What I found most interesting about Jonathan Robins’ talk was his emphasis on the interrelationship between political motive, economic gain, and public perceptions about the nutritional value of a given product or ingredient. While I realized that new scientific findings continually change what we believe to be the cure-all superfood, the healthy but delicious substitute, or the deadly downfall, I did not realize that fats and other ingredients that were previously discredited or found to be harmful have actually made a comeback and become widely accepted yet again. What is more, I really had no idea how deeply public perceptions about healthy eating and go-to ingredients were the product of political and economic agendas. On the contrary, it seems as though society often takes the newest claims about which foods are healthy and which ones are not as the most recent and thus most accurate empirically supported knowledge. I think that especially when it comes to health, people assume that the knowledge reported or the newest ingredient being advocated is disseminated with altruistic intentions to improve society’s health. At times, altruistic intentions could certainly be present, but after listening to Robins explain how surges or resurgences of advocacy for a certain type of fat or oil often depend on which is cheapest or easiest to produce, I will definitely be taking Robins’ advice to be skeptical about the latest claims I encounter.

In fact, Robins’ advice to be skeptical about the sources of our knowledge is useful guidance not just when choosing which fat or oil to use but in all aspects of life. This advice illuminates the larger reality that knowledge is put forth by a particular person or group for a particular purpose. Thinking about from where a particular piece of information is coming, considering who is advancing this information, and untangling what interests this source has in spreading this information can help us evaluate the validity of a certain claim. In a world where a multitude of new scientific reports are coming out everyday and “alternative facts” are fronting as truth, the ability to the dissect the continuous stream of knowledge with which we meet is a super useful skill.