Well I made it!

For my final blog post, I wanted to reflect on what I have learned about my own food consumption habits and what I view on social media/news sites. First and foremost, what news sites is presenting is then later on reflected on social media. In almost or all of the days that I monitored the media, what the news was showing, people were copying that on Instagram and Tumblr.

If the news story was about something negative, people on social media wrote on the same subject but distanced themselves from the negativity of it. For example, on a day when the stories were about rising food costs, social media users showed to the world that they were above that and not affected, and posted prices with expensive vegan smoothies and treats.

If the news articles were positive, people did not directly reference that article, they simply were posting the exact same thing. This shows the type of subconscious or conscious allowance of news in our world, so much so that it impacts what social media users show to the rest of the world.

It made my think about why do I eat how I eat. I am vegetarian, started because my Mother is, but continued now because I do not support eating meat. How much health information am I not aware that I am picking up on social media? I do use Instagram, however I do not use Tumblr. Yet a lot of what I see is different ‘health’ advice on social media, and the research shows that the more I see this, the more I alter what I eat and my health habits.

If policy-makers, educators, and parents want to truly teach the population to eat well and be healthy, they need to realize the impact of social media. Social media is not just impacting body image through the promotion of skinny bodies, it is also promoting: gluten-free, veganism, cayenne-shots, diabetes management, slow food, and food trends. This is all happening with not most people paying attention to it. When I first started this project, I thought I would be focusing on the stories of eating disorders, and then pictures of users reflecting that. However social media paints a picture of so much more than just eating disorders, it covers every realm of the food industry and health surrounding food. It is so crucial that moving forwards we pay attention to what we are viewing, and how it is impacting our diet. It is studied that 2/3’s of social media users manipulate their photos or lie about what is actually going on behind the photos, and this shows how maybe their information that they are putting out is not entirely truthful as well.

Thank you very much for reading along, and I hope that part of what I have studied makes you alter your food consumption, and your consumption of social media.

-Alyssa

Welcome to the last day of the media monitoring! Tomorrow will be my final blog post but it will be mostly a reflection piece on what I have learned throughout this project.

The article featured from CBC is about a celiac food expo happening in Saskatchewan. It featured a few people who were at the expo who felt that they could not consume celiac, and how beneficial it is to have these types of events because they feature gluten-free foods that they may not be able to find on their own. Often, those who are gluten-free cannot find treats such as perogies or pastries, but these expos and fairs for celiac awareness and products are great for the gluten-free lifestyle. A comment on the story asked for one of these expos-type events to be held in Ottawa. This shows how popular the gluten-free trend has become, and how this type of events can bring a lot of guests to it. This has obvious health and diet benefits for the consumers, but there is also economic benefits for the cities and the companies that participate in these events and expos.

The article from the Guardian is a blog post from a student from the University of Bristol about how even university students on a budget can be vegan. She outlines how she makes a vegan diet work on a student meal plan, balancing eating in the cafeteria and making things in her room (such as vegan chilli). She states that both Instagram and the rise of food blogging has made more people interested in living a vegan lifestyle, and that this has helped make becoming and staying vegan easier for people. Many students whom are vegan that the author  features in the article say that being in university is a great time to try veganism, as others are open to new ideas and new lifestyles. Everyone may have different reasons for being vegan, but the transition is not as hard as one may think and the author gives some helpful suggestions on how to be vegan as a student.

The Instagram post for today is a vegan pizza recipe, with a gluten-free crust as well. This combines both of the news articles for today. Suddenly within the last few years, it has become popular and trendy to be gluten-free. As a disclaimer, I mean no offence to those who are celiac, I am talking about those who choose to cut out gluten for “health reasons” such as losing weight. This gluten-free vegan pizza sums up the latest food crazes, with many people underestimating the more serious side of those who suffer from celiac disease (http://www.breezejmu.org/opinion/being-gluten-free-can-be-a-serious-disease-not-just/article_6c102eb8-54d9-11e5-a19e-a77c184fae57.html) 

The top Tumblr post was a vegan soup recipe, connecting to the vegan theme presented in the Guardian article. This recipe that is posted looks delicious and also is fall-themed food, a trend that was previously mentioned in this blog. This picture and post really demonstrate the wide availability of vegan recipes and vegan awareness that is out there–it can only continue to grow.

Being vegan and/or gluten-free is great, but it is important to learn about the actual health benefits of both, instead of relying on social media to make your decisions. As our culture shows, we follow things that are popular, so social media users should take a call to have personal responsibility to be aware of the health behind what they are promoting and to always recommend users to make decisions with their doctor or health professional.

Works Cited

CBC News. “Celiac expo features food for people who can’t eat wheat,” CBC News, Nov 14, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/celiac-expo-features-food-for-people-who-can-t-eat-wheat-1.3319534

Thompson, Zoe. “Anyone can be vegan – even cash-strapped students,” BBC News, Nov 16, 2015.

Hello! Welcome to day 12. Almost done and completed!

The article from CBC is about a woman from Newfoundland who started a campaign for people to post the amount of groceries that they get for a week and how much it costs. The campaign is supposed to bring awareness to the high costs of food, especially depending on where you live. It highlights how much it costs to feed a family and provide food. Costs will vary depending on the healthiness of your food, if you buy organic, and what type of supplier you are getting food from.

The top Tumblr post was concerning probably an American Thanksgiving menu plan. For many, meal planning is a way to manage their food. This connects to the CBC article, as for some, a huge meal for Thanksgiving is simply not in the budget. It is so expensive to feed families, as the article suggests. The idea of a menu plan can help individuals or families plan for their meals so they can avoid spending money outside of their weekly limit.

The top Instagram post was about a grocery haul. Although the individual does not post the price of this grocery trip, they do mention that it costed a lot but that healthy food is worth it. This is a lot of groceries, mostly produce, and is based off a vegan diet so this would likely look different per person, and depending on their geography.

As food prices continue to rise, the more that campaigns like this will happen. It brings awareness to the issues that people face, and social media can play a role in that.

Works Cited

CBC News. “St. John’s woman asks grocery shoppers to share #aweeksfeed,” CBC News, Nov. 13, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/food-challenge-a-weeks-feed-grocery-bill-deming-1.3317876

Hello!

In light of the recent attacks of both Paris and Beirut, I would like everyone to take a moment to reflect on this. Both attacks should not be tolerated, and we all should fight against terrorism and act more in the name of love and respect.

I was surprised to see some news concerning food, most of the media has been extensively covering the Paris attacks.

The main article on CBC was about the top 4 foodie trend predictions for 2016, which is fascinating in and of itself that this is an issue that people are paying attention too.  The top 4 trends to watch for is: Bavarian inspired items, slow coffee, street foods, and mixology (cocktail making). The new foodie movements, which do seem to change year to year, is interesting because it brings more people into food and different new food ideas. Of course, a lot of it seems to be a lot of marketing to get people to buy various things, but this could have the potential to see people eating healthier foods. This is like when the kale trend, quinoa, and various non-dairy milks.

The article on BBC is on the food waste that supermarkets create. Grocery stores buy more food than what we need, as in our consumerist culture, that is something that grocery stores try to avoid having anything less than jammed, overly stocked food. However, this creates massive food waste because not all of this food sells. Some grocery stores try to donate this food, as featured in this article, but the overwhelming majority of the food is thrown out.

I worked as a cashier in a grocery store for a few years in high school/university. We had a high amount of food thrown out. Some was put in the staff room for staff, some non-perishables were donated to the local food bank. Yet most of the food was thrown out, especially produce and dairy items.

The top Tumblr post was posted by a user who’s screen name is foodiebliss, really connecting this theme to the CBC article. It is about two tone vanilla mini marshmallows, which the whole mini food thing has been a trend lately. Starbucks features cake pops, mini muffins are all over Pinterest, and the trend to eat smaller, tiny “cute” food is very trendy. This post reflects this, and reinforces the ideals that are placed for different types of trends.

The top Instagram post was about one of the foodie trends that they are predicting. They are guessing that more food trunks foods will be coming more popular in restaurants and foods that people eat regularly. This post features tacos and quesadillas, something that is standard Mexican-type cuisine, however there is new additions to make it exciting and new. The popularity of gourmet food trucks is apparent in cities–UBCO features a daily food truck on weekdays. Tacofina is an extremely popular food truck around British Columbia (out of Tofino). This will likely spring up new trends in what restaurants serve & how they serve it.

Foodie culture seems to be here to stay, and the emerging trends are reflected on social media. If food researches and policy-makers want to study what people are eating, and how they are receiving information, monitoring social media for foodie culture seems like the best way to go.

Works Cited

BBC News. “Viewpoint: The supermarkets’ guilty secret about unsold food,” BBC News, Nov 6, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34708775

CBC News. “4 food trend predictions for 2016,” CBC News, Nov 12, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/food-trends-2016-1.3316405

Hello! Welcome to Day 10 of the blog, 4 more to go 🙂

The main article on CBC is about how our weight is controlled by what we eat, our exercise (or lack of it) does not have as much as an impact as we may believe. According to the article, people often think they burn more calories than they are actually burning off when they are exercising, and eat more than they should because they think they have burned a high amount of calories. The average person working out burns about 300 calories at a moderate pace, this is just over an apple strudel and just under a small pumpkin spice latte. This creates people to become heavier than they want, because they simply are overestimating how much they are working out and the changes it brings. It is particularly interesting to read the comment section, it is mostly people commenting on how of course this is true, they knew this all along. However, this does not translate into most of the population knowing this, if we continue to eat poorly as a culture and continue to become an obese society. Most of the time I refrain from reading comments, but they are very interesting on this article.

The BBC story covers a new Paul Hollywood show that he is starting on the Food Network. It will be shown only on TV in the United Kingdom. He is the head baker at some of the UK’s fanciest hotels, and runs a baking business as well. The show will be focusing on pastries and baking. This is fascinating as it is focusing on traditionally fattier foods, usually things people should be eating in moderation. The UK has rising obesity rates, so it is interesting that they are choosing to feature a baker, and not a show focused on healthy eating and how to cook food that is good for a family, etc. If obesity rates are rising, the Food Network has an impact on what people view concerning their food. Not that someone should never eat baked goods, but I think a healthy cooking show would likely aid the viewers more in the UK.

The top Instagram post was all about a guy who works out and goes to the gym all the time to look good and be in shape. He does not mention what type of workouts he does, or if his diet is poor or healthy. It is simply about working out and maintaining a physique.

The Tumblr post for tonight features a post about sugar, and how much sugar different food options have. This really links up to the news articles, they are talking about healthy eating and making better food choices to be healthy.

If news sites are talking about how people overestimate exercise, it seems that half of social media follows that and half does not. This is important for policy-makers and educators to notice, if younger generations are gaining information on healthy eating versus exercise from social media versus news sites. Take notice the different levels of government: misinformation is out there, and most youth are not reading CBC analysis, but they do go on Instagram daily.

-A

Works Cited

BBC News. “Paul Hollywood cooks up new baking show on Food Network,” BBC News, Nov. 11, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34785983

CBC News. “Weight controlled by what we put in our mouths, not exercise,” CBC News, Nov 12, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/exercise-eat-myth-1.3316095

Hello!

The top article on CBC is about a spa in Florida in which ‘cures’ people of ailments, and claims to have cured cancer and MS. The main guy from the spa gave a health lecture in Montreal, and said that to cure MS you must eat a vegan raw food diet. Many scientists in Canada have debunked his statements and have said that healthy nutrition of course is important, but that the spa and its owner prey on sick people and give them false information. Although a raw vegan diet might be right for some, it is not alright for everyone and the spa takes a high amount of money from people to help them ‘cure’ their MS (which many have said they have not been cured by this diet).

There was no news stories on diets or food on BBC, as they were heavily covering Remembrance Day (lest we forget).

The top Tumblr post was on a vegan diet as well, featuring kiwi pops. The hashtags are about fresh vegan food and how it does so much to benefit your health.

The top Instagram post was also about vegan smoothies, in which the poster talks about how it is dairy free and how vegan recipes give her a glow and boost her health. Although it is likely that she is a healthy vegan, to viewers whom are uneducated or youth who are still impressionable, that being vegan is simply about having fruit and vegetables, without sources of plant protein.

Veganism is great, yet on social media, it is generally selling the lifestyle and the looks of the girls who promote it. Girls who look on social media for diet advice do not go vegan because they talk to a doctor about it, they do it because the girls on social media whom are vegan sell a way of life: being skinny, pretty, and being happy with plenty of friends, lush backdrops, and a luxurious teenage life. This creates such inadequate knowledge about food, and misinformation being spread.

For some extra reading on the rise of veganism through social media, check these articles out! Although they are not scholarly sources, they certainly provide a glimpse at the world of envy and veganism.

http://jezebel.com/famous-vegan-admits-shes-suffering-from-an-eating-disor-1605391273

http://thewholetara.com/my-response-to-why-im-not-vegan-anymore/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/11649411/How-social-media-is-fuelling-the-worrying-rise-in-eating-disorders.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3130786/Meat-eaters-don-t-deserve-live-Diet-guru-Freelee-Banana-Girl-claims-people-forced-vegan-save-planet.html

Works Cited

Connie Walker. “Brian Clement, controversial nutritionist, claims institute helps patients ‘reverse’ MS,” CBC News, Nov 11, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/brian-clement-controversial-nutritionist-claims-institute-helps-patients-reverse-ms-1.3311543

Hello!

I hope you all are enjoying these last few days of fall, binge eat everything pumpkin spice and apple cider and all other marketing schemes. Enjoy these flavours all year round, they are not limited to a season!

The main article from CBC featured a university student from Dalhousie University who ate only what she found for free on campus for a week. She explains her experiences as hard to know when she would eat next, and that she was extremely unproductive in her academics and felt tired, hungry, and unfocused. She ended up packing small snacks at home in cases of extreme hunger. She stated that it made her much more aware of food security issues in the world today.

The article from BBC is about how Prince Charles is urging British people to buy British food. Farmers and the agricultural sector in Britain is facing challenges, but that people can really help this situation by buying stuff made within the country. He says that buying food produced in Britain ensures that it will be fresh and high-quality, and bridge gaps between rural and urban communities in the UK. It will help to guarantee a strong future for agriculture.

Both of the news stories deal with food insecurities, one with personal hunger and one with the economic stability of agriculture in a country. In a world that is increasingly connected to one another, the social media posts for the day certainly did the opposite of food insecurity, people were boasting about their opulent food choices. This demonstrates to the viewers that whomever suffers from food insecurity (which is most of us on this planet if you truly consider it), they are the ‘other’ and social media personalities are rich and unaffected by global markets.

The tumblr post for today featured an inspiration quote about getting through tough times. This was tagged for diet, meaning that is meant to inspire tough times for diets, yet the people who suffer the most from ‘storms’ are the people who suffer from food insecurity. However, somehow with strength, people can raise above this. This is a very unrealistic picture to paint for people; policies and better food systems make it so people can raise above it.

The top Instagram post is about girls treating themselves to fancy vegan smoothies. This signals to the viewer that they can afford treats, someone in which most of the worlds population cannot do. Why is it that we increasingly share everything and “humble-brag” everything in which we do? The girls who are sharing this post are likely not wealthy or should be spending their money on smoothies, it would be better spent on whole fruit. Yet, this is a carefully crafted post to demonstrate their wealth and social status through food. Food signals to other your status in life (and status on social media), thus having overpriced smoothies is a good place to start.

If most of the world is food insecure, why are we not reflecting this on social media? We are so quick to show the good parts of our life on social media, but never show the bad. Maybe we shared all of the good, the bad, and the ugly about our world of food, we would come up with more solutions for our food issues and share the knowledge.

Till tomorrow!

Works Cited

CBC News. “Food security one-week challenge ‘went’ pretty badly for Dal student,” CBC News, Nov. 9, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/free-food-diet-dal-student-1.3311586

Hello! We are officially half way through this blog project.

The top CBC article concerning food was surrounding the Veterans Food Bank in Calgary having a food drive and the success of it. There is high food insecurity for Veterans, especially younger veterans as they are more hesitant to go to the food bank. This links to the  article on BBC is about how there is heavy rainfall in India, which has caused prices to soar for lentils, and other staples in their diet. Both articles are about food insecurity, and how different groups of people can be impacted in their food and diet intake.

The posts on social media reflect these news articles as well. The top Tumblr post is on how rabbits are “famine-resistant”, a joke but containing social current themes. It is interesting that food insecurity is echoed in this when India could be heading towards that, especially for those who are poorer. The top Instagram post is on vegan cravings, which is the opposite of famine. However, further on in the comments, there is discussion on how you can make this with little ingredients, which can feed more people if you have the type of produce for this. As Food Banks do provide food access, it rarely leads to food justice. Recipes like that, which are popular on Instagram, can provide these with some food justice as they can learn to cook their food and make it fresh, with a few simple ingredients. This is beneficial for everyone.

Food insecurity and food justice is a huge problem across the world. The media reflects this and reinforces these themes.

Works Cited

BBC News, “Many Indians hit by soaring costs of some staple foods,” BBC News, Nov 9 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34746406

CBC News, “Veterans Food Bank event sees spike in generosity despite economic slump,” CBC News, Nov 9 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/veterans-food-bank-donations-up-1.3310411

Hello!

As yesterday I discussed how geography determines what you eat, the themes continue along that as well in today’s post. Today particularly concerns the trend of dieting, where young girls online share their inspiration to be skinnier, not to be healthier. Our bodies require food to have energy, yet many undergo extreme diets in attempts to lose weight.  There is a lot of confusion out there in the food systems world on the different types of diets, and how beneficial/affective they are. What to eat to be skinny? What not to eat? But we frame this narrative in a damaging world. The focus should not be on how to be skinny, it should be on to be healthy.

I found that today, while the news sites were reporting on how to be healthy, and what to eat/exercise to get healthy, it was reflected on social media as to what people were not eating in order to be skinny. This is often referred to on social media as fitspo, or thinspo (thinspo is sometimes blocked as it is thought to have influence on eating disorders). Why have we switched as a society from wanting to eat healthy so we can be at peak performance to wanting to be skinny and eat much less than what is needed? Is it solely due to our media who celebrates skinny women and fit men? Or does it go deeper into our mixed knowledge on nutrition and health?

The top CBC story is on the benefits of brisk walking. It talks about how vigorous intense training is not the best way to shed the pounds. The people in the study who walked regularly had smaller waists and lower BMIs (body mass index). They say that is outside of what people may be eating in their diet, and with a proper healthy diet, they would be even slimmer. The article talked about how people can diet effectively and walk to have a slimmer body.

However, there something that is left out of this article. This article really focuses on weight loss, and how walking can lead to this. But muscle weighs more than fat, and muscle is much healthier for you to gain. The person who is doing intense exercise may actually be gaining weight, because they are gaining more muscle. Of course, this weight gain is healthy because its in the form of muscle. Thus, if someone reading this does not know that muscle weighs more, and is solely concerned about weight loss versus exercising to gain muscle, they may avoid intense workouts thinking that losing weight is the sole prerogative as they worry about gaining weight through the workouts, yet that is healthy weight to gain. This is a very misleading article, it does not explain how BMIs are actually not a great indicator of weight. And of course, this whole article disregards anything about how healthy your diet actually is, as long as you lose weight. Again, losing weight is the central goal.

The top BBC article is on Coca-Cola and their marketing of their products. It is said in the article that Coca-Cola has no place in the daily diet for people, as their drinks are all over the daily recommended intake of sugar for each age group. A doctor from Public Health England says that especially for children, sugary drinks are not okay and that they should stick with low-fat milks and water. In response, Coca-Cola is offering two sugar-free Coca-Cola drinks for those who do not want the sugar and calories that a drink comes with.

At first this article is great, it is very true that Coca-Cola should not be in anyone’s diet (except for maybe in the summer as a treat camping). But it really focuses on how children are impacted by sugary drinks. Children, although they may be persuasive, they do not hold the monetary power to be purchasing the drinks, an adult must be purchasing them for them. So if the UK wants to make changes in how its citizens view sugary drinks, they should be targeting adults. And sugar affects every age group, not just children! This article fails to take into account a more holistic view of the negatives of drinking coke. It is not just that sugar is unhealthy and causes weight gain (and other health issues), it is full of chemicals and unnatural ingredients. It does not mention how when you are drinking coke, you are not consuming a natural product or anything your body recognizes.

The top Tumblr post featured a traditionally ‘pretty’ Caucasian girl, who is quite skinny. She tags her photo with fitspo and fitspiration, all which add up to an ideal to be skinny. The photo is also hash tagged with the word diet, meaning that the girl in the photo diets to get her body. It does not mention healthy eating or being conscious of where your food comes from, it simply is about her low body size.

The top post on Instagram featured a Caucasian women smiling, and posing in a bathing suit. Her arms are modelled in a way in which they look slimmer, as she is titling her shoulders forwards. Her post is all about how she is now skinny, toned, & tight because of her diet and exercise. She does not mention anything about how healthy food can be rewarding, or how to eat healthy instead of dieting and limiting calories. Her focus on food is how little she can eat, compared to what a better narrative would be: what foods reward your body, and how to be healthy, not skinny.

Eating well and having a balanced diet is not what the media is presenting: skinny wins every time. It is about slimming down and getting smaller. We should focus on food that makes us glow and feel healthy, not simply how much less we can eat.

Works Cited

BBC News. “Keith Vaz accused of hypocrisy over Coca-Cola Christmas Truck,” BBC News, Nov. 6, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-34744976

CBC News. “Brisk walking: is it better than vigorous exercise for losing weight?” CBC News, Nov. 7, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/brisk-walking-is-it-better-than-vigorous-exercise-for-losing-weight-1.3309458

Hello! Sorry for my lack of posting in the last two days, I was very ill and then celebrated my Dads birthday. I will be blogging regularly after today.

I have switched from the New York Times to BBC as New York Times only lets you access 10 articles a month before you have to start to pay.

So the top story on BBC and CBC was both diabetes related news. which is interesting because November is actually Diabetes Awareness Month in Canada.

The BBC article covered a political mishap by an MP that stated the diabetes is easy to control by diet and exercise. People were offended as only Type 2 diabetes is caused by this, Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that you cannot fix or solve, people cannot avoid getting Type 1 diabetes. This caused significant controversy, including some people to comment that as a MP, they should be fact-checking before making statements about different health problems that people face. Diet and lifestyle affect only one type of diabetes, which makes it very important for everyone to realize the preventive measures they can take to prevent Type 2 diabetes.

The CBC article was incredibly fascinating, it covered how Canada has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world. This is partly due to our poor diet, which leads to obesity. The article demonstrates how geography dictates the type of diseases one might get. The Maritimes have the highest rates of diabetes, which a professor of medicine from the University of Calgary says is for two reasons. The first is that partly due to the poor weather, people are less active. The second reason is that culturally in Newfoundland, there is different eating habits. The article suggests that some of the ways that Canada can combat this is by limiting the kinds of advertising children see, taxing sugary beverages, and government policy ideas to drive home healthy eating.

The top Tumblr photo is a very skinny female, hash tagged with fitspo, which a hashtag used to inspire motivation to get fit. Although this photo fits with a larger food problem of eating disorders in our society (as the photo is also hash tagged skinny), it does fit in with the larger trend of diabetes news with the whole exercise thing being inspiration to exercise, to avoid diabetes. Even though it does not directly mention diabetes, it is about the benefits of exercise and being fit.

The top Instagram post is on someone who was in the process of making a clean-eating fruit bowl. Fruit is considered a high source of sugar, albeit natural, but it is also a new trend in the foodie world to do “smoothie bowls” which is this similar too. The clean-eating trend in the food world is quite popular, it focuses on eating whole foods and foods that are minimally processed.

All of these media sites today reflect on how geography determines your destiny, especially one’s food destiny & diet. Newfoundland weather makes it much harder to grow food, so a much higher population in Newfoundland does not have access to healthy, fresh food. They have to import in fresh food which causes rising food costs. Newfoundland is already one of the lower-income provinces in Canada, due to the shift in industry. There are high rates of animal product consumption, and low activity due to poor weather. This is not similar to other areas of the country. British Columbia is ranked as the #1 healthiest province in Canada (http://globalnews.ca/news/1827343/b-c-is-the-healthiest-province-in-canada-ranked-3rd-in-the-world/) , as fresh produce in BC is common with local orchards and the agricultural heartland in the lower mainland. Geography is so important in determining how you eat. Each area of the country has a cultural identity around food; food is a common denominator around people. If the culture of a place, such as Newfoundland, does not eat health or have high exercise rates, that can really dictate the health habits that someone grows up with.

Geography is extremely important in food systems and health. We eat what we know, and the culture of a place can determine what we know.

Cheers!-A

Works Cited

BBC News. “MP apologizes for diabetes ‘avoidable’ comments,” BBC News, Nov. 7, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-34755746

CBC News. “10% of Canadians have adult diabetes, report says,” CBC News, Nov. 7, 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/canadians-diabetes-new-brunswick-1.3307501