Prof. Jackie Botterill in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film has received a Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS) grant to study eating in cars.

In an age when many Canadians are spending more time in their cars commuting to and from work, locked in traffic jams and ferrying their children to various activities, it’s becoming more common to eat in cars.

The research explores the nutritional quality of foods and beverages consumed in the car. It considers the impact of car diets on health concerns, such as obesity, and the role eating in the car might play in distracted driving and auto accidents.

Botterill will observe the interiors of parked cars to document evidence of food and beverage consumption in an attempt to understand the nature of this relatively new context of eating in cars in Canada.

“Eating in the car is now an everyday practice for millions of Canadians, linked to variety of risk factors, yet few empirical studies of this phenomena exist,” Botterill said. “By supporting this research, CRISS enables the creation of baseline measures of potential interest to many stakeholders.

“I am excited by the prospect of taking these initial research steps towards building a greater understanding mobile eating cultures. The research also provides an important point of comparison to my other research focused on the practices and discourses of eating at the table.”