Traveling Tastes

In Traveling Tastes we focus on how food landscapes influence health outcomes and how the availability and variety of restaurants influence food ordering behavior.

Obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases, exacerbated by poor dietary habits, are major public health issues. Nutritional data from restaurant menus in London, Boston, and Dubai were analyzed to explore the relationship between food landscapes, socioeconomic profiles, and health outcomes, such as neighborhoods at risk of obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases.

Complementing this health perspective, a second study investigates the travel distance and localness of food delivery in Dubai. It introduces a cuisine-aware localness index and applies Explainable AI to reveal insights into the variables that influence food ordering behavior, which includes cost, wait time, cuisine variety, and neighborhood cuisine variety.