Writing Exercise #5

Growing up, food/product/nutrition use and consumption were mostly dictated by my environment, especially my parents. As a child, I did not have a say in what foods I could eat at home or what was added to the grocery list. My father was a big proponent of eating nutritious meals as he and my mother had underlying medical conditions and used diet to manage them. My father had type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, while my mother has rheumatoid arthritis. My father loved to cook and every morning would provide a filling but healthy breakfast and delicious well-balanced meals for dinner. School lunch was another environmental factor I did not have control over as a child. I could choose either pizza or tots, milk or juice, cookie or not, and school food was determined by where I lived. But a majority of what I ate contained a range of fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals which definitely improved gut barrier, health, and immunity.

As I grew older in high school, college, and now as a working adult, I’ve had more control over my choices in what I eat and how they impact my microbiome. While the environment of where I live, where I go to school, and my own background of my socioeconomic status, ethnicity, etc. will impact what food choices I have and make, I still can choose for myself what I will buy from the grocery store. As my partner is a health-conscious person and leads a very active lifestyle, he prefers home-cooked vegetarian meals and has influenced me to consistently eat a well-balanced diet. When I lived in Corvallis, I was surrounded by my friends who lived near me. Our diets consisted of Rivas, Panda Express, and group dinners we cooked together. We are mostly Filipino and cooked Filipino meals but they are not well balanced. Due to my social environment, the physical environment, and personal stress, processed fast food was the easier option for me as a college student.