The amalgamation of media use practices and food practices in a school setting: Methodological reflections on doing non-media-centric media research with children

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how the amalgamation of media use practices and cooking practices can be studied and to what extent a ‘laboratory set-up’ can inform us about mundane practices. Empirically, the article draws on interventions implemented in 6th- and 7th-grade home economics classes in three Danish schools. The children cooked, recorded their cooking using iPads and created food videos for YouTube. The article contributes to the ongoing methodological discussion regarding how to study media use in a highly medialised society. The theoretical point of departure is non-media-centric media studies and practice theory. The conclusions suggest that adopting a practice approach in performing this kind of empirical research can be fruitful in facilitating tacit knowledge, practical sense, and routinised procedures across media use practices and non-media-related practices.