Nutrition: From the Individual to the Whole Picture

Source: Rachel Helfferich, Everglow Nutrition, “5 Examples of Gentle Nutrition in Real Life”, 2022.

This week, our class explored food studies through the lens of nutrition and health. Discussing popular and oftentimes controversial topics like global diet recommendations and intuitive eating, we learned about how what we eat connects to our wellbeing not only individuals but as a species. Our class readings for Monday, 10/27 focused on issues like obesity and social determinants of health, topics that have political, social, as well as personal connotations for many. I gained immense insight from Alice Julier’s 2008 article, “The Political Economy of Obesity: The Fat Pay All”, which frames the issue of obesity within a sociological and political context, rather than an individual one. Julier insists that blaming individuals for the leading factors of obesity, from lack of access to healthy foods to the social constructs in the United States promoting consumption, is unproductive and misplaced. Instead, she suggests the federal government take a more active role in hunger prevention and combating food insecurity, because the “unsteady flow of federal funds” assisting non-profit organizations such as food banks “makes good food, leisure, and physical exercise into commodities that are only affordable to those who have disposable income, time, and cultural capital” (Julier, 2008).

Social Determinants of Health and Dietary Guidelines

Source: Dr Marco Springmann (Lead author), Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, Dr Cynthia Rosenzweig, Dr Renata Micha. “Food intake by food group, year and region (grams per person per day), 2010 and 2018”. Global Nutrition Report. (2021). https://globalnutritionreport.org/e67d6e#2039f4ec.

This perspective connects with our reading on Social Determinants of Health, which according to Jiao, are the “non-medical conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, worship, and age” (Jiao, 2024). Both Jiao and Julier emphasize a necessity for holistic action by governing bodies to craft culturally and dietarily appropriate nutrition policy. In class, we talked about our different experiences with nutritional education growing up, with some recalling federal programs such as MyPlate, and others mentioning that programs like First Lady Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move!’ initiative made them feel overly responsible for their food choices as individuals despite many school lunches including ultraprocessed foods (The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, 2022). During our Thursday, 10/30 class, we met with Dickinson College’s nutritionist Courtney Hager to learn more about dietary recommendations and how they’re communicated in the U.S. One example we explored was the USDA’s MyPlate website (https://www.myplate.gov), which provides tools to calculate the recommended quantities of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy or soy products each individual requires depending on various factors.

MyPlate, Intuitive Eating, and the Future of Nutritional Education

U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2025). MyPlate (infographic). https://www.myplate.gov/.

While I recall the MyPlate image from secondary school, it has been interesting to see how the USDA’s recommendations have evolved to include diets such as vegan and dietary restrictions like lactose intolerance. In fact, the deeply nuanced and personal quality of diet was made clearer to me through another reading from Week Nine by Jackson et. al., “Intuitive eating and dietary intake”, which highlights four areas of eating that factor in physical signs of hunger and satisfaction over other reasons why we eat. These areas include “unconditional permission to eat (UPE)”, “eating for physical rather than emotional reasons (EPR)”, “reliance on hunger and satiety cues (RHSC)”, and “body-food choice congruence (B-FCC)” (Jackson, et. al., 2022). As exemplified in Chapter 2 of the 2021 Global Nutrition Report, most adults in the United States are not meeting dietary intake recommendations, specifically those for fruits and vegetables. Considering this, our class discussion on intuitive eating touched on the difficulty in balancing personal practices with the global dietary recommendations. How do we as individuals reconcile our wants and needs when it comes to food and nutrition, considering both social determinants of health and federal nutritional education programs? After all, a study as recent as last year found that “nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults reported knowing about the MyPlate plan” but that “only about 1 in 7 U.S. adults reported knowing about and trying to follow MyPlate plan recommendations” (Restrepo, 2024). Perhaps the answer lies in improving the quality of nutritional education for future generations, by ensuring it encompasses diverse experiences with food – from social determinants of health, allergies, other dietary restrictions, and beyond.

References

Helfferich, R. (n.d.) 5 Examples of Gentle Nutrition IRL. Everglow Nutrition. https://everglownutrition.com/category/intuitive-eating/page/2/.

Jackson, A., Y. Sano, L. Parker, A. E. Cox, J. Lanigan. (2022). Intuitive eating and dietary intake. Eating Behaviors, 45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2022.101606.

Jiao, L. (2024). Social Determinants of Health, Diet, and Health Outcome. Nutrients, 16, 3642. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16213642.

Julier, A. (2008). The Political Economy of Obesity: The Fat Pay All. Food and Culture, 2019. Edited by Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterik.

Restrepo, B. (2024). Awareness and Use of MyPlate Among U.S. Adults: Evidence From Nationally Representative Data, 2024. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 69, Issue 5. https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(25)00503-3/abstract.

The Lancet Regional Health – Americas (edit.). (2022, Dec. 8). Unhealthy school meals: A solution to hunger or a problem for health? Lancet Reg Health Am, Volume 16. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667193X22002307?via%3Dihub.

The Original Intuitive Eating Pros. (n.d.) 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. The Original Intuitive Eating Pros. https://www.intuitiveeating.org/about-us/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/.

Springmann, et. al. (2022). Chapter 2: What we eat matters: Health and environmental impacts of diets worldwide. 2021 Global Nutrition Report: Stronger commitments for greater action. Bristol, UK: Development Initiatives. https://globalnutritionreport.org/reports/2021-global-nutrition-report/health-and-environmental-impacts-of-diets-worldwide/#section-2-8.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2025). Eat Healthy with MyPlate. MyPlate U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.myplate.gov/.

(Author, 2025)

Are you the consumer who has saved endless recipes on social media, and wishes to prepare and taste all of them, just to end up with convenience foods? Because I certainly am. Life has seemed to accelerate for years and foodways have become increasingly impactful with the rise of social media and the information which is shared on those platforms. Everyone seems to be an expert such as recipe developers or (fitness) influencers. I have gained over six years of experience working and dining the world’s finest kitchens, and I am intrigued about the rapid pace of change regarding food cultures, traditions, and foodways. I would like to share my worries about the impact of modern-day foodways, their production systems, and the impact of social media on foodways.

I recommend the article from Montanari (2013) stating that food is culture, it always has been and always will be. The impact of food has been incredible throughout our societies; in symbolic, economic, social, and political ways. All class discussions found that foodways describe these traditions and cultures, and that a foodway is therefore a glimpse of geographical moment in time. Highlighting history, lifestyle,and location. To illustrate I will highlight the Mediterranean diet. This has not always been the way it currently is. The geographical location welcomed African pasta varieties, American tomatoes and Asian spices, together creating Italy’s famous cuisine. What I am trying to share is that the ‘fluid’ foodway evolution constantly adapting to human needs and desires. This also causes cultures to lose their cuisines in the global appropriation, such as the Palestinian cuisine being objectified as Israeli food and taken away from their identity. (Washington Post, 2020)

This has resulted in beautiful dishes, interactions, and cultures in the past. In the modern day however, the flexibility of people their foodways seems to be a risk. Globalization and worldwide connection allow people to share their recipes with the globe, but it also drives convenience foods. Global producers prioritize profitability over the quality of their products. To maintain affordability, transnational corporations focus on convenienceand low costs. An example I recommend investigating is the tomato industry, mostly based in Florida and California. Food Journalist Barry Estabrook (2011) highlights the exploitation and hidden costs in the industry which are in practice to maintain a low price for the U.S.’s second most consumed vegetables. (USDA, 2020) These costs entail the inhumane exploitation of workers, the monoculture, the decreasing nutritious value, and the millions of chemicals used to remain consistent. This way, globalization prioritizes efficiency over nutritious value, flavor, or human rights.

People, Planet, Profit; HBS Online (2020)

The human body still requires the same nutrients for healthy lifestyles. Social media is however overflowing with (self-proclaimed) food experts, all recommending different diets, causing confusion for consumers. Delivery services offer convenience foods, which are often cheaper than fresh meals in the U.S. (Lewis et al., 2022) Since convenience and profitability is the new focus in the modern (western) world, I wonder if the pleasure of eating still belongs in the current society? Based on the Italian Slow Food Movement, this pleasure should be the focus. When I lived in Italy, I noticed traditions, local and unprocessed foods. I understand that this currently not a sustainable way to feed the ever-growing human population. Yet I believe that the current systems are far less sustainable, for people, our planet, and a fair distribution of profit. Which are the three pillars of corporate sustainability according to John Elkington. (1944) I wonder where how consumer priorities will change, since our current, addictive, and obesity causing foodways are unsustainable.

Sources and recommended literature:

Chen, X., Huang, M., Li, J., Yu, Z., et al. (2023). Healthy Food Prices Increased More Than the Prices of Unhealthy Options during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Concurrent Challenges to the Food System https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9967271/

Estabrook, B. (2011). Tomatoland: How modern industrial agriculture destroyed our most alluring fruit. Andrews McMeel.

Kassis, R. (2020, February 14). Here’s why Palestinians object to the term “Israeli food”: It erases us from history. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/heres-why-palestinians-object-to-the-term-israeli-food-it-erases-us-from-history/2020/02/14/96974a74-4d25-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html

Montanari, M. (2013). Italian identity in the kitchen, or food and the nation Columbia University Press.

Harvard Business School. (2020). What is the triple bottom line? https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-the-triple-bottom-line

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2020) Potatoes and tomatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetables https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=58340#:~:text=Potatoes%20and%20tomatoes%20are%20the%20most%20commonly%20consumed%20vegetables%20%7C%20Economic%20Research%20Service

You’ve probably heard the term food system before. Perhaps you have thought of your local grocery store, and maybe you’ve considered the farmers and retailers whose work resulted in the food on your plate. The reality, however, goes far beyond a grocery, farm, and processing facility. A food system consists of the complex network of production, transformation, transportation, distribution, and disposal of food. Today’s food system is highly globalized; in one bite of a burger you are likely to consume Mexican beef, sandwiched between bread made from wheat harvested in the Great Plains, topped with ketchup produces in Italy.

Different Scales of Food Systems

Food systems occur on four distinct levels: household, local, regional, and global. A household food system occurs when a family or group of individuals produce and dispose of their own food. This can be in the form of a garden or homestead farm. A local system consists of smaller farms which provide sustenance to a community, particularly a town or small area. A regional food system exists on a much larger scale, and necessitates more transportation of food and waste, often resulting in a higher level of processing. The global scale describes the worldwide market for food. As this is far-reaching and diverse, it consists of a variety of stages, and involves a high level of processing and industrialization, as well as necessitating strict regulation.

Food Supply Chain

Example of Short Circuit Supply Chain: Farmers on the Square, Carlisle

One aspect of a food system is the food supply chain, which illustrates the processes by which food is produced and delivered to the consumer. A supply chain can be defined as a long circuit food supply chain (LSFSC), which is typical of a regional or global food system, or a short circuit food supply chain (SCFSC), commonly present in household or local systems. The characters in a typical long circuit food supply chain include the farmer, processor, distributer, retailer, and consumer. As a result of the lengthy separation between farmer and consumer, only 15% of the typical dollar spent on a food actually end up in the hands of the farmer; 85% of the cost is usually spent in the processing and retail stages of food production. A short circuit food supply chain, however, provides for a direct interaction between the farmer and the consumer, as the buyer purchases directly from the farm. This results in the farmer receiving 100% of the food dollar.

Models of Food Production

Example of Alternative Agriculture: Dickinson College Farm

Two distinct models of agricultural food production include Conventional Agriculture and Alternative Agriculture. Conventional Agriculture relies heavily on industrialization and prioritizes profit. This often leads to the exploitation of people and resources, creating a decrease in biodiversity in attempting to dominate nature. Conventional Agriculture is common in central and subsidized farms throughout the United States as productivity takes precedent over sustainability. Alternative Agriculture, however, prioritizes sustainability and harmony with nature. This approach typically works to maintain biodiversity and is typical of smaller, decentralized farms throughout the United States.

Food and the Environment

As environmental awareness grows within the US, citizens are beginning to take issue with industrial models of Conventional Agriculture. As 80-90% of the human diet now relies on 12-20 species, the mass production of these species has led to a great reduction in biodiversity. Additionally, as biodiversity decreases, the nutrient content of several industrially produced crops is also depleted. This calls for the reevaluation of the global industrial food system and its priorities.

Articles Referenced

Owino, V., Kumwenda, C., Ekesa, B., Parker, M. E., Ewoldt, L., Roos, N., Lee, W. T., & Tome, D. (2022). The impact of climate change on food systems, diet quality, nutrition, and health outcomes: A narrative review. Frontiers in Climate, 4(941842). https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.941842

Howard, P. (2016). Enforcing the new enclosures: Agricultural inputs in Concentration and Power in the Food System. PhilipHHoward-ConcentrationAndPower-2016-7EnforcingTheNewEnclo.pdf

Beus, C., and Dunlap, R. (1990). Conventional versus Alternative Agriculture: The Paradigmatic Roots of the Debate. Rural Sociological Society (Washington State University). 55(4).

A visit to the Dickinson College farm

On a visit to the Dickinson Farm you can see extensive farm fields, abundant veggies, crates of harvested produce, or even the happy cows grazing in their pasture but until you start to understand the processes of the productive organic farm, you won’t fully appreciate the farm for all that it is.

Polyculture versus monoculture

Polyculture versus monoculture from Community Food Forests

As soon as you walk onto the property you can see a variety of crops, maybe you can smell the garlic that was recently harvested or you can see the rows of ripe tomatoes ready to be picked or even notice the strawberries that were already planted for an early harvest next Spring.  That variety of crops is polyculture. The outcomes of polyculture are usually higher yields, more stability, and natural pest and disease control. Then, there’s monoculture, the cultivation of one crop. As you drive through the backroads of Pennsylvania, at some point you’ll see fields upon fields of corn. That’s monoculture. Monoculture has dominated a large sector of the agriculture industry because it’s efficient. Our current food system relies heavily on monoculture due to its convenience, but by growing one crop the risk of crop failure, food supply issues, and food insecurity increases. The health of our society depends upon a diversity of crops. In The Impact of Climate Change on Food Systems it emphasizes that “…food systems that foster biodiversity have been shown to contribute toward more sustainable food production systems”(Owino et al. 2022).  With the added instability from climate change, it’s more important than ever to have diverse agriculture.

Example of Silvopasture from Earth Overshoot Day

Silvopasture

Beyond polyculture, the Dickinson Farm uses silvopasture which is the use of trees in grazing pastures. Not only does the shade of the trees make the pasture more comfortable for livestock but at the Dickinson Farm, the trees are native, fruit producing, and pollinator friendly helping to create a diverse ecosystem. (J. Halpin, personal communication, September 18, 2025). According to the USDA, Silvopasture “Protects water quality, reduces soil erosion, improves nutrient cycling.” By using nature as a guide in setting up a farm, as one does in silvopasture, one can avoid domination of nature. As a class we discussed how, conventional agriculture reflects a business oriented approach to farming where nature is seen as a commodity. In contrast, alternative agriculture is based in harmony with nature. The Dickinson farm is an example of alternative agriculture and proves that a productive farm doesn’t have to be one that exploits the land. 

Crop rotation

The Dickinson farm uses a crop rotation system where produce is grown in an area for 3-4 years then the area becomes a pasture for the cows for a few years until it’s used for growing again. This cycle builds soil health. The manure from the livestock adds nutrients such as nitrogen back into the soil. There is a risk that the inactive growing years could lead to more weed competition for the crops but if done successfully the livestock will graze on the weeds preventing them from going to seed. (J. Halpin, personal communication, September 18, 2025). This rotational system is essential to having successful crops.

Next time you’re on the Dickinson farm I hope you’ll have a deeper appreciation for a few of the many intentional aspects and systems of the farm that help to make it the productive alternative agriculture farm that it is!  

Consider…

Is a shift in how we view nature necessary to move toward more sustainable agriculture?

How can we make changes to ensure that our food system has stability especially when the effects of climate change are exacerbating the issues of our monoculture reliant food system?

Works Cited:

Gordon, A. (2022, June 14). Polyculture Farming: Detailed Overview. AGRIVI. https://www.agrivi.com/blog/polyculture-production-system-for-sustainable-farming/

Owino, V., Kumwenda, C., Ekesa, B., Parker, M. E., Ewoldt, L., Roos, N., Lee, W. T., & Tome, D. (2022). The impact of climate change on food systems, diet quality, nutrition, and health outcomes: A narrative review. Frontiers in Climate, 4(941842). https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.941842

Silvopasture | USDA Climate Hubs. (n.d.). Www.climatehubs.usda.gov. https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southeast/topic/silvopasture

“Food identifies who we are, where we came from, and what we want to be”  (Belasco, 2008, p.1).

This is the answer Warren Belasco gave to the question of “Why Study Food?”. Food is not only a source of life, the core to human existence, but also a way to identify a society’s history and culture. Studying food is particularly important now as we have become further estranged from food production to disposal. This week’s readings and discussions challenge us to think about how food both connects and distances us from one another, and push us to gain consciousness about what we eat as a responsibility, and even freedom from food industrialists.

Belasco’s explanation of why the food studies field was neglected draws on the popular Victorian belief of food being “uncivilized”, as well as the dichotomic association of food production being masculine and food consumption being feminine, making the subject not worthy of studying. Later on in the 20th century, as the feminist movement freed women from their patriarchally enslaved role in the kitchen, food preparation shifted from households to industry. While this was a step toward gender equity, it also widened the gap between supplier and consumer (Belasco, 2008, p4-5).
The estrangement from our food is also central in Wendell Berry’s “The Pleasure of Eating”, as he claims that “eating is an agricultural act” (Berry, 2002, p. 17) and proceeds to prove that consumers are a crucial part of the food system. He critiques the way food industrialists “persuaded” consumers to buy what they think they want within the limit of what they can get, which was decided by the industry through specialization of production. I noticed a commercialized lens that frames food is very prominent in this article, since everything is based on its profitable value in the food industry. As Berry argues “one reason to eat responsibly is to live free” (Berry, p. 18), he suggests readers to be independent from the food industry and not become an “industrial eater”, who is estranged, passive, and uncritical, a “victim”. This can be achieved through participating in food production, learning about origins, and engaging locally, all to the best extent.

I took this photo at Farmers on the Square during the apple season in 2023.

The meal analyzing discussion in class has demonstrated this point. My breakfast includes chia seed pudding and coconut water from Walmart and an apple I got from Farmer’s Market, which is the only item I could clearly trace the origin of. I had lunch at the Dining Hall, and honestly, I had no clue about any part of the food’s journey in the food system before it hit my plate. The only detail I knew was that leftovers are composted into biogas. Eating at the dining hall is convenient, freeing me from the labor of making food, yet also alienating me from my food.
A statistic provided by Professor Halpin that only 2% of the U.S. population are involved in farming, with an average age of 50–60, further proved the point of estrangement with food. We also discussed how food packaging distances you from what part of an animal you are eating, what the fruit looks like on its tree, or what season does this vegetable grow. Comparing the two meals and listening to my classmate’s sharing, it is clear that it is a privilege to grow your own food, or even to just know your local producers instead of mere brand names. This also means that Berry’s suggestions are ideal, but not necessarily applicable to everyone due to multiple circumstances including time and wealth. It raised a question of if food awareness and freedom is a privilege only some can have, and how can we make it more inclusive and equitable?

Works Cited:
Belasco, Warren (2008). Why Study Food?. In Food: The Key Concepts. Berg Publisher, London.

Berry, Wendell (2002). The Pleasure of Eating, The Sun, 17-20.