Browsing by Author "Miikkulainen, Saara"

Although its importance has decreased, milk is still an important part of Finnish food culture. Ethical and climate reasons have caused a decrease in the use of milk in the recent years, as milk production impacts the environment significantly. The purpose of this research was to find out what kind of role milk has played and still plays in Finnish society. An analysis of the “Yhteishyvä” magazines between the years 1950–2022 was conducted to find out what kind of milk related content is in the magazines and how the use of milk has changed over the years. Milk has previously been studied, for example, from the perspectives of consumption and nutrition while, in this study, magazines were chosen as the research material, because by studying them one can access both the past and present time, and milk has not yet been studied from this perspective. A total of 98 of Yhteishyvä magazines were selected as material, in which 95 articles, 42 advertisements and 31 food recipes were examined in detail. The material was collected from the microfilms of the National Library and the newspaper collections of the Pasila Main Library. The milk related themes found in the data were analyzed with data-driven content analysis using thematization. The practices related to milk were analyzed by applying practice theory. Themes of milk production, food culture, health and responsibility were found in Yhteishyvä magazines. In the production theme, the appreciation and mechanization of livestock farms were emphasized, while in the food culture theme, selling, consumption, everyday life and food trends were found. In the health theme, hygiene was initially emphasized, and since the 1970s, special diets were discussed increasingly. Responsibility contents were found in the 21st century magazines. Elements of practice theory found in the magazines were materials, skills, and meanings. Materials such as milk packaging became more hygienic over the years. Competences, like information about the health or environmental effects of milk, was increased. Among the meanings, the importance of milk was emphasized especially earlier on because milk was considered central to Finland's self-sufficiency. The change in the contents of the magazines can be seen as describing the general milk related trend in Finland. Although the importance of milk decreased over the years, it is still a strong part of Finns’ everyday practices.