Last week the Rose Scholars was visited by a panel of experts from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab to talk about the reasoning behind our food choices. It was interesting to learn that through various studies, producers have found ways to influence the consumers choice when laying out a buffet line to a grocery store. It so happens that no matter what the first three items in a buffet line are, the consumer’s plate will typically contain 60% of those items. It’s small tricks like this that can assist in implementing slightly healthier eating habits for ones friends and family and community as a whole. The dinning halls in Cornell always have the fruit stands at eye level so it is the first thing one looks at. Also the salad bars are positioned so that people can have easy access to either side of it. This way, students may have a greater chance of choosing these items over too much meat and dessert options.
A tip that can be implemented in one’s own home is to leave a bowl of salad or fruit on the table and keep the meat on the stove. That way, one is forced to have to get up if one wants more food and will probably opt for serving themselves more salad to compensate. Putting the high sugar and sodium items out of reach assists with temptation as well.
Important tip: if one is hungry, one should avoid going to a grocery store of fast food restaurant. When being in a state of hunger, the mind goes for the option that would not necessarily be most filling but the one that will be most pleasing. Thus, one’s decisions about the food they will buy are likely to not be as nutritious as if they were in a content mind set. This is definitely something I have begun to implement in my daily life and it has helped greatly.
Overall, this talk was extremely informative and it sparked many questions regarding what must be going on in the minds of large food producers or store owners.
This is really interesting! It makes me think of something that was mentioned in one of my classes a few weeks ago. We were talking about the rise of consumerist culture in the U.S. in the early/mid-20th century, and one of the things we talked about was the development of large grocery stores selling brand-name products with “cash and carry” policies that replaced smaller stores in which products weren’t heavily branded and the merchant would help the customers pick out their goods as they shopped. The move from one model to the other led people to buy more because their buying experience wasn’t mediated by another person, and because the new branded products were more alluring than they had been before. It’s cool to know that the dining halls are thinking about this kind of psychology when they set out the food, and maybe I’ll try doing the same at home too!
The tip about where the Salad and fruit go is a great idea! thanks for sharing!
I was really interested in this lecture but couldn’t make it this time! 🙁 I found it interesting that you mentioned that Cornell dining places their fruit at eye level, which is really smart in convincing students to eat their fruit since it’s the first thing they see. As a food science major, I remember learning in one class that grocery stores place the sugary cereals at the eye level of children so they are tempted to buy it or at least tell their parents about it.
Wow, this is actually really cool. Have you ever seen some of the posters in Warren hall by the development sociology rooms? They have a ton of posters with similar information. Take a look at them if you’re ever nearby!
The food at eye level bit is so true. I always go for the cookies at Becker because they’re the first thing I see