Skippy the ‘Green’ Kangaroo: Identifying Resistances to Eating Kangaroo in the Home in a Context of Climate Change

This thesis examines eating kangaroo in the home. Many environmentalists are advocating eating kangaroo as mitigation and adaptation response to climate change. While the kangaroo industry has conducted research on eating kangaroo, no research has thought about the body-spatial relationships of eating kangaroo in the home. Adopting Elspeth Probyn’s concept of ‘the spatial imperative of subjectivity’ the discursive and visceral responses to eating kangaroo in the home are conceptualised in terms of the socially accepted body. Drawing on a range of qualitative methods, this thesis explores the food cultures of 28 adults drawn from across metropolitan Wollongong. Interpretation of responses to semi-structured interview questions employed descriptive statistics, content and discourse analysis. Valuable insights are provided into how domestic food cultures and food pathways intersect with understandings of climate change and discursive as well as visceral knowledge of eating kangaroo. The conclusion returns to the aims of thesis, outlines the policy implications of the results and sets a future research agenda.