TED Talks Daily - Our savory, spicy, significant relationship with food | June Jo Lee

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

Exploring the rich meaning behind what we choose to eat, food ethnographer June Jo Lee unpacks how our "modern hungers" — or our deepest desires and need for connection — inform every bite. She decodes what Gen Z's palate says about the present moment and the shape of the future.

TED Audio Collective You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Food has the power to shape our futures. In her 2024 talk, food ethnographer Jun-J Jo Lee decodes the rich meaning behind what we choose to eat, how it connects us to the past, and how the palates of younger generations can point away to tomorrow after the break. Support for the show comes from Airbnb.

I've got a trip to Asia plan for this December. I booked an Airbnb. They are always the most cozy and inviting after such a long journey. My own home will be empty while I'm gone, so I was looking into hosting on Airbnb myself. I'm having fun thinking of some small touches I might add for potential guests, like the ones I've received at Airbnbs in the past. And with the extra income from hosting, I can make my next trip abroad even longer. Your home might be worth more than you think.

Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. And now our TED Talk of the Day. We all eat. But have you considered what you eat is more than taste, trends and nutrition? What we think is good to eat reveals our modern hungers, our deepest desires and greatest needs for self-improvement, for connection. Also, dreams of our future.

Kids are our future, right? So try a square pizza with some chocolate milk and maybe a fruit cup to taste the future. A school lunch reveals our values as well as the modern complexities of food. How we're eating is eating up our worlds. I'm Junjo Lee, a food ethnographer. Tell me what's good to eat,

so I can see who you're becoming. And if I know who you're becoming, I'll know what you'll be eating. Food is my portal to understand generational changes and to track early signals. Join me to decode Gen Z, born 1997 to 2012. How they talk about food is unlike any generation I've studied before. My approach is simple.

I ask, what's delicious to you? What feeds your life? Like any relationship, it begins with attraction. It's founded on respect, and it's 95 percent listening with great care, and can be done over a shared meal or snack. Why do I care so much about this work? Because I almost lost my own gen-z-er,

my son, Lou. He'd stopped talking to me by middle school. And in 2018, I got the call. Mom, I'm not doing so well. I need help. Mom, I'm not doing so well. I need help. And the only thing I had to save my son was my work, my ethnography.

You see, I used to be a tiger mom. I thought being a mom meant to tell my son who to become, what to do. I never asked him who he was, what he wanted. He told me, you exhaust me, you think I'm in your head. And he asked me, why don't you just treat me like your ethnography, not your son?

Ethnog me, Mom." And in that moment, my heart broke. But I did it. I ethnogged my own son. I asked him, what's your unforgettable bite, your tricky mouthful? How does it feel to be in the world? And he told me,

I feel like I'm just learning to surf on the edge of crashing into the waves and plunging into the water and not being able to breathe or know if I'm up or down. But maybe someday, I'll get good at surfing. Gen Z, like Blue, are open, fluid, queer by default. They are globally connected, hyper self-aware and data-based. They are feeling everything.

Digital devices are nourishing. Digital is also disorienting. Gen Z are our power users of the future, learning to ride the waves of a chaotic era. And now, back to the episode. Genzy, like Luis, entered adulthood, tagged by a global pandemic, learning in solitary confinement and living on a terminal timeline.

I asked Luis, how does the world taste? And he said, spicy. Climate tastes a lot spicier than it used to. It's demotivating when people are telling you that you're not going to be able to eat spicy food. and he said, spicy. Climate tastes a lot spicier than it used to. It's demotivating when people are telling you, dude, all the carbon's already in the atmosphere at irreversible levels. You know money-hungry people aren't going to stop being money-hungry.

Luis is the first Serabia to attend Stanford University, and for Luis, life is as simple and as complex as tacos. He told me, I'm so proud my culture created something so delicious. For Luis, tacos are family, tacos are friends, tacos are hope. Gen Z are carrying hot sauce. Olivia is a future food systems entrepreneur.

I asked her, how are you learning to care more about food? And she told me, well, I'm learning to care more about food. And I'm learning to care more about food. And I'm learning to care more about food. And I'm learning to care more about food. And I'm learning to care more about food.

And I'm learning to care more about food. And I'm learning to care more about food. And I'm learning to care more about food. Olivia is a future food systems entrepreneur. I asked her, how are you learning to care more about food? And she told me, well, I'm zero-wastifying for my fancy scraps pop-ups, and this weekend, I'm volunteering at a cabbage three-way workshop so I can learn how to make kimchi, pao-tsei and sauerkraut.

Gen Z like like Olivia, are learning to care more about what they eat and don't eat. Waste hurts. Waste is a resource out of place. And Gen Z are resources determined to find their place in well-functioning cultures, and it's not easy. It hurts not to be creative.

Gen Z are kimchiing their way through our hot messes, fermenting and upcycling more delicious and nutritious worlds. So, Blue is my love story of more care, reconnecting and curing our separation. Earlier this year, I snogged blue again. What's the flavor of trust? Savor. Savor seems more of a liar. What is the flavor of change?

Sour. Because things decay, they turn sour. I'm just trying to make the most out of the present moment. You can't really predict how things are gonna change. Instead of planning out like the very specific life trajectory, just kind of go with what happens. I love you, Blue. I love you too, Mom.

Can you ask me a question? Ask me anything. What's your salad dressing recipe? (*Laughter*) Let's root for our kids, all our kids, to make it to shore. Gen Z are our hot sauce, our kimchi, our mentors of new ways. It's not that hard. Here's how. Start by asking, what's your flavor of home? What makes you go, mmm?

What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? What makes you feel like you're home? asking, what's your flavor of home?

What makes you go, mmm? What makes you go, hmm? How are you learning to care more about food in your life? We all eat, so we all have the power to shape our future. What do you feel is good to eat?

And how can we make more of that? Thank you. Support for the show comes from Airbnb. I've got a trip to Asia plan for this December. I booked an Airbnb. They are always the most cozy and inviting after such a long journey. My own home will be empty while I'm gone, so I was looking into hosting on Airbnb myself. I'm having fun thinking of some small touches I might add for potential guests, like the ones I've received at Airbnbs in the past. And with the extra income from hosting, I can make my next trip abroad even longer. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host.

That was June Jolie recorded for Ted's Countdown Dilemma Series on the Future of Food in 2024. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out more at ted.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today. Ted Talks Daily is part of the Ted Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Autumn Thompson, and Alejandra Salazar.

It was mixed by Christopher Faisy-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezzo. I'm Elise Hue. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feet. Thanks for listening. PRX.