In most (if not all) human societies, turning down food offered amounts

to rejecting the relationship, pulling out of the circle of guests and the

group. It indicates distrust and may prompt exclusion. In today's world,

however, a large and apparently growing number of people are asserting

personal dietary requirements for a variety of reasons: medical

(allergies and intolerance); health and weight (various diets and

regimens); ethical, political and spiritual (vegetarianism, veganism,

religious restrictions). Does the sudden assertion of these individual

demands indicate an evolution or even a rejection of what can be

considered the bedrock of sociability: the sharing of meals?

The issue of selective eating is explored here from a wide interdisciplinary

perspective: from a biomedical standpoint (immunology,

allergies and intolerances) to social and historical analyses. The rise

of personal dietary requirements poses questions as to the scope and

limits to individualization in contemporary societies. This book (and

the conference that gave rise to it) triggered a debate in the French

media: Will the trend lead to the end of eating as a social, shared

activity? Will we abandon all forms of commensal eating? Or will novel

configurations emerge, flexible enough but also ritualized enough so

that the experience of eating retains a sense of conviviality?