Suzanne Judd is a scientist for the University of Alabama.  She is studying the eating habits of the population of Bordeaux and the South West of the USA.  She saw that 75% of French people eat vegetables everyday whereas only 10% of American people eat vegetables every week !  Furtermore, she has noticed that US people don’t take the time to eat : they don’t eat together (children often take their meal in their bedroom, in front of the TV,…). 

On the contrary, French people give a great importance to lunch, which is a real break and a moment of sharing.  In the USA, there are more obese than overweight people.  Indeed, they eat a lot of fried food, use vending machines for sodas, snacks,…  Poor people often eat in fast food restaurants.

So this study showed that our education and social class influence our diet, but studying what people eat is difficult and there is a judgement linked to our relationship with food.

Suzanne also talked about her experience in a man’s environment.  She heard degrading comments from her mentors, but she is still strong and self-confident.  So she is successful in her life as a scientist, a wife and a mother. She encourages girls to be resistant and to follow what they love.

We think Suzanne is an example for young students.  She gave us motivation, and her speech about the disparities between men and women was very intersesting.  We learnt that despite the progress of women’s rights, it is still complicated to work in a world of men, and to make yourself respected.

However, we were a little disappointed because she didn’t explain her study in more details.  We would have liked for her to give us more explanation about dietetics and people’s behaviour with food, more elements about how she leads her study,…

A conference in English was a good experience to improve our English level.

Mathilde Pierrejean, Emma Destruhaut, Sarah Chenal and Claire Dumas

BTS D1