English 2150 Spring 2024: Setting the Table

Throughout this podcast, Fuchsia Dunlop expresses attraction towards Chinese cooking and dishes. She spent time in multiple regions of China and she develop much more interest in the culinary traditions. She decided to move to Chengdu in her 20s because she was greatly fascinated by the food there. Before her time in China, the only thing she knew about Chinese food was take out food and that was what she told a story through. The main takeaway is that it is essential to expand our knowledge of other cultural dishes. I would recommend this podcast to my peers because it allows us to understand the difference in cultural food.

The podcast talked about how food and gender are connected, especially regarding women’s roles in cooking and making food choices. It explained that even though things have changed, women still feel pressure about food. The main idea was that we need to work together to change this. Yes, I would recommend it because it helps us understand how food and gender affect each other. Some questions from the episode are: How can we make sure everyone has fair access to good food? Why do some people feel judged about the food choices they make? And how can we support women who work with food?

The podcast talks about a new kind of chicken meat that doesn’t come from chickens living on farms, but from science labs where scientists grow meat from chicken cells. This is cool because it means we might not have to raise and use so many animals for food, which can be better for the planet and nicer for the animals. The people in the podcast visited places where they’re working on making this lab grown chicken and talked about how it’s made, how it tastes, and how it might be good for the Earth. They also talked about the problems they have to solve before everyone can buy this meat, like making enough of it and not making it too expensive. I think friends my age would like this podcast because it’s about a new way to make food that’s like something from a science fiction movie. It makes you think about how we can eat in a way that’s good for the environment and animals. Plus, it’s interesting to learn how scientists are working on turning something from an idea into something we might actually eat for dinner one day.

For my podcast, I chose “The Trouble With Sugar”. This one stood out to me because I have been trying to gradually cut sugar out of my diet, therefore I wanted to see what the trouble with sugar was which they were talking about. What I found most interesting was that different sugars are digested by your body differently. For example glucose is digested by your intestines, and fructose is digested by your liver. Fructose does not impact your blood sugar, which was very interesting to learn. I would recommend this podcast episode to my friends, because this information could be part of a common misconception that all types of sugar are the same.

The podcast talked about milk and how it’s connected to big companies, racism, and government rules. They spoke with a professor who explained how milk isn’t as healthy as we think, and how it’s been linked to white supremacy. Even though milk might not be good for everyone, it’s still promoted in schools and fast food. The main idea is that we need to think more about why certain foods are promoted and who benefits from them. I’d suggest this podcast to my classmates because it gets us thinking about important stuff like equity in food and government. It makes me wonder how we can make things better and what we can do to learn more about our food.

Fuchsia Dunlop talks about her experience studying aboard in China. Specifically Sichuan where she fell in love with the food culture. She loved the food there so much she wanted to move there after her study was up and even attend a culinary course to study Sichuan cuisine.

My main takeaway is that people should be more open about food from other cultures. You don’t have to study aboard in a foreign country and do all that to really engulf yourself in that culture. However, do give their food a shot as you might just find something very pleasant.

I would definitely recommend this podcast to a friend or a classmate. The way Dunlop describes her experiences with such joy in her voice makes it a very enjoyable listen.

The beginning of the podcast is on introducing and praising rice. It’s described as the main course in of a meal and can be made in so may different ways. I choose this podcast cause it drew my eye since I also eat rice almost everyday. It’s interesting that how rice is raised starting from a crop was included. Questions raised by the podcast that seemed interesting to me was rice could contribute to global warming. Another questionable topic they briefed about is Black farmers. Overall, I liked how I got to learn new facts and questions of topics around a food I’m so used to. It’s like learning something new about a food that you eat everyday without any questions but the next time you eat it, you may stop and recall back to what you learned. I would recommend this podcast to classmates, whether they like or dislike rice, it was pretty entertaining.

“Maintenace Phase,”The Trouble with Sugar” is an episode hosted by Michael Hoobes and Aubrey Gordon The podcast takes about disproving misconceptions together with false impressions concerning health and wellness, health, coupled with health and fitness. In this certain episode,” The Trouble with Sugar,” they discussed many ways how sugar consumption have impact on health, and common misunderstandings surrounding sugars and its role in our diets. They also cover topic like how sugar is the main cause of chronic diesease such as obesity, diabetes and heart dieases. They also discussed how sugar effects a person’s metabolism performance and negative conquesneces with consumes too much sugar. Overall the podcast talks with eye opening information about sugar and its toll on our well being. I would recommend this to anyone that is curious on how sugar effect your body and what is the correct amount to eat per day. It a very infromative and eye opening podcast to listen to.

The podcast I listened to was about expanding the business of insect eating and making it more normal to eat in different parts of the world. The podcast started as an interview, asking a chef that works in the edible insect business and a woman who’s also passionate about this business. These two people seem really passionate about this, preaching about the environmental benefits that come from the edible bug business. Some of the dishes served in their restaurant are bug soups, bug burgers, tarantula donuts, and more. Insects are full of nutrients and helpful to the planet but when you ask most people about this, they will react in a negative way. One of the people being interviewed also said that society has put it in our mind that eating insects is gross so thats why people have their minds made up even before they try it. The visual apperance of the food you’re eating is a big part of enjoying the meal so these people do their best to make the insects visually apperance to the consumers. I would recommened it to the class because it’s insightful and something new but I felt grossed out listening to the foods they were describing. This podcast didn’t raise any questions for me because it’s not something that I will ever willingly eat.