Part of Final Reflection

Reading Rozin’s article allowed me to look at the research we read over the semester in a different way.  He made very valid points on things that the discipline of psychology as a whole tends to do.  Honestly, after reading it and thinking about holes, it made me think that research on food in general represents a sort of “hole” in the grand scheme of research in psychology.  Food research is dispersed across multiple disciplines just because it can be looked at from different angles and perspectives like the physiological side, the biological side, the psychological side, etc.  Within that though, there are holes and I think one of those is cultural food research.  There is a lot of literature on the biology of consumption and effects that food has on our bodies leading to why we crave the things we do and eat like we do.  The other factors that influence why we eat why we eat, however, get less attention.  Rozin talks about the chili pepper in Mexico and the psychological and cultural reasons why that specific culture grew to accept it is a fundamental food.  Exploring deeper the different factors that influence why people choose to eat what they do is something I would love to do.  Culture and social influences are stronger than the research dictates and exploring them further would yield valuable results.  

I think one of the most important and applicable concepts I will take away from this class is research using grounded theory.  Before this class, I had honestly not read many articles that used this technique of research and was admittedly skeptical of it at first.  When looked at the wrong way, it can be taken has having a lack of structure or clear aim.  After reading and digesting more of the articles it gave me more of an appreciation of that type of research.  So much value lies in letting people tell their own story and then forming themes and linkages as you go because it opens up another dimension rather than if you just try and steer an interview or conversation.  I feel that this class has given me new perspectives on how research can be conducted and still be considered research.  In many instances, the grounded theory approach can serve as a more valuable technique than other traditional research techniques. 

A specific unit that I loved in this class was reading Marion Nestle and completing the supermarket assignment.  Those two things were of a more practical nature compared to some other readings we had but I loved them because they gave me more of a sense of awareness about my food environment.  I had read things from Nestle previous to this class, but nothing from “What to Eat” specifically.  It was clear, concise, and informative and then we got to go into the field and used our knowledge a little bit as an application.  It was very effective and really solidified what I read, in my opinion.  It made me more observant and more sensitive to the subjects of time and money in terms of food. 

Another impactful experience from this class was the soup kitchen.  I had gone to the soup kitchen only twice before going in this class and it was over a year ago.  While I remember my experience, I noticed immediately how different and more impactful this soup kitchen experience was.  I attributed this to the fact that now I had this class under my belt and had a whole new range of knowledge and perspective on food consumption.  I was more observant and was making connections to articles we read like the spillover model from Devine.  I was more aware and sensitive to sort of imagining situations visitors might be in and what their thoughts are and what drives the choices people make.