ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of the state in creating 'a good life' in its social democratic version has enjoyed widespread support and that it may be changing rather than disappearing. It demonstrates the changing forms of regulation of food consumption in Norway. The chapter shows how regulatory strategies emerge as part of cultural, political, and economic processes which are highly influential, not only on the shaping of the strategies but also on their success. The empirical point of departure is a series of observations about Norwegian food culture made through cross-country comparisons as well as in-depth national studies. One comparative study is about the daily patterns of eating in the Nordic countries. A number of studies of nutrition and food policy have also been drawn on. The contrasting cases of fat and sugar show how this path-dependency is strongly linked to the ways in which food consumption and food policies were institutionalized.
