Tasting sustainability: Using multisensory activities to retune food preferences

Abstract

The industrial food system threatens the biophysical conditions necessary for human life. For sustainable food to move from niche to mainstream, individual and societal food preferences must shift away from the flattened out tastes and expectations of industrial food, which pose an affective barrier to the adoption of sustainable food practices. In other words, for behaviors to change, alternatives must also be felt, which is why active "retuning" of everyday tastes and expectations is critical to the transition process. The goal of the learning activity described in this chapter is to prompt students to think about retuning their own taste preferences while stimulating a broader discussion about affective barriers to sustainability. During a guided tasting, students will mindfully observe sensations of sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. After completing the tasting and discussion, students should be able to (1) reflect on their personal taste preferences and get a "feel" for sustainable food using the practice of mindful eating, (2) recognize affective barriers that make sustainable food choices more difficult or unlikely, and (3) explain why retuning taste preferences matters for the sustainability of food systems.