Science at UM [S03-ep13]: The food landscape in Montpellier

[Podcast] - Published on January 11, 2024 in Science-Society

This week in Science at UM Caroline Méjean, epidemiologist at the Moisa laboratory Moisalaboratory, breaks down our food landscape. Our report takes us on a tour of the Phenodyn platform with Boris Parent. Finally, Christel Tiberi, a researcher at the Géosciences Montpellierlaboratory, presents her book on the Great African Rift. The program is broadcast every Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Divergence FM 93.9.

The holidays are behind us, and with them the stress—and pleasure—of offering guests a well-stocked table, whether you're a fan of Obelix-style banquets or, on the contrary, a proponent of happy moderation. At a time when inflation is making headlines, your budget has undoubtedly played a major role in planning your menus. If you live in the suburbs, the prospect of facing traffic jams may also have discouraged you from coming to pick up your seafood platter in the city center.

Whatever our reasons, we don't all shop in the same places and therefore don't have the same perception of what some people call our food environment. To put it simply: Lidl doesn't attract the same customers as Biocoop, and Casino doesn't attract the same customers as the butcher on Place Jean Jaurès. You will certainly not have the same shopping experience depending on which store you visit.

So it's one thing to say it, but it's quite another to measure these behaviors, taking into account all the relevant factors in order to draw the right conclusions in terms of public health, for example. Yet this is the daunting task that our guest has taken on. She is a researcher at the Moisa laboratory and is interested in the interactions between the food environment and behaviors. Her latest study, published in the journal Nutrition in Public Health, is entitled: Store-specific grocery shopping patterns and their association with objective and perceived retail food environments.

In the second part of the program, we take you to the Gaillarde campus to discover the M3P high-throughput phenotyping platforms. This week, Boris Parent gives us a tour of the Phenodyn platform.

Finally, our last-minute guest is Christel Tiberi, a researcher at Géosciences Montpellier. She will be presenting a new book entitled Le grand Rift africain (The Great African Rift) and giving a lecture on the Tanzanian rift on January 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in lecture hall 23.01 on the Triolet campus.

At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting: Aline Périault
Production: Alice Rollet

Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Science, Company