1.A personal example of when I made a food choice that was impacted by social norms was the last time I had to decide if I should make food or go out to eat. I was with a group of friends so the social norm in this case would be going out to a cheap restaurant and enjoying a nice dinner. The other option which was making food for me and my friends would have been the more sustainable food consumption. Buying food from a local market and cooking it would have been better for us and the environment than ordering burgers at The Tavern in State College. We ended up going out for dinner because it was more normal to all of us.

2.Following the social norm in this case caused us to make a poor food choice decision. The beef at the restaurant most likely was not local and neither were the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. This means that there were resources and energy required to transport that food to the restaurant. Also the vegetable not locally grown could have herbicides and pesticides which have a negative impact on one’s health. If we had made our own burgers, we could have purchased all the food locally and significantly decreased our “food footprint”. This social norm of eating out with others instead of inviting them to eat a meal at home is big in many areas and will eventually cause sustainability problems. If the social norm was to invite your friends over and cook for them there would be significantly less of an environmental impact.