ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the persistent opposition between theory and applied work to contemplate more fully the experienced tension. It focuses on illuminating and problematizing the work of theorizing in the practicality of the work that needs doing. To illustrate the role of theory, as well as the parameters of practitioner dilemmas, the chapter explores two very different examples of failure. It then focuses on the goals and tensions surrounding food choices, the routines and practices of eating and, finally, on our client's brand challenges and opportunities. The report and edited media was too much ethnography of parenting through food and not enough, on the implications for the brand team's business issues. It is fair to say that it failed to engage with at least the first idea; the term 'trust' does not appear once in our hundred-pag.
