Origins

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) 

I'm taking this class because I'm a people-person.
One day, I'm going to become a physician. But for me, I'd want to help people heal with an emphasis on prevention. Food ought to be our first medicine, and it can can heal us up to a certain point of imbalance, when drugs are then called in because the compounds naturally found in food aren't enough to fix the problem.

Food is complex. It's political, emotional, socioeconomic, familial, symbolic. It reflects on your personality, upbringing, morals, values. Food choices are ritual, sacred, traditional, subject to criticism, both self and from others. Food is an everyday choice, a struggle or joyful experience for some, an afterthought for others. But you are what you eat, and many health issues are traced to food; healing is linked to nutrition. We can't separate our diseases, disorders, and woes from something we are so close to. So, what people choose to eat, and consequently in some manner, their health, is affected by all these considerations and connotations of food.

A Sampling of Complexities Related to "Food"

"Vegans, reductionist theory, accessibility, vitamins, deficiencies, diets, obesity, disadvantaged people, soy/rice/gluten-free, high fructose corn syrup,  corn sugar, lawsuits, disorders, factories, organic, free-trade, monopolies, agribusiness, environmentalism, social bonds, culture, but most of all, attitudes."

So one key to healing is food choices, and what influences food choices...

• Take sugar for example. What is the difference between the allure and hype of lollipop purchased at a gas station and a lollipop, premium perhaps, purchased at Dylan's Candy Bar? Why do people show a statistically significant preference for a food that sounds "homey?" 
• Food deserts...food inequity. Why is finding fresh, affordable food, specifically fruits and vegetables, more of a challenge for poorer people than richer people? Why is socioeconomic status the most revealing factor in rates of health problems?
• Fast food, slow food, organic, fair-trade, conventional.  Health education. Nutrition, reductionist theory. Why are our food choices so complex? Does our obsession with labelling, calorie counts, and ideas of healthfulness spurred on by near-meaningless labels like "natural flavors" and "fat-free" spur people to make less-than ideal food choices? Do we shy away from information or embrace it?

And what is language's role in this? Language: names. Myths, stories, advertising, promises, information, associations, ideals. We talk about food, and that has an obvious hand in our food choices. We are told about food, we learn about food, and we are advertised to.

That's why I'm in this class! I want to learn about how we communicate about food influences how we perceive food, and maybe shed a bit more light on how we choose food.

Language background: English, Vague knowledge of French, Rediscovering Cantonese, Smattering of Mandarin, Comprehension of Vietnamese.

Food background: fascination with fruits; love of pastries; food as a cultural tradition; research of food and connection to environment; Eating Animals PWR class; interest in psychology of food choice, idiosyncrasies, and food production.