When you think of products you purchase at stores you do not really think about where the actual ingredients come from but instead you just think it comes from just a factory. But the ingredients that are used to make these refined goods come from all around the world. Professor Liftin had us participate in a contemplative practice where we… Read more »
Source: Giulian Frisoni Chocolate, luxurious and decadent, is enjoyed by individuals over global. Our class had the opportunity to taste what makes chocolate into chocolate: the raw cacao. By eating both chocolate and cacao we were able to contemplate global inequities in the world’s food system. While chocolate is rich, cacao is bitter. I savored the cacao, I could taste… Read more »
I have written a few contemplated reflections before, but this class’s focus on fossil fuel contemplation has really caught my attention. There are many talks right now about substituting fossil fuel with electricity as vehicles’ main source of energy. The rise of electric cars, especially the Tesla models, is an example. Although electric energy is usually viewed as a clean… Read more »
Contemplation is seldom prioritized in our world today. It’s not something that I regularly practice in any of my other classes, nor is it something I specifically set aside time for at home. The industrialized food contemplation using raisins was truly a surreal experience. Perhaps it was so bizarre because it was the first one of the class and the… Read more »
Before this class, I had never had a professor engage students in contemplative practices. In fact, I had never heard of such a thing, so when Professor Litfin handed us raisins, turned off the lights, and read us a poem I was initially confused. Although, while sitting with the raisin in my mouth, I began to think “what goes into… Read more »
One of the contemplative practices we conducted was with chocolate. We were given both a piece of chocolate as it would be bought in western world, rich, creamy, and very sweet. Then we were given a piece of raw cocoa, it was bitter, earthy, and coarse. When I ate the piece of cocoa although I enjoyed this new unique flavor,… Read more »
Contemplation is a form of deep, reflective thought which allows one to look at something for a long time, and sometimes in a new light. Everyday we might make choices regarding what we will eat for breakfast or whether to go to a restaurant or cook at home, but rarely do we engage in contemplation with our food. As a… Read more »
Building self-awareness through reflective and contemplative practices has allowed me to develop a better understanding of myself and the world around me. In studying world food politics, contemplative practices help me connect the information I learn in lecture to my personal experience. These practices solidify key concepts and personalize the issues we’re learning about. When our class studied hunger, for… Read more »
I never had a class that taught by means of contemplative practice. I did not think they would help put anything into perspective. Sitting in a classroom with 100 other students for a brief period of time never seemed like it would be effective in building a relationship with the food I eat on a daily basis. However, I have… Read more »
How do you feel when you are hungry? Do you get quiet, impatient, how well can you focus? Sitting in class with my trivial hunger sitting deep in my stomach, I had a hard time relaxing, focusing. I found my thoughts wandering to what I was going to eat for lunch. Contemplating hunger in class was very powerful because I… Read more »