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M6.7 Blog: Obesogens

  • Utilizing the first article, discuss what is locally grown and what is currently in season in your area.
There are a lot of locally grown foods in California that are currently in season. These include pears, plums, apples, winter squash, avocado, pears. strawberries, melons, mushrooms, and more! I was surprised to see how many different produce items are currently in season and happy to see that we have so many locally grown options in our area. I know that California has a lot of agriculture, but I sometimes forget this because I live in San Francisco. Most of the state has local farms and it is easy to forget when you live in an urban bubble.

  • Discuss your thoughts on seasonal/local foods and hospital menus. 
I think that having seasonal and local foods on hospital menus is an excellent and worthwhile endeavor. UCSF's cafeteria has locally grown and seasonal food options on their menu and it is ranked as one of the better hospital cafeterias in the state. It is also an excellent way to invest in the local economy and lead the area in their sustainability and local food efforts because hospitals consume so much food and can provide large contracts and a lot of revenue to local farms. Additionally, hospitals have a lot of influence and can push vendors to purchase from local farms thereby changing the system through using their buying power. 

  • Find a Harvest Calendar for your state (or a state you are interested in) utilizing the link in the first article (found underneath the example Harvest Calendar for New York State). 
This is the link that was included in the article: 
http://www.sustainabletable.org/shop/eatseasonal 

But I could not find a harvest calendar for CA on this website, so I instead used this website to find the Northern CA Harvest Calendar included below:
https://www.pickyourown.org/CAharvestcalendar.htm 



  • Pick one of the potential obesogens discussed in the article and using your resources from earlier modules (such as toxnet), do some research on this potential obesogen. Share what you found! 
I picked the dietary obesogen called monosodium glutamate. Monosodium glutamate or MSG is used by the food industry as a flavor enhancer that intensifies the meaty, savory flavors of food. Some studies have shown that it can exacerbate asthma conditions in asthmatics. It has also been associated with "Chinese restaurant syndrome" which is a term for a condition that causes facial flushing, although studies testing this reaction have shown mixed results and it has been deemed as a very rare reaction by ToxNet. Additionally, it has been associated with headaches, burning sensations, facial pressure, rapid heartbeat, nausea, chest pains, drowsiness, weakness, and seizures.  

Comments

  1. KJOctober 16, 2019 at 3:10 PM

    Obesogens sound scary. I hope to avoid eating food with that sprinkled in.

    ReplyDelete

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