Contemplative practices have been a useful part of my learnings in this class. They have been useful for me to think back on what we have learned in the class and reflect on it and what it means to the world at large and connect ideas. One of the things that sometimes happens during the contemplative practices is my mind… Read more »
My first reaction to the contemplative practices was distaste because I found them trivial. I still feel that way, though I do think they are premised upon a central point which I do find valuable. That premise is that it is valuable for one to imagine their own place within the larger industrial food network. I think that both the… Read more »
After watching countless Fabio cameos for ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter!® ’ commercials, I started thinking more about how gender and aesthetic beauty is playing a role in food commercials. Why did a margarine producing companying need a gorgeous man to sell its products?’ Well, there were many answers, but during my contemplative time, I thought of a different… Read more »
Realizing as a society that global concerns currently being dealt with are truly connected will be key in fixing our eventual food and water crisis. Contemplative practices have enlightened me on issues such as world hunger and helped give an appreciation for the amount of energy it takes just to get food to the table. Nonetheless, I couldn’t fully integrate… Read more »
As part of a contemplative practice, I was offered cacao to taste as I watched a video on the way cacao was retrieved for the use of large western companies. The video exposed the exploitation of child labor in the Ivory coast and the harsh labor conditions of workers surrounding cacao production. As the video came to a close for… Read more »
Walking into class with an empty stomach was an interesting practice for me because I try to regularly fast and meditate on my relationship with food and how this affects my relationship with myself and with others. However, contemplating in class, in a mass group of individuals, struck me as a unique experience in that l did not even know… Read more »
Bring back Grace? Could saying grace an OG form of mindful eating? Over the course of the class we have been doing intermittent mindful eating practices. During our last one, I was reminded of my childhood when we traditionally said Grace before meals (though we were a secular family). This was a time when we came together, holding hands, smiling at… Read more »
As seen in our first contemplative practice, Sun-Maid raisins hardly need any maids to be harvested anymore. Compared to the raisin industry a few decades ago, the industry today is largely mechanical and technical. We utilize huge harvesting tractors that do all the work of picking and sorting the grapes, and are stored in huge quantities to undergo the dehydration… Read more »
The contemplative practice on international trade, global inequities and chocolate stands out to me. I am a fan of chocolate. Less so of the fact that having the privilege to eat chocolate on a relatively frequent basis is one of the signs of the inequality in wealth that pervades the international system of trade, and the world in general. Readily… Read more »
I never would have guessed that holding a raisin in my mouth for about five minutes would change the way I can think about how and what I eat. Or, how contemplating what I ate for breakfast- a simple task could really open the door to seeing all the underlying systems and layers of politics within food. What I… Read more »