Lalli, Gurpinder Singh2023-11-212023-11-212023-12-11Lalli, G. S. (2023). Culinary capital and conceptualisations of school mealtime. European Journal of Education, 59(2), e12602. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.126020141-821110.1111/ejed.12602http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625354© 2023 The Author. Published by Wiley. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12602This paper presents ethnographic work conducted to investigate how notions of culinary capital have the potential to shape the everyday experiences of children during mealtime in school. Children’s early experiences with mealtimes and food are critical determinants for eating behaviour over the life course. The paper presents an account of conceptual debates based on longstanding ethnographic work on school food with a particular focus on a case study of Maple Field Academy to frame the research. Research methods used included semi-structured interviews, fieldnotes and photographs with the aim of capturing a rich picture of the school. This paper introduces Laird’s (1985) sensory theory to frame the discussion. This research calls for the need to recognize the social good that can be realized from participating in mealtimes and school is a microcosm of society, which means it can function as a driver for social change. The paper calls for more engagement with social theorising on studies which focus on researching food in school.application/pdfenculinary capitalSchool foodEducationJournal article1465-3435European Journal of Education: research, development and policies2023-11-21e12602