Pleasure, health and sociability. Food fact and food choice through Iberian ham

Abstract

As studies on the polysemic field of human nutrition progress, it is has become necessary to consider a greater number of variables when analysing the reality of food. Our proposal goes beyond studies based on the production and distribution phases, and focuses instead on the consumption phase in an effort to identify the elements that explain why societies choose and prefer some foods over others. Nowadays, food choice is intrinsically present in food as a reality of modern societies, relegating biological and physiological factors in relation to the dominant parameters of pleasure, health and sociability. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques, this study proposes pleasure and health as elements that guide consumers to choosing a particular gourmet product, as in the case of Iberian ham in Spain.