Is there more space for care at the table? An ethnographic exploration of (un)sustainable family meals in France and Australia

Parents face significant challenges in managing family food practices, particularly when navigating the normative pressures of contemporary family life in Western cultures. Among these pressures is the expectation to adopt eco-friendly food consumption practices, which, despite growing visibility in public discourse, vary considerably between local and national contexts. This chapter examines how the rationales for sustainable food consumption intersect - or fail to intersect - with other priorities parents consider during family mealtimes. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with 12 families in Lyon, France, and five families in Adelaide, Australia, this study explores how parents plan, shop, cook, share meals, and manage leftovers. While sustainability was not explicitly addressed in interviews, participants described their own guiding rationales. The findings reveal that other imperatives, such as nutritional balance, shared enjoyment, and practicality, often overshadow sustainable practices. The study highlights the need for public discourse to adopt a more holistic approach, integrating sustainability into broader family priorities.