Professor Jonathan Robins provided a very insightful and knowledgeable study of the role of fat in the food industry with some rather comprehensive examples regarding how specific fats are made in certain parts of the world and comparing the different environmental conditions and social-political pressures that control the type of fat in the marketplace, expanding on the role of federal regulations as well. It was very interesting to learn the historical perspective on nutritional science through which Professor Robins was able to clarify and expand on certain key issues, such as the politics of fat substitutability, with concise examples (one of which was that whale oil was claimed extinct in 1920s but then revived in the 40s-50s and before it left the industry in the 60s due to the vegetable fat industry ambitiously attempting to put the animal fat industry out of business). The rather free-form Q&A session catered to a discussion on the types of fats we eat and whether they can be identified as good or bad. Of course, take everything in moderation was the final word on that matter. However, what intrigued me most was rather the economic depth to these choices and that the misconceptions that we have about fats where we so easily categorize them as good or bad are influenced by the government’s fluctuating role in which fats are made available on the market and which are not. Professor Robins really opened a new platform for discussion about food and our ways of consumption.