In this blog post, we will look at how one meal can affect not only an individual’s health but also the local community and the global environment.
There is a saying, “You are what you eat.” This means that what you eat defines who you are. Food is not just something we eat to fill our stomachs. The food you eat reflects the culture surrounding you, and the food you choose reveals your personality and preferences. What we eat is a subject of deep exploration not only from a humanities and social science perspective, but also from a natural science perspective. From the chemical processes involved in food preservation and cooking to the biological processes that occur in our bodies, understanding food nutrition requires knowledge from various academic fields.
The importance of food and nutrition science is becoming increasingly recognized. Recently, there has been active research on the effects of modern eating habits on health. It has been found that the food we eat not only affects our weight and appearance, but also has a significant impact on chronic disease prevention and mental health in the long term. Therefore, food and nutrition science plays an important role not only in individual health but also in public health.
Let’s take a look at community nutrition, a field of food and nutrition for pregnant women at risk of starvation. Community nutrition is a field of food and nutrition that focuses on improving nutrition to improve the health of community members, and it is a representative example of the convergence of the humanities and social sciences and the natural sciences. In order to help these people, it is necessary to not only develop foods that are highly nutritious, but also to take into consideration the food culture of the region receiving support. This is because unfamiliar ingredients, textures, and flavors can be rejected even if they are nutritious. Therefore, in order to help areas with specific nutritional deficiencies, it is necessary to first understand the food culture and tastes of the local residents.
For example, last semester, as part of a food and nutrition class, we conducted a project to improve protein deficiency in Afghanistan. The class included participation in the “Beans of Hope Project” led by Dr. Soon-Young Kwon of the Nutrition & Education Institute (NEI), a non-profit organization operating in Afghanistan, and involved developing foods using mung beans (white beans). While researching ways to solve protein deficiency in Afghanistan, I investigated why protein deficiency did not occur in Korea during the Korean War, when the country was in a similar situation, and discovered that beans were a good source of protein. Therefore, the “Beans of Hope Project” was launched to plant beans in Afghanistan to solve protein deficiency.
At the time, among the various varieties of beans grown in Afghanistan, mung beans grew well and were nutritionally excellent, with a protein content of 38%, higher than other beans, and containing omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. In addition, tests conducted on local residents confirmed that they preferred mung bean protein to milk protein, so the next step was to develop recipes that local residents could cook using mung beans. The first thing we had to do before cooking was to research Afghan food culture. We researched traditional Afghan foods, main crops, and common foods, and then created recipes based on that information and sent them to Afghanistan.
The results were successful. The Afghan residents liked all the recipes we presented and responded that they would try cooking them themselves. This would have been difficult to achieve without considering the nutritional analysis of soybeans and the culture and sensibilities of Afghanistan.
Even if it is not a country in civil war, community nutrition is a field of study that can be used to help people with nutritional deficiencies, from disadvantaged families and North Korea in Korea to people around the world. Food and nutrition is a very important field of study because it deals with the food that people must eat to survive. In addition, its characteristics allow it to be applied to various other fields of study. Examples include school meal management and the enactment of food-related laws. In the future, interest in food science and nutrition will continue to grow, such as interest in food safety, anti-cancer foods, and anti-aging foods, so there will be more work for food science and nutrition departments to do. I hope that this interest will lead to a better understanding of food science and nutrition among the general public.
The scope of application of food science and nutrition is endless. For example, it is possible to develop and produce new foods in collaboration with food engineering, and to develop diets for the prevention of specific diseases in collaboration with medicine. In addition, it can contribute to the development of the food industry by studying food pricing policies and consumption patterns in collaboration with economics. Through such convergence with various disciplines, food science and nutrition is constantly evolving.
In addition, environmental protection and sustainable agriculture are emerging as important issues for the future. Food and nutrition science can play a major role in solving these problems. For example, it can pursue sustainable food production by introducing environmentally friendly agricultural technologies and conduct research to establish food systems that can respond to climate change. Through these efforts, food and nutrition science can contribute to protecting not only human health but also the health of the planet.
Therefore, food and nutrition science is not limited to a single field, but is constantly evolving through convergence with various other disciplines, and its importance will continue to grow in the future. Through this, people will be able to lead healthier and happier lives.
