I asked people to open me two doors: the doors to their homes and to their fridges. Interesting findings about ways of living and consuming have emerged, particularly in relation to Milan’s people.
First of all, it is now clear how old the definition of the word ‘family’ given by the Zingarelli Italian dictionary of 1970 sounds, which describes it as “the society’s basic unit formed by parents and children”. The typical Italian family still exists, but together with it we can now find new families composed by friends, flatmates, gay and lesbians couples, single mothers and fathers with their kids, divorced people, widows and so on. Opening the doors to their homes is enough to understand how anachronistic the political debates occurring among Italian institutions are. Society and families have changed despite State and Church prove themselves unable to understand it.
Despite the many different ways of living that I have captured, a certain stability in the consumption of products emerged. Naturally the way of life affects it, as also the amount of free time and the kind of work that each one does (and - of course – the number of family members). However, fresh fruit and vegetables are usually there and, despite some exceptions, people usually care about what grocery they do. There are, however, some major differences, especially in the families composed by only men, alone or in a couple. While big families tend to fill up the fridge and women of every age are really careful of what they buy, men’s fridges usually look more empty and neglected. If they are full it is usually of alcohol, drinks and ready made food.
I asked people to open me two doors, and I found an evolving society in which people’s habits change and combine in an increasingly rich and complex manner. Consumptions are, nonetheless, still bound to national traditions: Italy might also be changing in some dietary habits, but opening the doors of fridges shows how deep the roots of good cooking and food culture in this country are.
