Food Is The Ingredient That Binds Us Together

Sakshi Pandey, 24 November 2022
Coming from an engineering background, my relationship with food was only limited to my plate. In 2018, jumping straight from a civil engineering bachelor's to a master's in rural development changed the course of my career, and 'Food,' in a literal sense, became the most crucial part of my life.

During my master's in 2019, a university senior, who had recently attended summer school, introduced me to the World Food System Center. His stories of 'jumping on fabacean beans in a remote village of Switzerland' would make me curious about the kind of adventure a summer school could provide. As the most obvious move, I, too, applied for the World Food System Summer School in 2020 but couldn't join due to COVID-related disruptions.

Finally, in August this year, I landed in the serene village of Rheinau to attend the 10th World Food System Summer School. I was one among a cohort of 25 amazing people from 19 different nationalities, and 17 different academic discipinary backgrounds, brimming with passion and love for food. We hopped onto the trademark old truck to begin our Summer School Journey to understanding food systems in transition! 
Hopping on to the trademark old truck of World Food System Summer School (you can find me sitting on the rightmost in a black hoodie). Photo credit: Gina Tufer
The Supermarket Experiment

Being from an engineering background and pursuing doctoral studies, I had been fortunate enough to cross the boundaries of a classroom and step out to learn. However, the summer school kept us constantly on the move, from weeding at a bio-dynamic farm to walking in the alleys of Zurich to visit ETH Zurich and hiking in the alps to discover Swiss cheese's journey.

Interestingly, I never thought I would learn one of the most crucial socio-psychological lessons about food in a Zurich supermarket! We were separated into teams and given a specific budget with certain health and social criteria for purchasing our lunch. I was a part of the group who had to buy lunch for a family of 'an investment banker and a socialite' with a whopping budget of 120 CHF! Coming from a vegetarian middle-class family in India, whose monthly food budget is about 120 CHF, this exercise pushed me to step into different shoes and understand their perspectives and behaviors without judgment. 
Carrot and Pumpkin Harvest from a field in Gut Rheinau. Photo credit: Sakshi Pandey
Sharing experiences of lunch shopping after the supermarket exercise. Photo credit: Toya Bezzola/Gina Tufer
Embracing The Complexity But Not Complicacy

"I believe Food Systems are complex, but not complicated." These were the words of Professor Birgit Kopainsky during a class on System Dynamics. Working in food and nutrition for four years, I wondered why complex but not complicated! However, by the end of summer school, I gradually understood that food systems, although intrinsically complex, were never complicated; instead, it was our own deep-rooted ignorance to be unable to comprehend the nuances of the food on our plates.

The fifteen days of the summer school were a refreshing concoction of ideas, joy, and delicious food! Surprisingly, throughout the course, I could always feel a subtle but omnipresent nudge to think out and beyond academia. To look at the food systems with empathy and curiosity and carve out our own role in this ever-evolving complexity. 
About the Author
Sakshi Pandey
Sakshi Pandey is a first year doctoral Student at the Graduate School of Agricultural & Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan. Hailing from central part of India, she holds a Masters in Technology and Development from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and later worked with UNICEF as a research fellow in Child Nutrition. Find out more about her Summer School experience in this LinkedIn post.