15.8 Honoring Your Preferences, Traditions, and Values

Many factors are involved in the process of making food choices about where, when, how, and what to eat. Take a moment to appreciate some of the many factors that are at play when individuals make decisions around food:

• Nutritional value
• Quantity
• Cost
• Convenience
• Level of hunger
• Time restrictions
• Familial, cultural, spiritual, and religious traditions
• Values around supporting local or organic agriculture
• Values around food sources, food waste, and food packaging
• Ethical considerations
• Sensory aspects of the environment—such as ambiance
• Social setting
• Dietary restrictions

In some cases, values, preferences, and needs change over time. For example, what a new parent prioritizes may shift the types of food choices they make while their baby is young and this changes as they get older. In other cases, values, preferences, and needs do not change over time and instead consistently guide food decisions throughout life, like being a vegetarian, keeping Kosher, or having a peanut allergy. Honoring your personal food-related values is a central part of eating.

When it comes to some everyday food decisions, it is natural to weigh opportunity cost, or the benefit or value of something that must be given up to acquire or achieve something else. For example, the opportunity cost of the time and energy one uses for meal planning, shopping, food preparation and clean-up might result in less time for studying, working, social time, or various other forms of self-care. The opportunity cost of the convenience of grabbing food from a vending machine might be nutritional value or values regarding food sourcing or packaging. For someone with a mild intolerance to dairy, the opportunity cost of consuming dairy might be that the pleasure of eating ice cream might occasionally outweigh the digestive discomfort it causes. Finally, for someone who is food insecure, the opportunity cost of consuming adequate food for everyday functioning may outweigh their desire to eat nutritiously. Opportunity costs can change from moment-to-moment, and they can also change based on stage of life and particular lifestyles.

What Influences Your Food-Related Decisions?

This optional activity invites you to engage in personal reflection/application and therefore deeper learning. In general, to what degree does each of the following factors influence your food choices?

• My hunger level
• The nutritional value of the food
• My energy needs
• Ingredients included in food
• Financial cost of the food
• Time it takes to plan (recipe, grocery list, buying food/ingredients)
• Time it takes to prepare the food
• Time it takes to consume the food
• Convenience of the food’s location
• Ease of transporting the food
• My access to food in general
• My personal dietary or food restrictions, limitations, or needs
• My faith or spiritual values
• The social aspects of eating the food
• Ambiance of dining location
• Variety of food options available
• Pleasurability of taste
• My desire to support particular individuals or organizations (neighborhood businesses, community supported agriculture, farmer’s markets, co-ops, cuisine style, etc.)
• My enjoyment (or lack thereof) of food preparation/eating
• My values regarding eating organically
• My values regarding eating locally
• My values regarding packaging (plastics, containers, etc.)
• My values around food waste
• My values around how food was processed or produced
• My willingness to try new foods
• My familiarity with the meal or cuisine
• The quantity of food
• The texture of food
• My schedule (work, classes, travel, etc.)

Another way to honor food preferences, values, and traditions is to learn about the preferences, values, and traditions of those who differ from you. What similarities and differences do you notice? What practices or rituals are new to you? How can you support others in their efforts in values-based eating? How would you like others to support you?