How I eat is how I live

Food sovereignty is the right of the population to determine their own food and agriculture. But what criteria do we actually use to choose our food? Who or what influences our decisions? Zurich professor Dr. Christine Brombach has been researching these and other questions and has been working on the topic of food and nutrition for over 25 years.

WernerLampert says that every meal eaten alone is a meal lost. To what extent is eating a social act?

Eating is to a large extent a social, profoundly social act. It begins prenatally in the womb and becomes an active, social interaction after birth. This intimate togetherness, usually provided by the mother, creates a space of experience and reference for the child. Here, "becoming nourished" is a holistic act: the child feels the mother's warmth, not only takes in oral stimuli, but also perceives the mother with all its senses and experiences a "primal taste of security", which is both a breeding ground and the basis for social development. Here the child learns that eating takes place more or less periodically, and experiences and taste sensations are consolidated through the repetition of the processes. Above all, however, it learns that eating is directly related to people.

As soon as children can sit at the table and eat with us, they learn how to deal with food through the social group into which they were born. In evolutionary terms, we are omnivores, which is an immense survival advantage for the human species. A koala can only eat eucalyptus leaves, so it can only live where there are eucalyptus leaves. All it has to do is divide the world into "eucalyptus leaves = edible" and "everything else = not edible". This is different for humans, we first have to learn what is edible and what is not. And this division is not biological, but largely socially determined.

What is considered "edible", "healthy" and "right" in a particular social group and what is not are social rules that people first have to learn from their environment. In no era of human history has food been "taken for granted". And every society has developed certain structures and rules around meals, which are of course very different. In our society, everything takes place at the table, whereas in other cultures, for example, people eat on the floor with their hands, which also has to be learned.

Georg Simmel, a German sociologist, already said in his essay at the beginning of the last century that it is precisely these meals that all people have in common, to exaggerate: Animals eat, humans have a meal structure that they share.

So whatabout the biologically or genetically determined aspects, how do they affect our food choices?

Humans are, as Heidegger put it, "thrown into the world", i.e. a living being that is only poorly equipped with food instincts. We are born with a preference for sweet, because our mother's milk tastes slightly sweet and carbohydrates are an essential source of energy. Newborns have an innate rejection of bitter, but we learn to like it later because taste is also something we learn by example. So as we get older, we like bitter tasting things such as coffee, beer or dark chocolate.

Youmention the differences in eating behavior between young children and adults. What else has an influence apart from age?

There are different phases of development and overarching issues in a society with regard to food and the availability of food. Up until the 1950s, many people still focused on shortages, and post-war shortages and experiences of hunger were something that was in the immediate consciousness and experience of people here in war-torn Europe.

It was not until the 1950s that food production became increasingly industrialized and mechanized, leading to the first global products being added to the range. Today, the digitalization of food production has been added to this. This has an immense impact on the entire food system. Completely new, unprecedented issues and challenges are now arising for individuals and societies alike.

Today, we have a round-the-clock supply of goods that no era in human history has known before. Suddenly we have to choose "little" from the abundance, adopt a "no" attitude towards the constant availability and seduction of food. And this despite the fact that humans have always been programmed for scarcity and not abundance.

Whatchanges will digitalization bring?

Digitalization has taken food out of a person's immediate environment and made it global, which means that my choices are also global, e.g. I eat European products or products that have travelled halfway around the world. Many people are rightly concerned about the consequences of these developments.

Since eating is something I have to do all the time, several times a day, I also have the opportunity to make decisions and influence the food system through the way I eat. But in order to be able to exercise a choice, I also need an overview of the consequences of my choice, of possible alternatives. And this is where digitalization could also help to create transparency. For example, by making products traceable, by providing digital labels, or digital media could be used to provide information on where something was produced locally and who produced it and how.

Nowadays, manypeople are no longer aware of food and its origins, which may also be contributing to the rise in diet-related illnesses. How could a healthier food supply be achieved?

Knowledge is always a prerequisite for action. In many cases, such knowledge was learned in the family. However, due to diverse social conditions and changes, this can no longer be taken for granted today. In my opinion, schools have a very important role to play in imparting knowledge and practice. It's not just about cooking, but about acting sustainably when dealing with food. And that naturally includes the production of food, as well as avoiding waste. And I am convinced that this can lay the necessary foundations for food sovereignty.

However, other institutions are also called upon to take a stand for healthy nutritional care and provision. For example, through appropriate offers in communal catering. And it is also important that state forms of health promotion are included, for example that laws regarding labeling and reformulation efforts are enforced. It is a huge field of possible action and we are only at the beginning.

What doyou think of the new nutritional trends and superfoods that are constantly emerging - are they pure marketing or do they help to raise awareness?

Food trends are developments that we are observing because food encompasses social, cultural, ethical, moral and ideological aspects and is becoming a new field of negotiation in an increasingly globalized society. It can be observed that the idea of food, especially "healthy food", is increasingly developing along different lines and that products are coming onto the market that aim to meet different consumer needs.

The term "superfood" comes from the world of marketing. The fact is that there are foods that contain significantly more active ingredients and nutrients than other foods, but these do not have to come from tropical, subtropical regions.

There are also a lot in our region:

• Berries: Blackcurrants, blueberries, elderberries, cranberries and aronia berries. Among other things, these contain so-called polyphenols, which are cancer-preventive.
• Vegetables: Here it is mainly wild herbs that have valuable ingredients, e.g. dandelion, goutweed, nettle, but also all cabbage vegetables, raw sauerkraut and tomatoes. The active ingredients are mainly secondary plant substances that prevent cancer and can also counteract inflammation in the body.
• Spices: Spices can have an anti-inflammatory effect, such as turmeric and ginger, or lower blood pressure, such as garlic.
• Kernels, nuts, seeds: Almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, linseeds contain valuable oils that are important for general health and dietary fibers that regulate digestion.
• Fruit: Pomegranates, apples and grapes have a variety of effects on blood sugar and the cardiovascular system.
• Cereals: Barley and oats help to modulate blood lipid levels.

There is a large domestic selection, which enables us to build up our food sovereignty here too.

Ourdaily food choices very much determine what is on offer in the shops and consequently also the type of agriculture. Do you think awareness of sustainable food is increasing or do people speak out in favor of it in surveys but don't act accordingly?

The range of products on the market is huge and unmanageable. Nobody knows the individual nutrients, production locations, manufacturing processes or ingredients of the more than 60,000 products that the average food retailer stocks. I think it's clear to most people today that things can't go on as they are. We have to rethink. Whether we want to or not. From a global perspective, we cannot continue to live and eat as we have done up to now. The way we eat has a major impact on our ecosystems. Around a third of land, water and resource consumption and greenhouse gases are caused by food. This includes the entire chain from production to consumption and disposal. It is important to raise awareness here. But joint action is needed; trade, industry and producers must make a joint effort, because ultimately it's about the future of our children.

Canyou do anything as an individual?

Everyone can make their own contribution to sustainability, for example by reducing their meat consumption. Meat is a valuable food and is part of our culture. Meat is an important product for agriculture. There will never be a purely vegetarian Switzerland or a vegetarian Austria, because animals produce milk, for example, on areas such as the Alps that could not otherwise be used for agriculture. Animal manure is important in agriculture to maintain soil fertility.

However, we eat too much meat and this is not good for our health or the environment.

Whyis excessive meat consumption so dramatic?

In 2012, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment investigated the environmental impact of private consumption by the Swiss population. It became clear that 28% of the total environmental impact is caused by food. It is primarily animal products that contribute to this. It takes a lot of water and resources to produce animal feed, e.g. grain, food that humans could also eat. The WHO has shown in many studies that a high consumption of red meat is associated with an increased risk of cancer. Meat often contains too much fat and curing salts. Long-term studies show that people who eat little (i.e. max. 500 grams per week) or no meat have a lower risk of suffering from chronic diet-related diseases.

It doesn't mean giving up meat completely, but, as always in life, it's about finding the right balance. You don't need meat every day, vegetarian options are varied, easy to cook and they taste good.

Whatadvice do you have for consumers to contribute to greater food sovereignty?

It is important to take a closer look at what goes into our mouths every day, because it has an immense impact. Not only for our bodies, but also for the environment, the agricultural system in which we live. We should inform ourselves and take the choices we make seriously. Because how I eat is how I live, how I live is how I eat. This is not a new insight. This was a basic attitude of ancient Greek philosophy, where the term diaita (which we now only know in shortened form as "diet") meant a lifestyle principle. This meant that eating was always integrated into everyday life, into the practical way of life. Enjoyable and healthy eating are the cornerstones of nutrition. So let's eat and drink with pleasure!