Assignment:
Subsistence Strategies:
1: Grocery Store Observations - You will observe food acquisition at a grocery store. In addition to the observation, you will also do brief interviews. You will be exploring the issues of how people in our culture think about and acquire food.
You will need to visit a grocery store and make observations about the location. Describe the neighborhood that the store is in, the general appearance of the store, and characteristics of the typical clientele. Note for example, if it is a large chain store, a small "mom and pop store", or a specialty store (e.g., health food, delicatessen, ethnic specialty shop) Observe such things as how the grocery store groups types of foods and how the food gets to the store. How many people work at the store how many truckloads of produce etc, should arrive each day. and how people go about their shopping.
The second part of the project is to ask the following questions of at least ten people. You should ask permission from the grocery store manager before doing this. With his/her permission you may either ask the questions of people as they wait in line or as they leave the store. You should also note each person's age, gender, and ethnicity. Be sure to ask politely for their time and to thank them afterwards.
Questions:
Who are you shopping for? (e.g., self, family, special event guests, employer) Also note if the person is alone or with someone while shopping.
When was the last time you went grocery shopping? (ie. how long has it been since you last shopped for food)
How far do you live from here?
How did you get to the store? (car, bus, taxi, walk)
Do you shop with a grocery list? If so, how much of what you bought was not on the list?
What are your criteria in selecting foods? (price, convenience of preparation, nutritional content, brand name, packaging, taste, habit)
What do you plan on eating for dinner tonight?
How do you plan on preparing it? (If they answer restaurant for #7, ask about the next meal they plan to prepare)
How much of this meal will you make from scratch vs. frozen or convenience foods?
Paper Guidelines/Format: You will write up a five-page paper.
Your paper should include the following:
1. A description of the store and your subjects.
2. A summary of your findings from the questionnaire.
3. A discussion of the relationship people have with food in America (e.g. issues of time,
convenience) and how this relates to other aspects of American culture.
4. A comparison of American food-getting with that of foragers such as the! Kung (e.g. food
sharing, sexual division of labor, foraging, agriculture - as discussed in class).
5. Conclusion
Your paper should conform to the following specifications:
• It should be typed and spell checked
• You should use Times New Roman 12-point font or a comparable sized font.
• Left/right, top/bottom margins should not exceed 1 inch.
• It should be double-spaced throughout.
• It should be five pages in length
• You should attach your actual observation and interview field notes.
2: Personal Food Diary - If you have difficulties getting permission from a grocery store to do the project or do not feel comfortable with the idea of approaching strangers in a grocery store, you may do the following variant on the assignment. This one is also a great opportunity to evaluate your relationship to food and your consumption habits.
You will need to keep track of your own food consumption for four days. Keep track of all of the following:
1) where you eat
2) how you get there how far you travel how much energy including fossil fuel you use to get there (this does not need to be precise but you need to estimate based on distance etc how much fuel you have consumed
3) what time it is when you eat
4) what do you eat
5) who you are with
6) how the food is prepared and by whom
How did the ingredients arrive at the place where they are being consumed
7) who pays for the food and how they got the money to pay for the food
8) how much is not eaten and what is done with any leftover food.
Also note what criteria entered into your decisions on these points. (Why did you eat where you ate, why you saved leftovers or did not. Etc...
Paper Guidelines/Format: You will write up a five-page paper. Your paper should consist of the following:
1. A general description of your food-getting activities.
2. A summary of your findings for the above points.
3. A discussion of the relationship you have with food (e.g. issues of time,
convenience) whether you feel your relationship with food is "typical" in America or not and how this relates to other aspects of American culture.
4. A comparison of American food-getting with that of foragers such as the! Kung (e.g. food
sharing, sexual division of labor, foraging, agriculture).
5. Conclusion.
You will need your actual field notes (which should be quite detailed and either typed into an excel chart or an MS word table - all information specified above should be included) with your paper.
Your paper should conform to the following specifications:
• It should be typed and spell checked
• You should use Times New Roman 12-point font or a comparable sized font.
• Left/right, top/bottom margins should not exceed 1 inch.
• It should be double-spaced throughout.
• It should be five pages in length