Gastro-Anxiety and New Social Movements

Abstract

This study centers on gastro-anxiety which is described as the social sentiment that focuses on food as a sub-section of new social movements. Gastro-anxiety describes the anxiety on individuals and social groups by the food and drinks that they consume. The scope of this study on gastro-anxiety is determined by four culinary movements which are easily accessible on internet. The common
characteristic of these movements and the reason why this study covers them are that they are among the new social movements that focus on food and environment. The hypothesis of this study is that gastro-anxious individuals are aware of the culinary movements that try to relieve their anxiety. The study has been supported by a questionnaire. The focus group of the questionnaire was Gastronomy and Culinary Arts students of Beykent University and it was carried out between April and May 2016. The questionnaire aimed at measuring the gastro-anxiety of the students from different perspectives. Among the things that were measured were the students’ awareness of the opinion leaders of social movements. The findings of the study were that the gastronomy students were highly anxious but they also are aware of the gastro social movements and that they follow their activities closely. For this reason, it emerges as an important research area as to whether it is the gastro-anxiety that creates gastro social movements or the other way around. While this study has not investigated this particular causal link empirical studies in the future will show how the causal link works.