Whatever Wednesday: A Delicious Lecture

I'm sure you're sitting at your computer thinking, "It's Whatever Wednesday! Jenny could post absolutely anything! It's like getting a birthday surprise once a week. What is it this week...what is it this week...oooh! A post about...a professor's lecture?? BORING."

FALSE! (Black bear! Anyone watch The Office out there?) I would never post about some boring academic lecture on Enjoy Your Cheerios. This lecture I attended was not required, and it was not some stuffy, sleep-inducing talk.

On our school activities website, I noticed a guest lecture listing that piqued my interest: "The Ideal Way to Eat: How Utopian Foodways, Democratic Diners, and Competing Perfections Came to the Party and Ruined My Appetite, a guest lecture by Gastronomy Professor Netta Davis."

Having just finished reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (read my book review here), the opportunity to learn more about my nation's diet and the culture of eating was appealing. I called to reserve my place at the event, which was free and open to the public.

The lecture itself took place in a culinary arts classroom (I didn't even realize my college has a masters program for the culinary arts!). Upon entering the room, I felt like I had stepped into a studio for the Food Network channel. Refreshments were supplied, to my delighted surprise. There were homemade crackers, cheeses, fruits, and cookies. Glasses filled with wine, beer, and some really delicious apple juice (can you tell which beverage I chose?) were offered as well.

Glancing at the attendees, I quickly realized I was probably the youngest person in attendance. Perhaps next time they should advertise the free beer ;-) I took a seat in the middle of the room, and soon Netta Davis began speaking.

She spoke a lot about the expansion of food-related literature, referring to authors like Barry Glasner, Michael Pollan, and Marion Nestle (who writes a fantastic blog), spoke about the elements of a "utopian foodway" (centers around the idea of one superfood, assesses food prep practices, and makes food accessible and equitably distributed), and then delved deeper into the American diet.

Davis pointed out that America is the "land of plenty," yet we are chided for eating copious amounts of food. She spoke about the trend to create "predictable" food since sameness does not threaten eaters and facilitates processing. That concept of ideal sameness raises the question, "How do we make natural foods (ie: every tomato) the same/processable? And should we even want to?"

The talk was different than I expected, but enjoyable nonetheless. The most important thing I took away from the talk was that there is hardly an "ideal" way for an entire culture to eat since environmental, ethical, and other factors come into play. Although I personally found bits of her talk lacking in compelling evidence, I will certainly keep an eye out for future lectures hosted by my school's culinary arts program.

What is your idea of a "Utopian Foodway"? Mine would involve lots of peanut butter ;-)

Today's Recommended Read: "New Study: HFCS-Sweetened Drinks Higher in Fructose Than Expected" (Food Politics)