A Crisis of Energy: War and Heat in the Professional Kitchens of North East England

Maclean, Gavin; Hill, David

Abstract

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 led to a dramatic increase in energy prices in the UK. Chefs interviewed in the North East of England were found already struggling with post-lockdown re-opening, now huge energy bills and food shortages as a result of war, and then the conditions of a record-breaking heatwave in the summer of that year. This article conceptualises these experiences as a crisis of energy: the re-routing of desire through a consumerist system that is open-ended with war and the production of heat – and that is now collapsing. It is argued that the professional kitchen is situated at the intersection of flows of energy – consumer desire, bellicosity, electricity, the logistical kinesis of commodities – that underpin the everyday practices of the chef but that are now organised in a system of unproductive capitalism that is marked by shocks that disrupt those same practices. In response to the strain of crises, this system has a tendency to perpetuate itself through a retrenchment in consumerist homogeneity and an abandonment of the care and attention required for a convivial and sustainable future – for the food service sector or more broadly.

Citation

Maclean, G., & Hill, D. (online). A Crisis of Energy: War and Heat in the Professional Kitchens of North East England. Current Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1177/00113921251324738

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Mar 14, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 14, 2025
• Journal: Current Sociology
• Print ISSN: 0011-3921
• Electronic ISSN: 1461-7064
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00113921251324738
• Keywords: Chefs; Consumerism; Food Service; Fossil Fuels; Supply Chains
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/4063534