04/03/2025
✨CLASS SPOTLIGHT✨
Hear from Sai Garlanka, a junior here at UAB, and his experience in our Food Ethics Class.
I never thought I would be part of a class dissecting the ethics of tofu or debating whether octopuses have moral rights. My Food Ethics class at UAB has easily been one of my favorites, not just because we got to visit a new vegan restaurant near campus (pro tip: don’t knock vegan red velvet cake until you tried it), but because it’s challenged the way I think about food on a much deeper level. We’ve explored everything from factory farming and food insecurity to the rise of genetically modified crops and the ethics of diet culture. Turns out, what’s on our plate is about way more than just personal preference: it’s tied to global issues like sustainability, public health, and even social justice.
While I have no plans to become the next big food critic, I know that as a future physician, what people eat will be a massive part of the conversations I have with patients. But it’s not as simple as saying, “Just eat healthier.” Food is personal. It’s cultural, economic, and sometimes even political. Learning to see the bigger picture, why people make the choices they do, and how systemic factors influence access to nutritious food will help me be a better, more empathetic doctor.
