“No one knows what we eat”: trust and distrust in food environments in women over 65 years of age in Spain

Abstract

Elderly women, 65 years old or more, access food in different environments (homes, markets, stores, gardens, bars, etc.), taking into account several ways of managing risk and facing food uncertainties. The criteria of trust and distrust that these women adopt regarding the agents involved in these food environments influence the social construction of the perception of risks and uncertainties. We focus on exploring which different aspects of this trust/distrust are most relevant in these environments, based on an analysis of the narratives that reflect the experiences of these women, residents in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community, Spain. The results suggest that sensory aspects play a key role in risk perception in food environments. Furthermore, the space-time dimension in the learning process of culinary skills and in the construction of taste evoked by these women shows us how the migratory trajectories of many of them have influenced the criteria of trust and distrust of the products consumed.