What your sad desk sandwich says about your working habits

By Jennifer Whillans, University of Bristol

How’s that sandwich? If you’re munching on a supermarket meal deal while reading this, well, I probably am too.

Brits in particular are known for their obsession with sandwiches, which they eat alone while continuing to work. This habit amuses but also disgusts our European counterparts. As one French scholar put it: “A sandwich or salad gulped down in front of a computer screen does not pass as a proper meal.”

Research has shown that 28% of British workers eat at their desks and 44% eat lunch alone, the highest rates in Europe. Sociologists have thoroughly researched family meals, children’s school meals, and even dining out in restaurants.

Only a handful of publications focus on the workday lunch, but studies have almost exclusively used large-scale surveys. While these are valuable in revealing patterns of behaviour and trends in how we eat, they do not help us understand why people eat the way that they do at lunch. For this, rich, in-depth interview data is required.

In my recently published research, I interviewed 21 people about what they ate for the workday lunch (and where and with whom). I found much greater variety in workday lunches than the solitary “al desko” sandwich. But there were shared understandings among my participants about how to lunch at work.

Most participants were willing to admit that the workday lunch was not exactly a premium gastronomic experience. One man described lunch as “my functional eating thing”.

Nevertheless, people greatly anticipated their lunch, seeing it as a reward or treat for a morning’s work, and noting that it was a time to eat what they wanted. One respondent, a teacher, confessed that she chose “carbs with carbs” and a cookie with custard from the canteen.

Unlike the family dinner where everyone tends to eat the same meal and the cook must cater to others’ tastes, the workday lunch was seen as a chance for personal indulgence, despite others’ distaste.

Read Full Story https://theconversation.com/what-your-sad-desk-sandwich-says-about-your-working-habits-224326