1) For years I have always been careful with the type and amount of food I have consumed. Being involved with sports since I was young has made me have to watch what I eat, however it has not always been easy. When I arrived at college I made a lot of new friends but not all of them are as cautious of what they eat as I am. Making a midnight run to the local pizza shop is kind of a norm among college kids and of course I wanted to fit in with my new friends. It was difficult at first for them to understand why I didn’t want any food because for them it was like I was rejecting a friendly offering. Eventually I caved and had a slice. This was not me making a choice based on my own personal preferences but rather me being pressured into going with the social norms of college life.

2) Unhealthy eating habits among college students has contributed to obesity all across America. As recently graduated young adults going out into the real world, many will not change their diets. I see people going for two or sometimes three plates of food in the dining commons, it’s becoming excessive. If we keep developing these habits and continuing to eat more than we need, it will lead to an increase in the use of industrial agriculture. Pollution from cattle, farming equipment, and fertilizer will continually grow; not to mention the acres of land that have been lost due to deforestation. I understand eating meals with peers is a good way to socialize but we have to learn how to control ourselves and not letting friends influence what we eat because that’s what they are doing.

One situation in which food choice was influenced by social norms was when my friend decided to become a vegetarian. She learned about the process that meat goes through from the animal to the market and she did not like the process. Along with the existence of media that shows the inhumane methods that exist in factory farms, she decided to stop eating meat. She did not want to support the treatment of animals, such as cows and pigs, where they were inhumanely killed in order to be used for their meat. The treatment of these animals in factory farms is often very poor and the ethics behind these places is not the greatest. It is clear to see that these animals are suffering while they live in these factory farms and this has lead to my friend’s decision to stop eating meat.

One societal issue that vegetarianism relates to is nutrition. With vegetarianism it is important that you still consume the necessary nutrients so that your body can operate and be healthy. Although some people think that it is not possible for people to consume the required nutrients, it is actually rather easy. By looking at the Healthy Eating Plate we can see what an optimal meal should be comprised of. One important factor to mention is that most of your meal should be comprised of fruits and vegetables, rather than being comprised of proteins such as meat, like many people think. Although meat can be important in someone’s diet, it is important to moderate the quantities of what you eat. For vegetarians, moderation is also very important but it is also important to obtain nutrients, which could come from foods such as meat, with other foods that are just as nutritious.

1) Recently I have been exercising more not only to be healthier, but also to look more aesthetically appealing. In order to accomplish this I have been focusing on muscle building. Due to my desire to build muscle I have made the food choice of eating chicken almost twice a day as it is a great source of protein and very low in fat. I never ate that amount of chicken until my friend, who is a body builder, suggested that it was a good food to eat in order to get in better shape. In the world of athletes this is a very common social norm, as for some athletes they will not eat any foods that would cause them to gain fat, sugars, etc. This does show that I am more selfish when it comes to my food choice as I am thinking more about what foods I can eat in order to be in the best shape I can.

2)    In the long run eating the amount of chicken I do everyday is not a source of sustainable food consumption. It may be good nutrition for my health but it will lead to societal issues with the environment. The more chicken I eat, the more chickens there will be that are slaughtered in factories. Chicken production will never end and factories will cause detrimental problems from the greenhouse emissions. I think the social norm should be that we can eat other things besides chicken or even red meat to get our source of protein, and athletes should be educated on alternative diets. Beans are a great source of protein that we could eat that would come straight from the environment. There may be some harm still to the environment from nutrient depletion from all the bean plants, but this would be better than contributing to climate change which affects the entire Earth rather than a piece of land.

Growing up I have always been extremely open to trying new foods.  At I young age people would always comment on how peculiar my taste in food was, as I was enjoying lemon salads, brussel sprouts and fish at a very young age.  However, at school I would dramatically change my eating habits because I was in a lunch room surrounded by my peers who were all still in the phase of wanting chicken fingers and french fries for every meal.  I spent most of middle school eating hot lunch or fries and a chicken patty a lot of the times with a side of corn which I now know to receive the largest subsidy at about 4 billion dollars.  This social norm became apparent to me through the socialization that occurred while sharing meals with them.  Feeling out of place when I did not eat the same foods as them made me change my eating habits at school.

Looking back at the situation I was in during middle school I realize how dangerous that outlook on my eating could have been on my life if it stuck through high school.  If I continued to eat the typical burger and fries hot meal lunch every day my body would have definitely started taking a toll.  The sad part is, this happens to a lot of teenagers, and obesity becomes an issue, especially in public schools.  Not only could obesity become an issue but a lack of eating, also known as anorexia, as a result of the lack of healthy options could also become an issue.  It is widely known that the food options in public schools are not usually the healthiest, and it can become detrimental to the health of teenagers in the United States.  First of all, the food offered in public schools is not healthy to begin with, but of the food offered the healthiest option should be the social norm of what students are eating.  According to the module a basic nutritional need is to eat animal based food less frequently than plant based foods, and in a school cafeteria that is not an option.

1. This learning activity is very interesting because I can think of several situations that I personally have experience with food choices. I think that the most important one that I experienced and still do would be being a college student with little time. Ever since I have started college I feel that I do not make good food choices. I think that because I do not live at home I no longer have homemade meals as much or even healthy meals. Juggling time with work, classes, homework, cleaning, hanging with friends and family and along with anything else it makes it much harder. I think that it is easier for me to get fast food, food at the cafe at my college, or anything that is fast. The only times I usually have homemade meals is when I go home to visit my parents other than that I don’t have the chance to make my own food. I think that nowadays it is much more complicated for college students to have homemade meals especially if you live in a dorm. I hope that I can come up with a better way to be able to eat healthier.

2. The societal issue would connect to my food choice in the paragraph above would be making unhealthy decisions and wasting food. Relying on fast food is not good because it leads to health problems and consuming more food which is considered wasting food. The reason why America has so many people who are obese is that everyone prefers something fast and easy or we just don’t have enough time to make our own food. Now the social norm would be making better food decisions so one can eat healthier which relates to not wasting as much food. The reason is the healthier that one eats the less food that will be consumed because healthier food fills someone up more. Overall, it is best to manage time to be able to manage the amount of food one consumes and so that one can have time to prepare their own homemade meals.

FoodChoiceSocialNorms

1. In college, I have made a lot of adjustments when it comes to my food consumption. Prior to coming to Penn State, I was on a pretty strict diet because of dance, and I also had family that cooked for me every day. The food pyramid was followed religiously, and I rarely ate fast food, unless I really had no other option. When I got to school, the opposite happened. I found myself being so busy and unable to find time to cook full meals for myself. I then turned to the lifestyle that I saw the majority of my peers following. This lifestyle is way more fast paced, and grease seemed to be a new food group on my food pyramid. Now, I eat McDonalds and at other fast food restaurants more frequently, just to nourish my body. The social norm when you are a young, college student is to eat unhealthily and make it through school. I have so far done a good job fitting that stereotype.

2. The social norm which is connected to the food choice would be the overconsumption of food, leading to obesity. As previously mentioned, it’s socially acceptable for me to eat unhealthy because I am in college and have a lot of loans. However, my poor eating habits are the gateway into becoming part of the public health issue which is obesity. An additional societal issue that influences what eat is the lack of access to fresh food. In Pittsburgh, some farmers markets were discontinued, and others brought a scarce amount of produce. This is a direct result of poor crops, which now allot more opportunity for people to buy fast food instead of fresh produce from the farmers markets. Given this connection, I think that the new social norm for college students should be discounts on produce, maybe even incentives for eating natural food. Most college students like free and discounted items, so this may improve long term-effects in society. As for the farmers markets in Pittsburgh, I see a huge collective action problem which can only be fixed by increasing biodiversity to potentially grow more food to sell.

3. 

When entering high school, I was forced to choose a book to read in the summer that came from the 10^th grade summer reading book list. Some of my older friends, as well as my librarian, recommended I read Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. While reading this book, I was scarred from the graphic descriptions and horrible facts about factory farming, assembly-line slaughter, but more intensely, my empathy for animals that were suffering. After finishing it, I undoubtedly changed the way I eat food, specifically meat tremendously. Not only did I change my habits of eating, but everyone who read the book was changing theirs as well. My librarian was so passionate about this book; he was encouraging every one in my high school to read it, even if it wasn’t required off the summer book list. One book was written so clearly, almost everyone was changing the way they ate meat. This social norm was turning some students into vegetarians and others into vegans. I never knew a single book could have such a large impact on a whole community.

Drawing on content from this module, there are similar connections between my food choice and societal issues. Nutrition is one key societal issue that is connected to the way I changed my eating habits into vegetarianism. From the information, the Healthy Eating Pyramid shows/says that animal based food such as meat, dairy, and eggs should, in general, be eaten less frequently than plant-based foods. Being a vegetarian, I follow this healthy eating pyramid perfectly. From the Healthy Eating Plate, the largest portion is vegetables. Luckily, my diet consists of a lot of vegetables and fruits that I put in my salads. I get my healthy protein, which is the second largest portion by eating beans as well as nuts and some cheese. Based on my standards of eating, I personally believe the social norm should be vegetarianism, or at least cutting back on a remarkable portion of meat consumed. Animals are people too and should not suffer through abuse and slaughter. There are a variety of different food options to eat rather than meat.

A huge social norm, especially here in the United States is fast and convenient food.  You can’t drive down the street or turn on the television without seeing an example of fast food or a quick and cheap mentality when it comes to food.  Just like many others I have fallen victim to this social norm; and more so than I’d like to admit.  I can recall just last weekend an instance occurred where fast and convenient food prevailed.  It was late and I was tired from a long day.  I was perfectly capable of cooking food that I recently bought from the grocery store earlier in the week. Instead, I chose the more convenient and faster option to order food and have it delivered to me by a local delivery service.

With my choice of ordering fast and convenient food delivery, can be broken down to different societal issues.  First, by implementing a delivery driver, I further add to the carbon emissions, thus adding to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.  This relates to what we learn in how the transportation of foods causes a lot of environmental pollution, especially with air pollution.  Another issue explored with my food choice was nutrition.   By picking a fast and convenient food, I’m also picking a less nutritious and lower quality of food, over picking a fresh choice I had from the farmer’s market.  Although, having fast and convenient food is a great option to have, I would like to see a new social norm to cooking fresh local produce and meat. Along with people having their own gardens. Doing this will increase nutrition intake, which will hopefully reduce obesity here in the United States.  ConvenientFood

Before going to Penn State, I hardly ever ate Chinese food and I never had sushi before. Freshman year, my roommate was Korean and has always eaten sushi and other various types of Korean food which I have never ate before. He influenced me all the time to eat the food that he is use to eating and I was quickly influenced by his societal norm of food. The societal norm for their culture is to always eat rice with every meal. That was something I’ve never done, but was influenced by that societal norm and got rice on many occasions with my meals. In food choice, it discussed that one way you pick your food is because of the environment you are in. I was in an environment where the person I ate meals with every day, ate every meal with rice and therefore I started to eat a lot more rice as well.

One societal issue in the world is hunger; there are a lot of people in the world that don’t know when their next meal is going to be. The choices we make about our food are sometimes based on the environment around us. Rice is a grain and is one of the most consumed staple foods for a lot of people in the world. It can be given to people in need of food and will give people the necessary calories they need. Another societal issue is poor nutrition; people aren’t getting the right nutrition because they are eating the wrong foods or too much of one food. The societal norm of what Asians eat which is rice or noodles, vegetables, and some type of meat will give you a lot of the nutrition you need every day.

Every day, I have the choice on what to consume. Should I go for the healthy salad from the dining hall or the processed meat on a hoagie from the deli down town? More often than not, I choose the faster, easier, and most times less expensive choice. I am definitely very educated on the subject of what foods are healthy, what foods contain healthy components, and what foods I absolutely should not eat, but I still cannot seem to keep myself away from the especially bad foods. I think that part of this social norm is our generation’s access to high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt foods as well as our ideas about instant gratification. Of course the foods that contain the worst ingredients taste the best, and my peers, as well as myself, can’t help ourselves when we are tempted to reach for a bag of chips instead of a bag of carrots.

I think a lot of this can connect to the issues of obesity as well as the problems with industrial farms. To begin with, because of all the reasons that I have listed above, more and more people across the world are classified as obese or overweight. This creates an issue because unhealthy people means more money spent on health and wellness rather than education, or funding new ideas or research. Secondly, the bad-for-you foods are generally mass-produced in huge industrial farms or processed in similar facilities. As the short video, The Meatrix, showed, these Agribusinesses are wiping out smaller, healthier farms. The huge corporations are hurting our planet in many ways. First, they are destroying the environment through pollution. Secondly, they are harming the human population by pumping us full of unknown chemicals as well as processed foods. Last, they are helping to deteriorate the local economies of many places globally. I think that the social norms should be changed so that it is easier and more desirable to eat in a healthy, sustainable way.

1. I grew up here in Schuylkill Haven. My eating habits normally consist of microwavable meals and fast food. One reason why I eat this way is because of the work schedule of my father. The reason why the work schedule is an influence to the way I eat is because my mom would have to make supper at two different times. If she makes it for me, it will be too early for my dad and might have to be reheated for when he gets home. If we make it for when he gets home, I might be in class or have already eaten because of being hungry. Another reason why we do this is because it is convenient and quicker than making a home cook meal. We normally have home cooked meals on holidays.
2. I think the society issue that would impact my food choose is obesity. Since I only eat one big meal a day and only get exercise when I walk from the parking lot to class and then from class back to the parking. The food that I choose to eat is way too convenient for me and has a lot of preservatives in it. These preservatives are not healthy for me in the long run. This is a bad combination since I am young and my mom’s side of the family has heart condition in it. I am trying to eat healthier but with my class schedule and my father’s work schedule, this seems to be impossible. I could possibly eat healthier by eating a salad at the Hidden Café between classes.
3. 

When I was younger, my relatives from Mississippi came to visit my family up North. Besides the accent, the most noticeable difference between the family norms was the entrée dishes and family recipes. When my relatives cooked dinner, most of the meals consisted of barbeque with unfamiliar seasonings and many fried pieces of chicken. Everything we ate was rolled in flour, tasty, and kept you full for hours at a time. I was also never allowed to have only one helping, the more I ate the happier my relatives felt. One of the norms I noticed through the cooking and eating habits of my southern relatives was what they called “Southern Hospitality.” My relatives were very friendly, outgoing, and warm people and they definitely didn’t want anyone to go hungry. The hearty dishes also made sure of this. The idea behind the greasy-home cooking was to make sure everyone felt at home, comfortable, and well fed. The hospitality in their personalities was portrayed through their desire to serve hearty southern cooking.

Although my relatives’ dishes were delicious, they were not the healthiest. Many of the ingredients they used were high in calories and low in nutrients. These diets that consist of fried food, oils, and fats are some of the leading causes of obesity. The Southern states make up the highest levels of obesity in the country because of the “soul food” that is customary to the southern culture. “Southern Hospitality” is a great feature of the South, but the residents in the South should try and lessen the use of these unhealthy foods. There are ways to demonstrate hospitality while serving healthy foods; for example, serving grilled chicken instead of friend chicken, or lessening the amount consumed at each serving. Because so much of that “Southern Hospitality” is associated with the warm personalities more so than the food they serve, to be able to make the Southern experience about the people you encounter instead of the food eaten would be a great start to limiting obesity in these states.

This is a very interesting time for this module to come up because I am currently not eating any meat in my diet. For the religious holiday of Lent, which lasts for 40 days, I have given up eating all meat. This has been a very interesting experience because I am going against the social norm. The social norm in this area, (Penn State, University Park), is that everyone eats meat. When you choose not to eat meat you are in the minority of people, and often times people treat you differently for it. Whenever I tell someone that I am not eating meat they look at me like I have 5 heads. No one wants to feel as if they are different or acting weird, so they just go along with the social norm. They will do anything to be “normal” even if it means eating certain foods, which is how this social norm affects food choice. I am going against the norm, and trying to stay strong with my own eating habits.

The social norm in this situation is that everyone eats meat. If this is the norm and people want to be “in the norm” then this leads to more people choosing to eat meat. By choosing to eat meat, this effects many societal issues in the United States, a major one being climate change. The world’s climate is constantly increasing, and eating meat has a lot to do with that. Not only does transporting the meat create pollution, but cows produce methane gas while digesting the food the eat. In the US, cows produce more greenhouse gas then 22 million cars in a year. All of this greenhouse gas goes up into the atmosphere and plays a huge role in the climate change. The social norm should be that everyone eats more fruits and vegetables, and not meat. If the social norm was to not eat meat, then less people would do it, and the demand for meat would decrease. This would lead to feeding less cows, and ultimately les green house gas released into the atmosphere.

As Americans, we live in a society bred by the glamour of convenience. We are accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it. Waiting is something akin to a deadly sin. We need it right here, right now, because our time is important. Gotta have time for Netflix, I guess. We buy our meals from fast food restaurants, we buy any type of produce at anytime of year, seasons or regions be damned. Transportation costs and under ripe produce are no concern to us. I say this ever so slightly tongue-in-cheek, but perhaps even one day we will buy food pre-chewed, to save the time and inconvenience of actually eating our food. This social norm is what has prompted my family to grow a significant portion of our own food. We eat what is is season and what comes from our gardens. When we do by produce, we strive to buy what is locally grown. Our protein sources are either hunted or fished by myself, or bought from local farms as well. It is certainly not cheaper, but it is a much more socially and ethically responsible choice.

By choosing to act as “locavores” my family and I are actively contributing to a sustainable food consumption model. It is truly not that difficult to do, even here in the pacific northwest. It takes no more effort to shop at a farmers market or co-op as it does to shop at the local mega-mart. Not only is the food you purchase pesticide and herbicide free (in a majority of cases), but it is picked closer to its peak ripeness, imparting more beneficial vitamins and minerals in the food itself. Additionally, this locally grown food is not being trucked across the nation or world, reducing the cost of excess greenhouse gasses passed off through vehicle emissions as well as the cost of the fuel the vehicles consume delivering the produce. By choosing to consume locally grown, seasonal foods we can substantially reduce our carbon footprint while at the same time stimulating our local economies and improving the quality of the food we consume.

This past summer, I attended a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game with my dad and sister. Throughout the game, vendors holding large buckets of popcorn, hotdogs, peanuts, and beer roamed around the stands looking for sales. After a couple innings I found myself getting quite hungry, and gladly bought a hotdog and peanuts from the vendor. If I had other options for what to eat for lunch, I almost certainly wouldn’t have picked a hotdog. However, I was at an MLB baseball game, and these types of food are synonymous with attending games. The peer pressure to eat the typical baseball fan food and the lack of other meal options led me to choose the hotdog. This system is set up to benefit a wide range of organizations, from the stadium owners to the owners of the factory farms where the meat for hotdogs came from. By not allowing fans to bring in their own food, the stadium owners leave no option to the fans other than buying from the vendors and thus funding the system.

The limited and unhealthy food options available at major sports stadiums in the US ultimately support a number of serious societal issues. By purchasing, and then selling the hotdogs and hamburgers that are so common at baseball games, stadium owners are supporting factory farming. By keeping the demand for such foods high, the baseball industry is encouraging and perpetuating the practice of factory farming. Additionally, all of the uneaten food that is made in baseball stadiums is simply thrown out. Such negligent waste of food harms the environment by creating more waste and dangers down the road. I think that in order to work towards solving this problem, the governing body of the MLB should pass rules that require stadium owners to offer a wider variety of foods, including more nutritionally rich foods. Another way to help attenuate this problem would be to allow fans to bring their own healthy snacks into the stadiums.

1. Being an average college student, I am always rushing from class, to work, to meetings, and just hanging with friends that I don’t have much time to prepare food in a healthy manner. Even though the dorm I live in has a full kitchen on the ground floor, I don’t have time to buy food to prepare there because I’m not sure if I’ll use those ingredients again or just use them in general. It’s a lot easier for me to go get things premade or made in front of me because it’s so convenient. I actually find myself eating a lot better and healthier when I go home for break because I have so much more time on my hands. What’s frustrating is that I like to make my own food when I’m at home but with my current living situation and time constraints it’s hard for me to manage a healthy eating style. It seems today that a lot of college students just don’t have the time to prepare healthy food and make smart decisions about what to put in their mouths.
2. This norm connects to the societal issue of nutrition and industrialized agriculture. When people choose quick and easy eating options they usually choose unhealthy and processed foods. Also, when there are so many convenient food options in front of us people are more likely to order more food than they actually need and in turn wasting a lot of food. This poor diet results in obesity which is a growing problem all over the world and especially in America. The food pyramid attempts to inform people what we should be eating every day and how much of each portion is considered healthy. This social norm also relates to the concept of industrialized agriculture because the crops we produce are high in calories, sugar and fats. When we mainly eat this type of food it leads to poor diet and nutrition across our country. It’s important for people to monitor what they’re eating and know where it comes from in order to make healthy decisions.

1.In high school I started hanging out with a new group of girls that took me to a sushi restaurant in my hometown. This was the first time I tried sushi and I didn’t understand why the portions were so small, but the food was so expensive. I remember being very hungry that night but only ordered one sushi roll because that’s what everyone else ordered. I was not a fan of the raw fish and the tiny portion but acted satisfied because I wanted to fit in. I grew up with a big, plentiful garden in my backyard and primarily ate home grown, local foods. My family rarely went out to dinner and we lived a locavore lifestyle. All of our veggies, meats, eggs, and cheeses came from a good family friend that farmed locally.

2.Although sushi is acknowledged to be a very healthy dish, the sources of ingredients are unknown. China, India, and Indonesia are among the leading rice producers in the world.The modern industrial production of rice is requiring pesticides which can negatively effect consumers and surrounding communities. Sushi is also made with exotic raw fish which correlates to over fishing leading to negative human impacts on the environment. I also felt obligated to eat less because the girls I were with were very self conscious about body image. I went outside of my typical, locally produced diet to please social norms. It is important to know where your food is coming from and although I am one to always try something new, I believe we should be focusing on sustaining the surrounding community’s agriculture, instead of supporting the mass production and globalized food industries. We should also believe in our own virtues and intuitions while being more aware of how social influences are affecting our decision making process.

1. Growing up, my family operated a cattle ranch. We had nearly 100 head of cattle and a few emu’s. My family also hunted for deer, turkey, and we spend a lot of time fishing. Most of the protein we ate came from the cattle we raised or the fish and game we hunted. Since what we ate was what we raised or hunted ourselves, waste was not an option. We never took more than we needed and shared with others what we could. From a young age my brother and I were taught to respect the land, to never take more than we needed to ensure a healthy population of animals to harvest the following season. Growing up in Texas our main source of fish was bass or catfish. I have never really cared for it but to not eat it was a cardinal sin in my household and against the social norms.
2. With respect to our cattle operation, all of our animals were free range. By that I mean we did not feed them grain or hay. They ate from the pasture land that we had cleared and the wooded acreage they roamed. In all we had 150 acres set aside for the cattle to roam and eat freely from the native grasses and plants. We also had 2 acres set aside for our garden. We grew tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, potatoes, and few other seasonal vegetables. This really eliminated the need to shop at a grocery store. With exception of a few items, we were self sufficient. Although the diet was somewhat limited, we learned to appreciate what we had and had almost zero waste. Now that I am older and live in the suburbs, I grocery shop. One thing that has remained the same is my taste for whole, organic foods. Where the societal norm has been to convenience, I never developed a taste for fast food or processed foods. My view on self sufficiency has not changed either. My wife and I are in the process of buying land so that we can revert back to a more self reliant lifestyle and pass that tradition on to our kids.

When thinking about this question, the first person that popped into my head was my aunt. She has four kids and a husband, a very demanding job, and is constantly on the move. This, in turn, seems to affect her food choices. Since she is on the move constantly, she doesn’t have much time to always stop and cook meals for her and her family. With that being said, what is the other option? Fast food. This can very often consist of burgers (along with other meat products) and a lot of fast, cheap, and also pretty unhealthy food choices. The social norm here is the idea of getting her food quick and cheap. In the world we live in today, everyone seems to always be on the move and doesn’t have time to stop and take time for anything that isn’t on their already jam-packed schedule. More times than not, this includes food choices, seeing as though most people will eat three times throughout the day. Quick and cheap often times is the result.

I think the societal issue that could connect to this food choice the most is the issue of obesity. As is stated in the module, there are many different factors that play into the causes of obesity. It could vary from too much food, not enough exercise, genetics, and many other things. There is not one single cause, but having so much unhealthy food that is cheap and readily available at all times definitely doesn’t help matters. It may make things easier at times and seem like a good idea in the moment, but in the long-run it can have extremely negative effects (like the societal issue of obesity). In an attempt to try and fix this, I think the social norm should be working really hard to eat healthier and exercise more. This could encourage people to get healthier and would be a better social norm.

1. In my family, we try to limit our food waste to as little as possible. My father is a

hunter and, for many generations in our family, the males have always have been hunters.

Personally, I feel a little different on the subject of hunting, but I have always been lucky to

have food on the table no matter what it was. My father typically hunts for pheasants, duck,

and deer. These have never been my favorite types of food due to my picky taste, but

because of my culture and social norms of my family I was forced to eat it. It has always

been important that we do not waste food because there are some families that are not able

to put food on the table. Also my parents believe that if the food is good for you and gives

you energy to go on with your day, then there is no excuse not to eat it.

2. Due to my father’s beliefs on hunting and gathering our food, I have to respect what

he does for our family. If I did not respect our family’s social norms and did not eat what

was provided to me then this would be a societal issue of food waste. This is perfectly good

food that would be wasted on behalf of my picky taste. There are many people that are

dying of hunger due to lack of food and if I would not eat this just because I do not like the

taste then it would just be wasting it. Overall, I think that it is important to be grateful for

what I am given even if I do not enjoy it because there are families out there that do not

have what I have to nourish my body.

1. Many times when I go out to lunch or dinner with friends or family, my choice of food is largely determined by what everyone else is getting. For example, if I am out with my friends, I choose meals that have relatively the same amount of food and type of food. If they order a meat product, I normally do too. If they choose to just order a salad, I will too. After reflecting on why I may do this, I have realized that I feel uncomfortable eating more or less than those I am dining with. The social norms this is connected with may be those dealing with portion control and body weight. I do not want to seem like an overeater, or in contrast, a light, stingy eater. In the same way, I do not want to make people feel like they are over or under eating either.

2. Societal issues connected to my food choices are obesity and food waste. Overeating is just one cause of obesity. Other causes include genetics and lack of exercise. Obesity has gotten a lot of media attention recently, specifically childhood obesity. Just as I may feel pressured at times to eat more than I would like, others may be in similar situations, contributing to obesity statistics. However, if people are under-eating, food waste becomes the issue. When this is the case, issues of distributive justice become apparent. Distributive justice is the idea that one chooses foods that leave food for others. For example, it is not uncommon to be reprimanded for not finishing the food on your plate and how this is wasteful to people who cannot afford food. The social norm of portion control and body weight should be adjusted so that body shaming isn’t involved. The norms should center more around the proper nutrition for your own body type and less on desired body types.

1. Social Norms Influence Eating Habits
   1. Throughout high school, there were a lot of social norms that were linked to eating.  One of these social norms was to go to McDonalds after our high school football games.  So, the majority of the people in my grade would go to McDonalds after the games, eat the food made their, drink soft drinks, and celebrate the big win!  It was almost frowned upon if one did not come because people would say things like “everyone is going,” or “what else are you going to do instead.”  These tactics worked and convinced most people, including myself to always be present.  During the time spent at McDonalds, I personally would eat chicken nuggets, fries, and a big mac, along with drink a milkshake.  It is no surprise that none of these things are healthy, but they were satisfying late at night, cheap, and what most other people got as well so I felt I almost had to join in!
2. Social Norm Leading to Societal Issues
   1. The social norm of going to McDonalds definitely can be connected to many societal issues, but two that are relevant to me are finances and obesity.  Clearly the options served at McDonalds are not healthy, and have a high fat content.  There is also an abundance of food, and as seen in Module 6, this leads to obesity.  It is not correct to say that going to McDonalds after games leads directly to obesity, but it is a factor with among other things that can lead to obesity in the future.  For instance, there were about 150 people in my class that would go to McDonalds after the games, and this could inspire other bad eating habits and contribute to the epidemic of obesity in the US.  Another societal aspect this touches on is a financial aspect.  Even though McDonalds is on the cheaper side, going every Friday definitely adds up.  I believe that our finances should be more tightly regulated by the average population, and not waste our money on poor habits such as going to McDonalds.  But, since it was a social norm at the time, none of these things mattered me because I felt I had to go with the crowd.  I think that even though this is a social norm, I don’t think that it should have to be one, or should have to lead to these societal issues.  I believe that people should be more strong willed (including myself) and not follow these norms, or not feel the need to buy food and contribute to obesity or financial problems.
3. System Diagram Linking the Above Issues
   1. 

1. I remember back in High School, a social norm for everyone every morning was to come in with Dunkin Donuts. I drove to school, so every single morning before I went into school I would go through the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru, which was always long because thats was the spot to be in the morning. My large coffee was a must and sometimes I’d add a bagel and/or hash browns in there. It became such a norm because it was convent, it was on the way to school and short term, it was inexpensive. Of course, as you could imagine, over the time frame of the school year, it added up rather quickly. Currently my diet does not consist of any meats or fried foods, just by personal choice. This is a plus because as we read, plant-based diets leads to a more sustainable environment.

2. Consuming Dunkin Donuts everyday, surfaces a lot of societal issues. Two of these issues could be not getting enough necessary nutritional needs and also obesity. There isn’t a wide menu at Dunkin Donuts, you’re most likely either going to get a doughnut, which serves zero nutritional needs, or a breakfast sandwich which is filled with processed meats and egg. Currently one of the largest known factories for Dunkin Donuts is in Illinois, that means theres a lot of food miles and energy being used to deliver such food to all the different locations. Therefore and abundant amount of green house gas emissions from fossil fuel-based transportation is being emitted into our air. People who go to fast-food places on a regular basis are most likely anthropocentric. It’s evident they don’t really care about impacts on the environment based upon their food decisions, except to the extent that the environmental impacts may potentially affect people. If people actually sat back and thought about how much money they were spending on processed foods, that are in essence, creating an unsustainable environment, maybe fast-food popularity would deplete.

3.

• A social norm I have personally experienced in regards to food choice would be in my high school. As a Chinese, It is not exaggerated to say that I do not influenced by any social norm while choosing my food in China. However, when I came to U.S to study in a boarding high school, I have no choice of food. I needed to go to dinning hall to sign in my name, and I ate whatever they provide because we do not allowed cooking in dorm. Most of time they provide salad, chicken breast, and sandwiches with a lot of cheese. I felt ok at the beginning of one or two months, but after a half year I cannot tolerate them anymore. There is only one restaurant near my school that I can work there, and I only can go there during weekend. I like to eat rice, sushi, or noodles, but I have limited choice actually. However, if I do not eat, I will get hungry, and I will have no energy to support my daily work and excises.
• The societal issues that relating to my food choice at high school could be wasting food and lacking of essential nutrition elements. Not only me but also a lot of local students didn’t like the food in dining hall so that they throw away their food, which causing serious food wasting problem, and the kitchen also have food remained. It is hard to estimate how much food was wasted every day. For those students including me, who didn’t eat a lot in dinning hall, always get hungry during night or afternoon so we would like to eat snacks such as chips, and chocolates that contain high calories but low vitamins and minerals instead. The whole process will lead to obesity, losing hair, and some potential diseases. In order to improve these issues, I believe the dinning hall should develop food diversity, and improve the taste of the food they cooked.
• 

1.

A social norm that significantly influenced my food choice began when I came to college. Back at home, my family would mainly eat food that has low sugar and fat and would eat less desserts or snacks. For example, we would eat steam or boiled food rather than friend foods. However, after I came to college, this choice was hard to maintain as dining halls provided foods that have high sugar and fat. Of course, I did eat these kinds of foods before and actually enjoyed them but they weren’t my daily meal. Therefore, when I began constantly consuming high sugar and fat, it ruined my body and health system. The social norm here would be that our society does not provide healthy options when it comes to feeding mass groups of people, like college dining halls. The food choice is mainly connected to convenience rather than health.

2.

The main societal issues that connects to the food choice I addressed above would be the food waste and unhealthy diet. Food waste is one of the biggest problem our world is facing. Each year, one third of all food is wasted and in the U.S alone, 40 million tons of food waste in created. In places like college dining halls, great amount of food goes to the trash as students unthoughtfully take food as they think they can eat but end up realizing they took too much. Food waste is the sad truth in our world. We have many organizations and campaigns that tries to help millions of people who cannot be provided with food. However, unlike how we support these organizations we still create food waste that could have helped those people. Moreover, the food choice clearly serves unhealthy foods that does not encourage healthy diet. Eating high sugar and fat would lead to problems like obesity which is one of the big threats to U.S and which is also leading to the same problem with food waste. We need to appreciate the food we are provided. Through this activity, I concluded that the social norm should be changed to creating and consuming foods that has low sugar and fat and limit the amount of food created in areas that serve big number of people.

3.

A social norm of every kid growing up is to have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch at school. For most kids, it was procedure to have one of your parents pack you a bagged lunch of a sandwich and some snacks and a drink, normally a juice box. The sandwich has been a staple of ones childhood for many generations for several reasons.  It is simple and easy to make, due to the fact that it uses the two, readily available ingredients of bread and peanut butter. In addition, it is not too messy for kids to eat, and can be eaten with your fingers. The peanut butter contains protein, and therefore important nutritional value for children. For these reasons and because of the social norm associated with it, I too also made this delicious sandwich my personal food choice for my school lunches throughout the year. A food item as simple as a peanut butter sandwich can show how influential a social norm can be, and what an impact it has on the choices others can make.

This social norm of a peanut butter sandwich relates most directly to school lunch systems of school districts, and the changes that they have made over the past few years. Due to several factors, such as child obesity, health, and even awareness of allergies like a peanut butter allergy, schools have chosen to put more of an emphasis on the lunches they serve themselves. Many schools have even chosen to implement a rule that bans bringing your own packed lunch, and instead incorporate the costs of a school lunch into tuition. This is to ensure healthy, safe eating, and to prevent those with allergies of having to worry about what others are eating around them. This, in turn, can also relate to food waste, because every kid is obviously not going to like every lunch that is served, and as a result, will end up wasting it when they do not eat it. This new rule benefits those with allergies greatly, but does the food waste have others wishing back the days of the classic packed peanut butter sandwich?

While living in California we made a decision to try to become more self-sufficient. We began growing our own vegetables and started raising chickens and pigs. At the same time we decided to purchase locally sourced items as much as we could. In our community it was a really big deal to provide as much as you can for yourself. What you could not provide for yourself you would trade with someone else or purchase locally. The social norm, obviously, is that it was an unspoken expectation that you would provide for yourself as much as you were able to. The idea was that self-reliance was important to living a healthy and burden free life style. There were no negative repercussions if you decided not to do this but you definitely knew who was and was not a locavore.

The societal issues that the previous paragraph can be connected to are as follows. By becoming more self-sufficient and buying locally sourced products we cut down on emission of greenhouse gasses. The products we produced or purchased came from nearby, most times from right down the road, and were not transported by large fossil fuel burning transports. The products that we produced or purchased also had no GMO’s, growth hormones, insecticides, inorganic fertilizers or antibiotics. What we had was clean food. The meat products we had were all free range and lived happy lives that served a specific purpose. Most of the times we would be able to meet the animal before we purchased it. They were not caged and confined, removed from their natural environment. This ensured that there were no unwanted chemicals entering our bodies or leeching into the environment.

1. A personal experience in which food choice was influenced by the social norm was in high school. The normal thing to eat for breakfast was a bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich from Harborside Deli because it was fast and neighboring my school. For lunch it seemed everybody bought the schools lunch whether it be chicken fingers and French fries or a sandwich from their deli, because they did not have enough time between classes to go out to eat for lunch. Although this food was far from delicious, everyone ate it anyway. Knowing my food intake and my class mates food intake is more than just 1 serving of breakfast and 1 serving of lunch, I would stop at the vending machines located in my school lobby almost 3 times a day and buy candy or chips. This would help entertain me in class as well as others. The influence of my eating habits during high school was simply from time rationing.
2. Eating according to the social norm at my high school came with two societal issues: obesity and not getting enough of certain necessary nutritional needs. A major society issue, especially in the United States, is obesity. My school has the current technology they need to serve us processed foods. These processed foods contain an abundance of fake meat such as my chicken nuggets, preservatives such as the deli section in the cafeteria and actual technology such as friars to fry the French fries and other sides that create the unhealthy eating habits that lead to obesity. On the healthy pyramid, the main consumption is vegetables and the least needed consumption is unhealthy proteins. I find this interesting because most students at my high school are consuming the unhealthiest foods most and the healthiest foods least. For example, I ate cookies, candy, and fried food everyday rather than vegetables and lean protein simply because my school did not offer those types of food. I think if the school is aware that the norm for eating is buying their lunch they should show effort to make improvements in a healthier selection of food to offer.

As a nutrition major I am very conscientious about what foods I am putting into my body, but that is often affected by the food habits of others or social norms. For example, I only consume whole wheat products such as multigrain bread and wheat pasta, but when I go home my family buys standard white flour products. Thus, I have to change my eating patterns and adapt to what others are eating around me. Another social norm that is much more widespread is the tradition of eating large meals during holidays. The Western diet places an emphasis of the consumption of large family meals for special occasions, be it a holiday or even a birthday. In other countries, such as Ireland, Saint Patrick’s day is a day of feasting. To not feast is to be out of the norm. Overall, agriculture plays a large role here in that it brings us enjoyment of foods, as mentioned in the module.

On the other hand, having these large celebrations with an enormous amount of food brings about several societal issues. A major issue is the amount of waste that is often produced when people do not eat all of this food. When humans demand more food, inputs into the agriculture system are required, such as feed for animals and fuel for farming equipment. This also has an environmental impact as more resources are used and gasses are transmitted throughout the air. When this food goes to waste sustainability then becomes an issue. It is a continuous feedback loop, in which humans are in control of their food supply. Sustainability efforts have been on the rise in recent years with an aim to reduce food waste. We cannot necessarily stop people from having large celebrations with food, but we can make society better aware of it. It would make a difference if people made enough food to satisfy one’s hunger instead of having half of it go to waste.

Before College I was a pretty healthy eater. Both of my parents like to cook at home. My father has always been into healthy eating and lifting weights. The norm at my house was to eat in and ensure that every dinner has a green vegetable. However, now that I am in college and in an apartment, I find myself eating out a lot. Like most college students I really don’t cook much. Also being in classes all day, and all my homework, I find that I don’t have much time to cook. As a result I am eating more fast food than I have in the past. My friends always want to go out to eat and socialize and I find myself falling into the eating out trap of college life. When I am eating out at restaurants, I can always hear my Dad’s voice in my head about how unhealthy it is. Recently I find myself trying to eat healthier and not eating out as much, as well as working out. I know Obesity is high in the U.S. and Obesity leads to major health issues such as heart conditions. I love it when I go home and my parents have a home cooked meal for me.

Just like myself, our American Culture has become very busy with dual income households, children’s after school activities and helping children with homework. As a result Americans are eating out more than ever and obesity is on the rise. In addition, eating fast food can be cheaper for households. Most fast-food places have dollar menu’s and you can feed a family of 4 for under $20. The fast paced American culture has resulted in a high demand for restaurants. This is demonstrated in the fact that almost every town in America there are restaurants, and most of them service fast food. When you eat out you have no idea what type of ingredients or fats they are using to cook in. Obesity has become a huge issue in our society today. Obesity leads to major healthy issues.

I tend not to eat differently according to social norms anymore, I try to eat new, interesting things that are also healthy (“YOLO”). However, I do remember instances in a buffet setting where I pick foods that seem socially normal to eat. I usually pick a meat, starch and a vegetable. I used to conform to the social norm of getting a salad before a meal but I have officially given up on thinking that I am going to even eat it. I find it more embarrassing, socially, to have the plate of leafs go uneaten in front of me than not ordering it in the first place. I also tend to portion my foods according to social norms. The inner beast in me wants to fill 3 whole plates of food (preferably 2 filled with creamy mashed potatoes…) The salad food norm I once conformed to was often cheap leaf salad, probably from monoculture fields of romaine lettuce.

After reading this lesson, I realized that most of the food I eat is probably a product of monoculture. As a college student, I buy cheap and in bulk as much as possible just to save a few cents. This habit is practiced by most altruistic college students and most other people I know who still want healthy foods but do not have the money to afford it. I often buy large bags of frozen vegetables from Walmart, the various vegetables are probably grown in acres of fields of just a few, or maybe one, vegetable. Because monoculture is not the best for the environment and its local agriculture, this practice is something I could try to avoid. College students are not the only one to blame for the growth of monoculture, almost everything in a grocery store is probably from a monoculture field. People do this because it is easy. To help change this social norm, awareness can be raised of the importance of buying locally grown products. This not only prevents monoculture but also helps with the local economy and health.

1. After reading this module and thinking about possible scenarios for the learning activity, it is very clear that my food choice is influenced by social norms on an almost-daily basis. When I consider my own food intake and food choice, I would say that I eat more when those around me are eating more, or eat less when those around me are enjoying smaller portions. This social norm is also extended to the type of food as I have chosen specific meals based on what I perceived was the social norm. If I were dining at a fancier restaurant I would probably avoid any finger foods or anything messy, as I believe it to be looked down upon in that type of setting. The influence of social norms on food choices stems from my own innate, sub-conscious desire to fit in. Without even really considering it, my decisions at a restaurant are biased because I wish to associate with a particular group or gain approval. As mentioned in Module 6, socialization is a large part of enjoying food with others.

2. I tend to make my food choices based on the desire to fit in or grain approval from a particular social group. This influence on food choice is also connected to a number of societal issues. A controversial societal issue, as related to food, is animal food products. People consume animal foods for any number of reasons, be it nutrition or just the taste. The societal issues associated with animal foods are connected to collective action problems when a large number of animals are hunted for food. Limiting the amount of animal food in our diet has proven to be nutritious, which could lead to both individual and environmental benefits if we cut back on our consumption. Ultimately, this societal issue brings up an ethical issue in terms of food policy. Sustainability is at risk when a large number of animals from a particular species are hunted and eventually become endangered. Given this connection, the social norm should be to cut back, not cut out entirely, on consumption of animal foods. By working together, sustainability can be achieved while still enjoying our favorite foods.

1. Five years ago, my family and I took a trip to India. Having a father who was born in India and being half Indian myself, I had eaten plenty of Indian cuisine and foods during my life.  But, what one does not realize is how different the meals and food are designed in a different country.  When I was there, breakfast was not too different from the United States.  Hot tea, toast, cereal, and eggs were common.  But the other meals were extremely different.  No one ate a sandwich for lunch.  Dinner and lunch were very similar.  Both consisted of rice, some form of chicken or lamb, vegetables, and hot tea.  Lunch was always slightly smaller though.  The social norm also included no consumption of beef, as the cow is considered a sacred animal in India.  Even at an international food-chain like McDonalds, hamburgers were not served, and instead lamb-patties were.  Beef and beef-products were never sold in any restaurant or home. Instead, people mostly ate chicken, or no meat at all.

2. The idea behind not eating beef and eating similar food for lunch and dinner can be connected to several societal factors. By not eating cows, the people of India are able to use the trophic distribution more efficiently.  Raising a cow compared to a chicken much less energy.  As a result, less energy is lost as one climbs the tropic ladder.  Therefore, more people can eat and survive on the energy saved.  There is no need for the land that would be taken up by cows, or the contaminants as indicated in “The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers”.  In addition, by eating similar food for lunch and dinner, people do not need to buy or make as many products as they would in places like America.  The social norm of not eating beef is one that should continue in other places of the world, as well as the similar diet for lunch and dinner.  Less waste is created if leftovers could be eaten for lunch and dinner, and fewer cows would be treated unethically.
3. 

1. A time in which my food choice was influenced by a societal norm was growing up going to other children’s birthday parties. Most commonly in America, it is normal for a birthday party to end with pizza and cake.  Many times I would eat pizza and cake despite the fact that I did not want to. This was mostly due to lack of another option but also a result of not wanting other people to see me as weird or not normal. I developed a strong interest in eating healthy as I grew older. From a young age, I began to enjoy living a healthy lifestyle. I liked to eat nutritious foods and go running because it made me feel good about myself, gave me energy, and helped with my gastrointestinal problems. I would most often continue to eat pizza and other unhealthy foods at these birthday parties though because there were very rarely any healthy alternatives.

Most often it is normal for our society to not provide healthy options for children and young adults. When feeding mass groups of people, there are seldom healthy alternatives. This can be for cost saving reasons or for the fact that people are usually more inclined to pick the unhealthy foods. People, more specifically children, are forced into these unhealthy food choices like pizza and cake due to society’s acceptance of these foods as what is normal.

2. One of the issues that the situation I mentioned above addresses is our society’s obesity problem. The scenario I spoke about in the prior question is just one of the situations in which societal pressures can cause serious problems. The issue of nutrition is one that is crucial to any nation. America specifically is seeing the massive side effects of growing obesity. Obesity has reached so many parts of the world that it is being considered an epidemic. I believe a lot of this problem starts with the ideas and nutritional values we pass on to our children. If a child’s parents do not monitor in some way the food the child is eating, those unhealthy habits continue into adulthood. By setting an example of healthy living for society’s youth, I believe this problem can improve. Our society is very dependent on the industrial agricultural system in which high calorie crops are the largest quantities.

Another issue that the above mentioned scenario brings up is the matter of monoculture. As I have mentioned, our society is very dependent on high caloric crops such as maize. Producing so much of one crop can be good for the present in cost effectiveness of machinery, but this type of agriculture cannot be sustained forever. Some of the disadvantages include depleting the soil of one set of nutrients and reduced yield stability. Our culture being dependent on high-calorie foods makes us more dependent on a specific set of crops. This causes our agricultural system to become a monoculture.

An odd situation occurred last summer while I was working at a grocery store part time. It is a paradox when it comes to “healthy” food choices, as brands that have the healthy name are not exactly healthy. Today’s social world is all about whole foods and organic foods. Having worked at a grocery store during my first two years of college, last summer I witnessed people purchase the “organic” grapes that were five to six dollars more versus the regular grapes that were half the price, and were no different than the organic grapes. I said to them that they were the exact same thing but they insisted the “organic” grapes were better. I still scratch my head at that today. Today’s norm(s) when it comes to food, I feel, rely heavily on labels than what the actual healthiness of the food can deliver.

Some prominent societal issues today encompasses the anti-GMO movement. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are actually, contrary to popular belief, a way to preserve the food surplus. And, as long as the surplus remains greater than that of the human population, then the use of GMOs will continue until another source is found to sustain food. Think about it: A decade ago, you would not be purchasing exotic fruits year round, but only when they are in season. Grapes, as mentioned in my first paragraph, some of them that come to the stores are evidently huge compared to what they used to be. The quantity of fruit has increased exponentially, and the quality has become safe despite the use of pesticides and GMO. Without the use of GMO on crops, the human population would suffer detrimental consequences, perhaps to the point of widespread famine. I think we as a society take GMO engineering for granted because the norm(s) tell us think about it otherwise.

The use of GMO in commercial food products to sustain the human population of the world. Notice there is a consistent circulation between Human Consumption, to Nutritional Value, to Sustainability. That is a crucial part of the GMO cycle.

1. My father works for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and constantly encourages my family to eat healthy, all natural meals. Therefore, he always buys fruits, vegetables and meats from small family run farms. He consistently lectures us on everything such as the benefits of grass-fed cows versus corn fed cows and the mistreatment of animals at factory farms. Growing up, I was always surrounded by food from small family run farms, which influenced me to want to continue this shopping pattern. The social norm in this situation is my father’s influence on my family’s eating habits of small family run farm products. When I was younger, I remember asking him why certain meats were more expensive, and he would explain to me how different small farms and factory farms prepare and house their animals. This influenced me to want to only eat meats and produce from small family run farms.
2. I understand not everyone is fortunate enough to eat food products of small family run farms, since they can be pricey. In today’s society, a major issue is the increase in amount of industrial agriculture and the decrease in amount of small family run farms. Most people tend to purchase industrial agriculture or factory farms products because they are cheaper and produced in bulk. Although in some ways this can be beneficial, factory farms are notorious for mistreating, spreading bacteria among their animals and polluting the environment. I found it interesting that because factory farms feed their cows corn instead of grass, that more methane is created, which causes greenhouse gasses. Factory farms do not insure if the food being sold is all natural or if the animals were treated in an ethical manner. I believe that if our society creates more small family run farms, instead of increasing the number of factory farms, then people would be able to purchase cheaper food, eat healthier meats and know that animals are being treated properly.

The summer after my sophomore year in college, I studied abroad. I studied photography and architecture in Rome, Italy for six weeks. During the six weeks I spent in Rome, I learned about other cultures and social norms, which became an integral part of my daily life. The most drastic change in my lifestyle during this time was my food intake. Prior to this trip, I consumed meat every night for dinner. The Italian diet mainly consists of pasta, pizza, cheese, and bread. Throughout the six weeks I spent in Italy, I ate meat twice. Meat was available, however, it was not the norm to order meat dishes. Meat options also differed from the United States. In Italy, meat options included cured meats with cheeses or cured meats in pizza or pasta. Meat dishes also double or tripled the price of pasta dishes. I only went to two restaurants where I saw a steak available on the menu. This was a drastic change to my diet that was a direct result of the Italian social norms.

As we learned in this module, meat consumption in the United States is of great concern. Meat consumption draws on a variety of social issues including animal cruelty, unsustainable agriculture, antibiotic resistance, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Meatrix video displayed the reality of factory farms highlighting animal treatment and many other social issues. In Italy, it is socially normal to consume less meat than it is in the United States. When I lived in Italy, I ate less meat than I did previously in the United States. The choice to consume less meat improves the social issues of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable agriculture. Livestock, specifically cows, consume a large portion of the world’s supply of corn. The depletion of the corn supply is contributing to social famine in third world countries. Cows also produce a significant amount of greenhouse gases, specifically methane. By consuming less meat, the greenhouse gas emission and social famine issues are decreased. I think that the American culture could learn from the Italian social norms and decrease their meat consumption and thereby improve social issues with which we currently struggle.

1. One situation where my food choice was influenced by social norm happens every time I visit my sister or vice versa. My sister does not eat meat and loves vegetables and prefers only locally produced foods when she can find them. I do not have a problem eating red meat since I don’t eat it either but when she visits we try all the interesting dishes she eats with tofu and an abundance of vegetables. My food choice includes a small handful of vegetables so it is hard for me to agree with her pallet. I go along with it in hopes I could find another vegetable or fish that I may like. It also makes it a fun family event when cooking something completely out of the norm. I don’t always like her meals and end up cooking some chicken or a meal to my liking but the attempt is there so we can both try and stay healthy.
2. A societal issue that arises with me trying and disliking the food is waste. The amount of food wasted on trying foods and then disliking them is not just a personal issue since there is so much food being wasted daily by restaurants, people, etc. Throwing out perfectly good food because we personally do not like is a societal issue since there are so many people starving just to have a single meal. Ethics can also be questioned here, are we being selfish and not thinking of the starving or of the environmental impacts waste has when we throw good food away? The societal issue of food waste is also an issue because that waste is filling up our landfills which is causing more havoc on our environment. Instead of agreeing to try stuff I don’t usually like I should incorporate foods I also enjoy when creating fun meals that way I can eliminate the amount of waste.

1. A social norm I have personally experienced in regards to food choice would be college. Back at home, I would consume only organic food because my family and I believed in staying away from GMOs. However, college made this difficult. Dining halls only contained food with GMOs, and a trip to an organic store was too inconvenient. I didn’t want to sound strange and refuse to eat this type of food, so I just went with it. I was striving to meet new friends, so not following this social norm and sounding like I was weird would only make my reputation weird. The social norm is that Americans are cheap, and Americans want to spend as little money as possible in the most convenient way. I didn’t blame this norm for saving money because I understand times are tough, but my food choice desired proper nutrition, safety, and sympathy for livestock. Even though I still believe in organic consumption, I have a very limited and pressure choice at PSU because of norms and limited availability.

2. The food choice from paragraph one reflects upon the societal issue of an industrialized agriculture. In order for farms to produce larger quantities of food such as meat, farmers inject hormones into innocent animals that cause them to grow at an abnormal rate. More meat means more profit, which is why fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s serves this meat at such a low price. When we consume this, we are not only consuming the dangerous chemicals injected in the animal, but a poor amount of nutrition and high intake of calories and salt, which leads to the epidemic of obesity; another societal issue. This is connected to food choice because Americans are so focused on convenience and cheap prices that we don’t think about what we are consuming nor what this is doing to our bodies. My view of social norms is focused on proper nutrition. Though prices for safer food may be higher, I believe having a healthy diet with no GMOs is worth every dollar spent, leading to a healthier, longer life.

Throughout my life I was a very unhealthy eater. It wasn’t until last year when I began training for a marathon with a group of five other guys that my eating habits changed. We all had a certain training schedule we followed. I seemed to struggle a lot compared to them. I didn’t understand because I stretched and did everything the same as them to prepare for every run. It wasn’t until we all ate lunch together one day and I ordered a greasy burger and fries with a milkshake that they noticed what my problem was. I was not getting the right nutrition for running the long miles we were running. All the other boys were snacking on fruits, vegetables, eggs, rice, beans, chicken, ect. They always had a lot more energy than me and felt a lot better at the end of our runs because of the nutrients they were getting throughout the day. I began to change my diet to healthy foods such as lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and I drank a lot more after throughout the day. I began to feel so much more energized and lost a lot of fat and gained muscle throughout my marathon training. The food choice I selected for my social norm was a diet consisting mostly of healthy foods. I was influenced by the five other marathon runners and other athlete diets I read about on the internet.

The social issue with having healthy eating habits is it isn’t always affordable to all people. Healthy foods such as organic food can be very expensive. Being a college student and not having a job it is sometimes very hard to afford the foods I want. This social issue can be connected to famines. Famines don’t necessarily involve the lack of food in an area. In many cases, famines have occurred despite there being no overall food shortages. The food may be located in the wrong place, or it may simply be too expensive to be purchased by those in need. I am not saying that healthy food is a necessity I need at this age, but others who are older or have health issues may need certain nutritional diets that aren’t always cheap and affordable for them. I do believe I should continue the social norm of eating healthy, but I can substitute organic food and other expensive foods with less expensive foods that are still healthy and this will reduce chances of obesity.

Coming from a small high school with only about fifty kids in my grade, it was very likely that we all followed the same trends and had similar interests. This became very apparent in the last year of high school especially when all of a sudden all the boys became obsessed with weightlifting and “getting swole”. This lead to that group of boys also becoming very interested in eating what is considered clean. They would bring in food in Tupperware that they heated up in the microwave everyday to ensure they were eating cleanly. Not long after this, almost everyone in my grade was bringing in healthier food to be heated up in the microwave. The social norm soon became that everyone in the grade should eat healthier and workout because fitness was what was desired at the time. This idea of nutrition is explained through this module especially in the Healthy Eating Pyramid. The boys in our class would often talk about getting in their proteins and vegetables for the day.

When looking at this change in the social norm for my high school, one obvious societal issue involves obesity. Through the module, we learned that about 5 million people are considered obese which is an alarming number in my opinion. Through eating healthy and using the proper nutrition, the kids in my class were using their food choice in order to avoid the chance of being obese. I also can agree with the idea that the social norm should be that proper nutrition and healthy food choice is needed. However, I believe it should be done in moderation. It is okay to eat delicious food as long as you are using the idea of moderation. Another small connection to a societal issue that was talked about in the Module was the amount of consumption of beef that is taken in by Americans. The boys in my class often strayed away from beef and focused more on chicken usually. The idea of consuming less beef could help the environment as a whole due to the fact that cows cause a lot of negative emission into the environment.

1.) My food choice was affected by the social norms of my friends a few weeks ago. We all decided to go to a small restaurant to relax after a tough week. When it came time to order food, my friends ordered a salad, fish, and vegetable soup. They wanted to eat healthier by limiting the amount of beef and pork in their diet. I personally wanted a juicy burger with a side of cheese fries. I began to feel uncomfortable knowing all of my friends wanted to eat healthy while I wanted to order an unhealthy meal full of meat. As a result, I decided to settle for chicken noodle soup (not the healthiest thing there) even though it was not something I craved. Eating healthy meals full of nutrients and reducing the intake of meat was a social norm they had adapted. By not following the norm, I felt separated from the group and uncomfortable with my decision. So, I changed my order to fit in with the social norms created by my friends.

2.) My food choice can be directly related to the societal issues of obesity and livestock. In Module 6, we learned about the prominence of obesity in our society today. Eating beef and pork have been linked to weight gain and cardiovascular issues such as high blood pressure. One can reduce their chance of obesity by ordering meals which resemble the food pyramid (less meat) and exercising. By adapting to the social norm, I chose a healthier meal which increased my energy and nutrient intake. Additionally, we learned in Module 6 about the effects of livestock on the environment. By eating healthier and limiting our consumption of meat, my friends and I made an attempt to create a small decrease in the pollutants, greenhouse gases and diseases produced. I decided to follow the social norms of my friends by choosing not to eat meat in order to help my health and the environment. The social norm should be changed to include more fruits and vegetable in meals while reducing the intake of beef as well.

3.)

During the first few weeks here at Penn State, I made friends who avoided certain meat products because of their religion and own personal views. While most of my other friends are not practicing Hindus, our views on meat were different. As the year progressed my friend started to change his views on eating beef, since everyone else in the group had no religious restrictions on eating any beef products. While no of us ever forced my friend to eat beef, the social norms of our group slowly persuaded him to try it. This is a perfect example that shows how a change in the people you are around can change a person’s own views. Even now that my friend openly eats beef while at Penn State, he still does not eat beef when he visits home. This is due to the fact that the social norm at home is still to no eat beef.
My friend lived an anti-beef life style before coming to Penn State for two reasons. The Hindu religion sees cows as sacred animals, and consuming their meet is considered morally wrong, he also saw a no beef diet as a way to eat on a lower trophic level. As shown in the module, it takes a significant amount of planted crops to produce a single unit of livestock. If the crops used to raise the livestock were fed directly to the consumers more people could be fed. By eating less meat, the crop yields could be used in a more sustainable matter and would be able to provide a nutritious diet to more people, effectively decreasing hunger. I do not believe anyone’s religious views should be compromised to fit social norms. I agree with my friends’ reason that eating on a lower trophic level can be beneficial in solving world hunger. If the social norm of every meat-eater was to limit their consumption slightly, it could have a huge impact on people suffering from hunger.

1.

One time my food choice was influenced by a societal norm was in the weekly lunches I would have with my firm partners during my summer internship. I was involved in a very heavy workout routine over the summer and was hungry pretty much all the time. This would lead me to desire to order very large and filling meals to fuel myself.

The societal norm is that it is impolite to order more expensive food/more food in general than those that are buying for you and those around you in general. Therefore I was worried about people looking down on me for ordering very expensive (larger) meals than usual or ordering an extra side dish. This affected how I ordered due to societal norms, and can be applied to those who would feel inclined to order differently than their preference in any number of ways.

2. This norm connects to the societal issue of nutrition and waste. While I was experiencing the opposite problem, I feel there are many times people are looked down upon for ordering an overly healthy even though that is what they want. These people do not have to be co-workers but basically any friend or on a date. We all judge others and people definitely can feel pressure if they are ordering a small salad when everyone else orders full meals. Although I was not worried about people judging me for being obese because I was legitimately using the food as muscle fuel, I could very much understand how someone in my position would be inclined to not order as much as they wanted or not order an overly healthy option for fear of those around them judging. This not only connections to nutrition as someone may be pressured to order a less nutritious meal, it also connects to the issue of waste. Many times people will order something they don’t want in these social situations and end up not saving most of their meal. Throwing out good food because you don’t want it and were pressured to order it is clearly wasteful. Overall, the societal issues of nutrition and waste are affected by the choices we make when pressured by societal norms in situations of ordering in a social setting. The societal norm should be to order whatever you want (within certain reason of course) because no one but yourself is capable of making the best decision. Even if you order unhealthy food that is your decision and something that up to you to correct, not social shaming.

3. Diagram is below