Walking on Eggshells: The Balancing Act of Temporal Work in a Setting of Culinary Change

This dissertation investigates the temporal aspects of food organizing by examining two organizational settings in which actors aim to promote sustainable food initiatives. While a broad number of organizational perspectives applied to study the culinary field, the role of time and temporality in has remained largely implicit in these discussions. Studying how culinary organizations and organizational actors strategically engage with time, the dissertation is guided by the following question: How do organizations and organizational actors construct and manage temporal structures in a setting of culinary change?
The findings of the dissertation are based on a qualitative case study, conducted in two different empirical settings that each capture organizational efforts to promote sustainable food initiatives. Both studies reflect an ethnographic approach, consisting of interviews, observations, and organizational documents. The dissertation consists of three papers that each aim to capture how organizational actors engage in temporal work in different and complementary ways and settings. In doing so, the dissertation aims to extend current theoretical understanding of how time constitutes an important resource for organizational action, while also highlighting unintended consequences of temporal work.