Photo by Elyse Wood

Talk about choice. Nowadays just choosing a yogurt can be a political statement (If you haven’t watched Food Inc., do!). So I’ve always known, at a surface level, the idea of processed, genetically modified food vs. organic. Or farm-raised meat vs. wild game.  I guess I never sat down and thought about it at great lengths. It’s always been…..I’m hungry so I eat. I knew I loved food, case closed. Turns out, case not closed, but case wide open. Once I started analyzing my foodways there was really no turning back.

I just started a Masters in Gastronomy at Boston University. I entered into the program with idea of widening my expertise on food and hopefully getting a gig in food writing after all was said and done. I’m only halfway through my first semester and I’ve totally changed my perspective. I cook more, I read more and best of all I feel more aware of what I put into my mouth.

Courtesy of Google Image Search

My idea of food has definitely become more academic. We look at the study of food through so many lens ― anthropology, archaeology, history, gender studies and sociology. So choosing what I eat becomes so much more complex beyond the question of where it was grown or how it was processed. Why do I choose a certain food over another, when I’m sad vs. happy? What is this food’s history, does it have a cultural meaning? How accessible is it to others? So this probably sounds daunting, but there is something nice about not being so disconnected.

To get a better grasp of what I mean I strongly recommend reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollen. If you’re someone who would rather remain blissfully unaware, which I understand completely, look no further because once you start thinking about food critically it’s not unlike opening Pandora’s box.

-Elyse Wood

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