I think that the concept of contemplative practices are really helpful, for allowing space to digest complicated emotions that arise when discussing the vast issues within the world food system. In conversations that center around inequality, injustice, gender, violence, poverty and capitalism; I find it a necessity to have space for each person to digest the material in their own way. Contemplative practices allow that space, either guided with your activity or by just sitting in the dark and turning the world out for a moment.
We, as students, are given a greater opportunity to comprehend the information that is being presented to us, when we are able to clear our minds and be present. Maybe that means sitting in the dark and eating a raisin, while listening to Professor Litfin read A Raisin in the Sun by Langston Hughes. Maybe that means, ignoring all of that and closing your eyes, letting those 10 minutes run by without the worries of being a student drag you down. Either way, I have enjoyed having a few moments to decompress in class.