More than a meal: commensality and belonging in a community kitchen

This dissertation examines how commensality within the community kitchen De Grote Tafel shapes a sense of belonging among participants and volunteers. Situated within broader debates on social eating, social cohesion, and belonging, the study explores how the social infrastructure enables convivial encounters among relatively unfamiliar individuals.

The ethnographic, participatory design, combining participant observation and in-depth semistructured interviews, allowed for close engagement with everyday practices such as cooking, table selection, service, and informal interactions during meals, capturing both observed behaviours and lived experiences of commensality.

The findings show that commensality at De Grote Tafel fosters strong moments of conviviality, recognition, and mutual care, contributing to a situational sense of belonging. Participants experience the kitchen as welcoming and non-judgemental, which enhances self-esteem and feelings of being at home. Volunteers play a central role in shaping this atmosphere through attentive service and informal interaction. At the same time, relationships largely remain confined to the temporal and spatial boundaries of the kitchen, indicating that belonging is often situational rather than extending into deeper social ties beyond the meal setting.