist manner.