Of everything I learned in this class, I was most interested in situations where the social sciences and other sciences intersected.
As a STEM student, I've always been interested in the scientific process and how scientific data can be incorporated into various situations. Some of my favorite readings in this class were those with an experimental focus, such as Wei-ting Chen's "From 'Junk Food' to 'Treats'" and readings that explicitly mentioned scientific ideas, like Melanie Warner's Pandora's Lunchbox. Mostly, I enjoyed the fact that these types of readings addressed scientific ideas in conjunction with the highly social process of interacting with food. I wanted to explore more situations where science and communities intersected to produce meaningful, relevant data and conclusions about food. In many of my STEM based classes, I often notice instances where scientific research is done, but not applied to communities and people, which I believe to be a shortcoming of some scientific research. As I move forward in my career, I want to ensure that any research I do is useful and applicable to communities and people.
Below are a few interesting examples of communities, science, and food all coming together to produce articles and projects of note. Each example considers communities and their unique aspects, which I believe to be hugely important.
Below are a few interesting examples of communities, science, and food all coming together to produce articles and projects of note. Each example considers communities and their unique aspects, which I believe to be hugely important.
UC Davis Research
UC Davis has a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program that brings together scientific research and community food systems. They emphasize the importance of looking at multiple parts of the food system, such as food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management. I particularly admire this program because, when conducting research, the team at UC Davis emphasizes resident participation within food sustainability projects, which I personally find to be important. UC Davis also has many great resources on past projects and studies done on community food systems, which can be a great starting place for researchers or residents when looking at community food systems from a scientific perspective.
To learn more about the cool work that UC Davis is involved in, click here.
To learn more about the cool work that UC Davis is involved in, click here.
Camden, New Jersey Study on Healthy Corner Stores
Many scientific studies done focus solely on how best to obtain and analyze data. In my limited exposure to this type of research, I often find myself disappointed that the results seem to extract from a community rather than truly help the community being studied. Because of this, I have always been interested in citizen science, or science conducted by members of a community with the support of a formal research team. From what I've read, this research often leads to better and more helpful outcomes for both researchers and community members. A recent 2018 study on corner stores in Camden, New Jersey decided to take a citizen science approach to their study and had willing participants take photos and narrate their experiences at different corner stores. Using this data, researchers were able to work with citizens to come up with actual solutions to the issue of healthy food access, including the improvement of "healthy product selection and display, store environment, and store outdoor appearance and cleanliness". I am inspired by the fact that this study both produced usable and detailed data for the scientists who funded the study, and generated knowledge, passion, and solutions for the citizens helping with the study. It seems like using citizens to help conduct science can lead to positive outcomes, and I think both scientists and communities could benefit from more citizen science projects.
To read this study and learn more about the citizen science process that occurred in Camden, New Jersey, click here.
To read this study and learn more about the citizen science process that occurred in Camden, New Jersey, click here.
Community Food Lab
Outside of traditional scientific papers and studies, many individual groups have sprung up to connect food and scientific processes to best serve communities. One such group is known as the Community Food Lab. The goal of this organization is to design various projects that connect people and food systems. For example, Community Food Lab has planned rooftop gardens, food security programs, and more for various areas. The Community Food Lab is, in my opinion, a good example of what private scientific investigation and community partnership can achieve, Using a design focus, many issues of food insecurity and lack of healthy options can be tackled from a unique perspective. I believe the Community Food Lab is a good representation of the power of private and public interests working together for a common good.
To find out more information about the Community Food Lab, click here.
To find out more information about the Community Food Lab, click here.
Food Empowerment Project
Another example of a private group engaging in scientific research for the benefit of communities comes from the Food Empowerment Project. This group was founded by vegan women of color and represents a proportion of people whose voices are often not heard. This is hugely important when considering science and the scientific process, as there may be inherent bias in the "traditional" way science is done that can be remedied when other people are allowed to have an input. This is why community interaction is so crucial. For example, one of the interesting things that the Food Empowerment Project has done is actually reject the way in which the US government has collected data on food deserts in the past, stating that "it is possible to overlook communities that are located in food deserts when relying on data collected by the US government". Ultimately, this project shows the importance of considering what those from an actual community have to say regarding a topic, because what seems like one thing based on data may not actually reflect reality. Even if an area, statistically, is not a food desert, without reaching out to the community, I personally believe we cannot know for sure whether something is a food desert or not. This shows that community interaction is crucial in science.
To learn more about the Food Empowerment Project, click here.
To learn more about the Food Empowerment Project, click here.