This week we turned our minds to food. From the perspectives of sustainability, culture and family, social justice and innovation, food is more than just an everyday experience. It is a universal experience. 

Staff writer Edrick Sabalburo explained how cooking connects him to his Filipino culture in a personal essay about food within the context of the diaspora. Paige Prudhon also wrote a personal essay in appreciation of her mother’s home-cooked meals. 

Kristina Kim provides fun recipes in illustrations that are an ode to toast — food posters that can be called “toasters,” if you so please. Staff writer Kristen Hull explored the different options for food education here at UC Berkeley with a survey of five different food-based DeCals.

Some staff members decided to take a more scientific look into what we eat. Megan Sousa’s feature on nutritional sciences and toxicology research shows how labs are looking into the connection between food and healthy aging. Staff writer Daniel Orona compared lab-grown meat, a growing field that has roots in Berkeley, with traditional livestock farming.

Senior staff writer Kaitlyn Hodge wrote an incisive commentary on the epidemic of food waste and unsustainable practices that are rampant in a society in which many people are food insecure. Finally, Stella Ho takes us on a journey through food journalism, a genre that has exploded in recent years and seems to be here to stay.

We hope you enjoy our food for thought this week and that our work inspires you to think about what it is we are putting into our bodies every day. Food is intimately intertwined with our health, both physically and emotionally. It has a large impact on society, both locally and globally. It gives us familial connections, provides a sense of home and connects us to one another. Life may get hectic and the world may feel disparate and scary, but one thing will certainly always connect us — we are all eaters.