On Wednesday, I attended the Rose Cafe hosted by Jonathan Robins, a nutrition historian.  Instead of discussing fats on a nutritional level, he explained the role of fats in the world food system.  Since there are many different kinds of fats that are often interchangeable in food preparation, the extraction and selling of fats plays a major role in the global economy.  

Robins emphasized how various fats gained and lost popularity over time.  For example, the extraction of fat from animals (whales in particular) decreased significantly in the 1960s, leading to the rise of vegetable oils and fats (such as canola oil).  Another topic was the rivalry between fats from tropical regions (palm and coconut) over fats produced in the US (soybean).  There was an effort to avoid tropical fats since the soybean was vital to the US economy with the federal government investing heavily through farm subsidies.  

We also discussed the impact of public perception on the food industry while scientists researched whether cholesterol or saturated fats were bad for your health in the 1950s.  The federal government’s role has been to provide dietary guidelines over strict regulations in the past 40 years.  However, a notable exception is the banning of trans fats greater than 1 gram.  I learned that trans fats are produced artificially, by combining various kinds of fat into a generic mix.  

Robins emphasized that nutrition standards are constantly changing, but that we should be mindful of where the fats we consume are coming from, with various ecological impacts.  For example, palm trees yield more oil and fat per acre compared to coconut and soybean plants, suggesting that palm trees are better for the environment because they require fewer acres of land (and less trees cut down for farmland).  

Overall, this talk helped further develop my understanding of nutrition, particularly from a historical perspective.  The topics we discussed connected with previous Rose Cafes on other aspects of nutrition, and I hope to continue learning in this area in the future.