Defined by What I Eat
Over the time I had in ISS 310 I realized that the food I grew up eating was influenced not only by my culture, but also the location I was living in. During this course I learned that the quality and quantity of food available to individuals is many times based on the location they are living in. Growing up I never realized how much of an influence my family had on the type of food I grew up eating, although as a child and to this day I am a rather picky eater. I would say a typical food in my home is flour tortillas we had to have them for every meal and if for some reason we didn’t everyone seemed to be upset. When I first started this course I mentioned the way my siblings felt, but I never asked myself why? After taking this course the question emerged and I have asked myself where this attitude came from? And perhaps it wasn’t the lack of having tortillas, but what we associated them with. My siblings and I would tell others if asked this question “that food without flour tortillas just doesn’t taste the same” and like Foer stated it was perhaps what we believed that influenced our response. Foer states that his grandmother’s food was delicious because he believed it was delicious, which leads me to believe that this is why we had the perspective that without tortillas food didn’t taste the same. I am sure others no matter the culture nor the race have some type of food that the family is accustomed to. As stated in Eating Animals with food comes memories and we tend to associate certain foods with certain people. Food not only nourishes our bodies, but also gives us unforgettable experiences and stories to tell.
In my home the preparation of a meal was viewed as a female’s responsibility taking into account that in many Hispanic cultures household duties are intended for women. My father did cook, on rare occasions, but if he ever cooked it was a meal that took a lot more time and ingredients. I personally believe that he wouldn’t cook on a regular basis because in his household, the view of a male cooking seemed as derogatory to his masculinity. I could say my father was not like most Mexican fathers because he took a different approach when it came to female and male responsibilities’. Yes, he came from a home where machismo (a strong and aggressive male superiority side) took place, but he decided to learn from that and implement different values for my siblings and me. My siblings and I for the most part were treated equally. Males and females in the house had to learn how to work and cook at a young age, yet it was mainly the female in our later years who did more of the household duties and the outside work duties. My parents’ reasoning for making us learn how to cook and work was that if for some reason they were no longer with us we wouldn’t die of hunger because we would be capable of earning money and preparing our own meal. As I learned in the film La Cosecha many migrant farm working parents have similar attitudes. Victor who is 16 years old in the film, started working in the fields at age 8, my brother like Victor started working at a young age. In my home males started working at a younger age than women because they were considered stronger. Like Victor my brother felt as if he had the responsibility to help contribute to the family income. My brother was treated horribly not only by the employer, but by my father. I remember that one time when he was 10 years old he came home later than usual because he couldn't finish his rows of cucumbers, he told me this story with tears in his eyes in which no one would help him because he was getting paid the same amount and no-one wanted to work with no pay. Like many migrant children my brother suffered in silence.
Both of my parents come from low income backgrounds and so they viewed having a meal, any meal, as a blessing. It was imposed on us that we must eat whatever was on our plate and everything that was on our plate. The waste of food was looked down upon especially if it came from a plate that you had been served. A possible reason why wasting food was a taboo in my family was because my parents crossed the desert many times and had experienced starvation during their journey as a result they believed that wasting food somehow contributed to their urge of hunger while they were there. I can account that this did not please me since many times we had foods that I disliked greatly. Vegetables were easily obtained, that is why I chose to not eat them. My parents have worked in the fields since they came to this country and because my family worked in the fields, fresh vegetables and fruits were available at all time. My parents always brought home fresh produce from work and that eventually became easier for my family to avoid leaving the small countryside to head into city for grocery shopping. My father would always say that we would eat “the best of the best.” I am not very big on vegetables and to make matters worse cactus is something “that all Mexicans eat,” but I just cannot allow them to pass my throat. I write the phrase “that all Mexicans eat” in quotations because Mexicans eating cactus is a stereotype for my parents since, it has always been viewed as an embarrassment to the family if your children did not eat cactus. I think that my parents viewed this as an embarrassment because of where they grew up. The rural town where my parents were raised, Dantzibojay, Mexico was a dry area and one of the few vegetables available to them was cactus and the fact of raising children who didn’t eat cactus was as if they hadn’t raised us properly, or that they had raised an ungrateful individual. I remember being in school in Mexico, and I forgot to check the menu that day and had already paid for my meal. They had soup, cactus soup. Unfortunately, I had to eat it, I swallowed it, because I had already paid. As I stated in my first food autobiography “I am an unhealthy eater because on top of not viewing vegetables as an appetizing food, I eat a lot of meats,” is something that I stated without thought. I mentioned that I was unhealthy because I consumed a lot of meat, but I had no background knowledge on how exactly meat was unhealthy. Now that I have read articles and books including Pandora’s Lunchbox I have been able to put facts to my statement. In Pandora’s Lunchbox and the assignment Food Diary I learned that many foods are processed including meat and that the definition of processed foods isn't all that clear. Although what one considers processed or highly processed is ambiguous what is clear is that they are unhealthy and with the knowledge I gained from the readings and the assignments I was able to little by little put some sense into the statement I made in the beginning of the semester, a statement that I can now back up.
I would say that although my family always had fresh vegetables and fruits available to them, individuals in my family are also heavy meat eaters. I think this is because growing up my parents were too poor to afford meat. I would also say that my siblings and myself grew up eating minimal fast food. My father had bad connotations when it came to fast food restaurants. He would state that it was all trash and therefore he would purchase cattle or a pork or chickens and slaughter them himself. He believed that eating a lot of meat was okay if and when it was fresh. So, I grew up thinking that eating meat, even if it was in large quantities, was okay. Although once I started learning that red meats were unhealthy I tried to consume less. Similar to Foer’s grandmother eating plenty or eating a large meal or two was accepted in my home which is another reason why it didn’t seem wrong to eat so much. The excuse for having a large meal was always that we could work it out. In a hard day’s worth of work, you could burn all the calories consumed. Another way my family justified eating a lot was by seeing it as a reward for working hard. Hard work was something my parents took seriously. And because they worked in the fields my siblings and I worked in the fields at a very young age, working in the fields required a lot of energy, and my parents would say that we had to work hard to obtain what we wanted in life. The fact that my siblings and I worked at a young age reminded me of the film we watched in class named La Cosecha, in this film the life of three migrant children is told. Like the children my siblings and I felt the obligation to help the family and went to work with our parents. Buying expensive meats, purchasing the latest technology, and desirable apparel could only happen if we worked hard. I can say this perspective of my parents has been passed down to me. Unfortunately, I have reduced the amount of food I eat since I started college because I feel like I’m not as physically active as I was back home. Food for my family has always been viewed as a blessing, even when living conditions seemed better than before.
After taking this class I have become more knowledgeable about food consumption and the direct effects it has in my daily life and the effect it has on society and the environment. Reading and listening to numerous sources like Why I’m a weekday vegetarian, Leather and meat without killing animals, Eating Animals, People Still Don’t Get the Link between Meat consumption and Climate Change, etc have allowed me to see that too much meat consumption is harmful to others, to the environment, to animals, and to myself. Although I will perhaps never become a vegetarian I have reduced my meat consumption. I have also commented to my family that they eat less meat as well and we plan to work on this problem together.
Pandora's Lunchbox Email
Dear Yolanda,
I have been assigned to send out an email to individual who might be interested in the process of food or industrial food in general. I thought of you as I was assigned this project because I know you are a very active person and you like to watch what your body intakes. When you and I are eating at the cafeteria I notice you also try to balance your meals. In my ISS class I was assigned to read a book named Pandora’s Lunchbox by Melanie Warner in which she describes many aspects of processed food. Her objective and message to the audience is clear. Letting individuals know that processed foods are not particularly bad, but instead that we as consumers should be aware of what we put into our bodies and that we may not be aware of what exactly we are eating. Her intention is to present the idea that we, as consumers, as well as food industries, are responsible to know what we put into our body.
Something that really caught my attention when I was reading this book was that I found myself learning many things about food, processed foods, that I would have never thought of. For example, she mentioned that vitamins and proteins that we see on labels are synthetically made, in other words these vitamins that we see on labels are made in a lab rather than actually being natural goods. (75) Food chemist have created things like fibers, vitamins and proteins to put into our foods. Now, you may think this is crazy because why would foods like cereal, milk, and yogurt need vitamins if they already contain them? It makes no sense, right? Yet, it makes perfect sense when we know that milk or cereal need to be processed before they get to our refrigerators or food pantries. The thing is, is that when something is processed it loses some of its nutritional components because many times these processed foods are exposed to extreme temperatures. Cereal for instance goes through a long process which includes extruder, steam cooking under pressure, drying, and toasting, which is all for a soul purpose in which being “healthy” is not included. The process cereal goes through as well as many other shelf foods is to make them “immune to decomposition.” (63) In addition, you could never guess where these synthetic vitamins are coming from nor why they are adding them in our milk and other foods. Milk, as you and I thought, doesn’t just come from cows. Vitamins that are added to some milk, as explained in the book, come from greasy backs of Australia’s sheep. A factory in Dongyang, China uses the grease’s cholesterol component of the wool from the sheep to make vitamin D, which is then added to not only milk but also cereal, bread, margarine, and other dairy products.
Now you may be thinking that adding nutritional substances is not necessarily a bad thing, but these components are not the only thing that is added to our food. There are numerous ingredients that are added to processed foods which serve for different purposes. One of the main reasons as I mentioned before is to prevent perishable foods from going bad. As for you and me, I know you view McDonalds as an extremely unhealthy fast food restaurant and that you view Subway as the complete opposite. I remember you mentioning that Subway was not exactly the healthiest place to eat, but that at least they baked their bread fresh. I have to say that we have been lied to because Subway’s bread isn’t as fresh as we presumed it was. Subway does not make its bread, instead they purchase it prepared and “pop it into the oven,” creating the illusion that they have somehow made it themselves. In the book it explains that the ingredients in the bread number between twenty or fifty and the "bread isn't so much mixed as beaten up." The dough is put in machines in which it is churned and pummeled which helps force a lot of air and water into it to increase the pound per flour. (101)
There are so many things that we are unaware of that I can’t possibly explain all of them. One of the concepts that I would like to mention, that was striking is the lack of regulation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Food companies can add just about anything to our food. Foods that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) like spices and salt did not have to get approved from the FDA which in result gave the free pass for companies to declare different ingredients as GRAS, allowing them to not go through the formal process of food additives. The process of new additives or ingredients went from GRAS petitions to GRAS notifications. “The system became voluntary,” which is concerning. (107) You and I know that giving any tedious process the ability to become an option reduces the act of that process actually taking place. Just to prove that our theory in the reduction of the formal process actually happening, Warner mentions that since the year 2000, there were only four new substances that went through the formal approval and we both know that, that number falls way below the actual number of new substances that have been added in our foods since then.
Not knowing what our food contains is perturbing and not only does Warner mention it in her book but other sources like Food Inc. show that food companies are not transparent with their customers. The video Food Inc. shows that many times company owners are not in disposition to show how they process food and what ingredients they add. Therefore, we should ask ourselves, “What are they hiding from us?”
Best,
Dayana Villagran
Dear Yolanda,
I have been assigned to send out an email to individual who might be interested in the process of food or industrial food in general. I thought of you as I was assigned this project because I know you are a very active person and you like to watch what your body intakes. When you and I are eating at the cafeteria I notice you also try to balance your meals. In my ISS class I was assigned to read a book named Pandora’s Lunchbox by Melanie Warner in which she describes many aspects of processed food. Her objective and message to the audience is clear. Letting individuals know that processed foods are not particularly bad, but instead that we as consumers should be aware of what we put into our bodies and that we may not be aware of what exactly we are eating. Her intention is to present the idea that we, as consumers, as well as food industries, are responsible to know what we put into our body.
Something that really caught my attention when I was reading this book was that I found myself learning many things about food, processed foods, that I would have never thought of. For example, she mentioned that vitamins and proteins that we see on labels are synthetically made, in other words these vitamins that we see on labels are made in a lab rather than actually being natural goods. (75) Food chemist have created things like fibers, vitamins and proteins to put into our foods. Now, you may think this is crazy because why would foods like cereal, milk, and yogurt need vitamins if they already contain them? It makes no sense, right? Yet, it makes perfect sense when we know that milk or cereal need to be processed before they get to our refrigerators or food pantries. The thing is, is that when something is processed it loses some of its nutritional components because many times these processed foods are exposed to extreme temperatures. Cereal for instance goes through a long process which includes extruder, steam cooking under pressure, drying, and toasting, which is all for a soul purpose in which being “healthy” is not included. The process cereal goes through as well as many other shelf foods is to make them “immune to decomposition.” (63) In addition, you could never guess where these synthetic vitamins are coming from nor why they are adding them in our milk and other foods. Milk, as you and I thought, doesn’t just come from cows. Vitamins that are added to some milk, as explained in the book, come from greasy backs of Australia’s sheep. A factory in Dongyang, China uses the grease’s cholesterol component of the wool from the sheep to make vitamin D, which is then added to not only milk but also cereal, bread, margarine, and other dairy products.
Now you may be thinking that adding nutritional substances is not necessarily a bad thing, but these components are not the only thing that is added to our food. There are numerous ingredients that are added to processed foods which serve for different purposes. One of the main reasons as I mentioned before is to prevent perishable foods from going bad. As for you and me, I know you view McDonalds as an extremely unhealthy fast food restaurant and that you view Subway as the complete opposite. I remember you mentioning that Subway was not exactly the healthiest place to eat, but that at least they baked their bread fresh. I have to say that we have been lied to because Subway’s bread isn’t as fresh as we presumed it was. Subway does not make its bread, instead they purchase it prepared and “pop it into the oven,” creating the illusion that they have somehow made it themselves. In the book it explains that the ingredients in the bread number between twenty or fifty and the "bread isn't so much mixed as beaten up." The dough is put in machines in which it is churned and pummeled which helps force a lot of air and water into it to increase the pound per flour. (101)
There are so many things that we are unaware of that I can’t possibly explain all of them. One of the concepts that I would like to mention, that was striking is the lack of regulation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Food companies can add just about anything to our food. Foods that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) like spices and salt did not have to get approved from the FDA which in result gave the free pass for companies to declare different ingredients as GRAS, allowing them to not go through the formal process of food additives. The process of new additives or ingredients went from GRAS petitions to GRAS notifications. “The system became voluntary,” which is concerning. (107) You and I know that giving any tedious process the ability to become an option reduces the act of that process actually taking place. Just to prove that our theory in the reduction of the formal process actually happening, Warner mentions that since the year 2000, there were only four new substances that went through the formal approval and we both know that, that number falls way below the actual number of new substances that have been added in our foods since then.
Not knowing what our food contains is perturbing and not only does Warner mention it in her book but other sources like Food Inc. show that food companies are not transparent with their customers. The video Food Inc. shows that many times company owners are not in disposition to show how they process food and what ingredients they add. Therefore, we should ask ourselves, “What are they hiding from us?”
Best,
Dayana Villagran
Topic Explorer
Migrant Farmworkers
Migrant Farmworkers
Book:
Book:
- Full Bibliographical Citation:
- I AM NOT A TRACTOR!
- Author: Susan L. Marquis
- Ithaca: ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2017
- Real and Sustainable Change Cannot Be Led or Forced from the Outside
- To Change the System, You Have to Understand the System from End to End
- The Power of a Cohesive, Consistent and Compelling Story
- Implementation Matters!
- Intentional Systemic Change Requires People Who Have Courage, Objectivity, Creativity, and Persistence
Documentary:
- Title: Food Chains
- Creators name:
- Director- Sanjay Rawal
- Producers- Sanjay Rawal, Smriti Keshari, Hamiliton Fish V
“[T]o live hungry while working” is paradoxical, but to most migrant farm working families this is their reality. Highlighted in this documentary are the low wages these individuals receive. “One penny per pound” is what the main protest centers around. Agriculture can be viewed as the backbone of our country and the individuals who harvest all the crops produced are very rarely taken into consideration. It seems ridiculous to have to emphasize something so obvious, yet no matter how many years have passed not much has changed in regard to those individuals who pick our fruits and vegetables, those who bring food to our tables. A public outcry was established in which the farmworkers in Immokalee, Florida launched a hunger strike at the headquarters of Publix supermarkets. Wage violations are not only an issue in the state of Florida but nationwide. It was taken into consideration by many politicians running for office that wages must increase. Director Rawal, shines light in his documentary on the states’ minimum wage and mentions how others consider an increase in the federal minimum wage to attempt an end on poverty in farm working communities. The issue is not bringing awareness to the problems at hand, that is visible from afar, but you cannot force individuals or community members to care about a problem that is continuing to make billions of dollars for the nation all the while feeding America. As stated by one of the individuals in the documentary the reality is that there is still slavery on the agriculture fields in America in the twenty-first century. Modern-day slavery as mentioned by Lucas Benitez must end. The protestors realized that making allies with the consumers was a great way to get large corporation’s attention. The protestors became “a little problem to big corporations.”
Articles:
- Title: “Unhealthy work: Why migrants are especially vulnerable to injury and death on the job”
- Author: Emily Underwood
- Date published: July 18, 2018
- Publication: Knowable Magazine
- Summary: This article highlights the dangers of being a migrant worker. Emily states that the jobs done by migrant workers are known to be jobs “with the three Ds- dirty, dangerous and disgusting.” This article shows visual representations of statistics by the U.S Bureau of Labor in which fatal injuries for foreign-born and native-born individuals are compared. One can see that migrant workers are doing jobs that put their health at risk. The hazardous chemicals they are exposed to can cause health issues on the long run. This article helps the reader see the conditions in which migrant workers are under and how this can lead to early death. To see that statistics can be drawn from the comparisons between foreign-born and native-born individuals is sad. If these individuals weren't exposed to such conditions then there would be no such statistic a statistic that shouldn't exist because migrant workers are human beings just like everyone else.
2. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jessicagarrison/all-you-americans-are-fired
- Title: “All You Americans Are Fired”
- Author: Jessica Garrison, Ken Bensinger, and Jeremy Singer-Vine
- Date published: December 1, 2015
- Publication: BuzzFeed News
- Summary: This article highlights the injustices both Americans and migrant workers suffer. It is stated that large companies find ways to “skirt the law” they require months of work experience in jobs that last a few weeks, they misplace ads in newspapers to prevent American workers from seeing them. Businesses do this because they are required by law to make an effort to employ Americans before hiring H-2 workers (workers form a different country who are contracted to do the job they are told). Companies prefer to hire H-2 worker because they are in control of where those individual’s live, what they work in, and how much they work. The malice or the money that drives these corporations is sickening. These businesses do not take into account all the individuals they are affecting; not only are they causing U.S families to be without employment, but they are also putting these foreign workers under conditions they can control.
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/business/ben-jerrys-migrant-workers.html
- Title: Ben & Jerry’s Strikes Deal to Improve Migrant Dairy Workers’ Conditions
- Author: Noam Scheiber
- Date published: October 3, 2017
- Publication: The New York Times
- Summary: Ben & Jerry are the founders of Ben & Jerry’s and they made sure that their ice cream did not contain artificial growth hormones. They also wanted to ensure that the dairy farms supplying the milk provided humane conditions for their workers, many of which were migrants. They wanted to make sure that they were “prioritizing dairy workers as the most important ingredient in their ice cream.” They signed an agreement with a farmworkers’ group that helps establish labor standards. The agreement they signed was similar to the Fair Food Program which addressed the troubling conditions in the tomato industry in Florida. Ben & Jerry are individuals that deserve attention and recognition because unlike many other owners or corporations they are doing the right thing. These two individuals care about the workers that are part of their final product. Their actions perhaps saved or prevented workers from working in unsafe labor conditions. Having a standard for labor conditions in which a employee can carryout his work is better than having an unregulated workplace.
Topics Potential:
Migrant farmworkers are strong, laborious individuals in our community and are vital to our nation. The importance of educating others of a community that is not invisible, but their struggles are, is something that is worth spending time on. Informing the common man about where their food comes from and who is an integral part of the supply chain of produce in famers markets, supermarkets, and grocery stores is significant. The misconception that individuals have about low income families like migrant farmworkers should also be highlighted. I am aware that many times individuals associate the poor with food stamps and government assistance and state that they do not want their tax money going into poor food choices made by those who receive assistance. Yet, a high percentage of migrant workers do not receive government assistance themselves their children are the ones who receive it. It is also important to note that many individuals (mainly the once that complain) are not aware that these migrants who do not receive government assistance also contribute to paying taxes and get no benefits in return, therefore who are they to complain to? More often than not these people do not even mention their disadvantage because of fear due to their status in this country. Acknowledging that we are privileged is also vital because it helps us sympathize with those who are not. Education is power, and we must be educated to make decisions and to take action and also to make comments while still being mindful of what we are stating.
Migrant farmworkers are strong, laborious individuals in our community and are vital to our nation. The importance of educating others of a community that is not invisible, but their struggles are, is something that is worth spending time on. Informing the common man about where their food comes from and who is an integral part of the supply chain of produce in famers markets, supermarkets, and grocery stores is significant. The misconception that individuals have about low income families like migrant farmworkers should also be highlighted. I am aware that many times individuals associate the poor with food stamps and government assistance and state that they do not want their tax money going into poor food choices made by those who receive assistance. Yet, a high percentage of migrant workers do not receive government assistance themselves their children are the ones who receive it. It is also important to note that many individuals (mainly the once that complain) are not aware that these migrants who do not receive government assistance also contribute to paying taxes and get no benefits in return, therefore who are they to complain to? More often than not these people do not even mention their disadvantage because of fear due to their status in this country. Acknowledging that we are privileged is also vital because it helps us sympathize with those who are not. Education is power, and we must be educated to make decisions and to take action and also to make comments while still being mindful of what we are stating.
Food Ethnography
It's Okay to Stop and Observe
It's Okay to Stop and Observe
For this project I went in with a detached perspective and I attempted to see why and how decisions are made by customers or store managers and how these decisions are influenced by their or other’s cultural factors. I visited three stores/markets and observed not only the prices and quality of the food and how it was displayed, but the interactions among the customers and the ambience of the location. Following is a description of my experience at each location and the connection I drew among them and the differences that told them apart.
Walking in and seeing all the vibrant colors of the fruits and vegetables is something I noticed in all three locations. There seemed to be a correlation among them in which the fruits and vegetables were at the entrance and everything was in isles. In regard to the prices they all seemed close in range. Surprisingly Meijer was a little more expensive compared to the other two stores. Although the size of each store varied, the produce reflected good quality. As the size of the store increased so did the products it offered. For example, East Lansing Farmer's Market offered strictly food produce, Fresh Thyme offered produce, cosmetics, medicine, and bath and body items, and Meijer offered all of the above including, home décor, and auto care.
Walking in and seeing all the vibrant colors of the fruits and vegetables is something I noticed in all three locations. There seemed to be a correlation among them in which the fruits and vegetables were at the entrance and everything was in isles. In regard to the prices they all seemed close in range. Surprisingly Meijer was a little more expensive compared to the other two stores. Although the size of each store varied, the produce reflected good quality. As the size of the store increased so did the products it offered. For example, East Lansing Farmer's Market offered strictly food produce, Fresh Thyme offered produce, cosmetics, medicine, and bath and body items, and Meijer offered all of the above including, home décor, and auto care.
Meijer
Friday before a football game may not be the best time to go to a big supermarket like Meijer, especially near the college campus. My perception may be skewed, but even with all the rush that customers brought in because of a big game I couldn’t help but notice that no one looked up to see their surroundings. Everyone was absorbed in their own world and no one even bothered to look up and see others, if not for almost crashing with one another. I will admit that I thought it would be embarrassing to walk around some grocery store writing things down on my notebook, but I soon realized no one even noticed me. The chaos among customers and absence of interaction was more than visible walking in. Individuals were dressed in casual attire. Some people were in pajamas, others in everyday wear, and many in Spartan gear. The purchase of liquor I am sure soared through the roof; almost every other person had some type of liquor in their carts, most likely because of the game. Also, the purchase of alcohol on a weekend or Friday evening could be high because of college students nearby. Taking a quick glance at the prices of the products and the quality of the produce everything seemed to be in an affordable range (depending on level of income) for an average household income. There was a greater variety of highly processed foods which reminded me of Melanie Warner’s Pandoras Lunch Box, where she explains that processed foods are taking over the American diet. I saw individuals of all races, but the population age group seemed young, I am assuming the majority were in their late twenties early thirties. There were also many seasonal items in display, from pumpkin spice cookies to Christmas decorations.
East Lansing Farmer's Market
Walking through the cold grass and hearing the chattering of individuals at a short distance felt somewhat familiar. Familiar in the sense that it felt like everyone knew each other. Watching a band start setting up seemed strange, but added to the ambient a sense of freshness, as if I were in some type of parade. The first thing that came to my mind was that I had seen something like this farmer’s market before in a movie, the movies from back then. The people were so joyful and seemed to be filled with energy. I noticed that it was small and there were probably about 20 stands maximum, but each stand had a particular item or items they were selling. I noticed the cheese stand and pastry/dessert stand right away; individuals were eating the pastries right then and there. I am assuming by the skin complexion of the individuals that were present were mainly Caucasian, I saw one family that was perhaps Middle Eastern but other than that it was predominantly Caucasian purchasers. The cheese was not prepackaged, it was whole in a block and neatly stacked. The fruits and vegetables were displayed as if they were freshly picked since they were in bushel baskets. There seemed to be more attention to the customer as the awkwardness creeped in when I was being noticed. I mention that awkwardness creeped in because I was being noticed and I'm used to going places and everyone being on their phones or minding their own business. I overheard a seller calling a customer by his name, which made me think this person frequents the place and that there is a closer relationship between producer and consumer than that of other stores.
Fresh Thyme
I have to say this grocery store had an interesting theme, similar to a barn I could say. Something that stood out to me the most was the perfection in which the items were displayed, whether they were fruits, vegetables, flowers, lotions, beverages, etc. People were more formally dressed. Everything was in order and as if nothing had been missing or purchased. I guess you could say it was well stocked or restocked. A lot of the items had organic labels or labeling on the branding itself. Based on Amy Harmon’s article, How Square Watermelons Get Their Shape, and Other G.M.O. Misconceptions, she explains that labeling merchandise can impact a customer’s decision making of purchasing. I noticed that in Fresh Thyme many of their products are labeled as organic or natural which leads me to believe that people who go there view the products in the store as safe from dangerous chemicals. I also noticed that the customers bring their own bags for their items. The reason for this may be because of its environmental friendly atmosphere. This grocer gives people the feeling that they are in a farmer’s market. Tying into the effect of fresh-ness, many items, such as grains, nuts, coffee etc., are offered as self-served; they are stored in barrels or dispensers for peoples convince. Fresh Thyme has a diverse customer population. Yet although the customer population was diverse, the ambience was very dry. People did not look happy, including the customers. There was very little communication between customer and employees or with customers amongst themselves. Clients seemed to be there for the soul purpose of purchasing what they needed and not exactly browsing, in terms of taking their time.
Sometimes it’s okay to stop and observe, we can learn a lot just by observing our surroundings. Looking at those who are around us and the details like prices and interactions among people can help one learn a lot of the cultural impacts that have shaped a certain location. The diversity of Meijer, the joy and fresh air of East Lansing Farmer’s Market, and the perfection of Fresh Thyme all show that each location has its uniqueness to draw in its loyal customers. I will also mention that visiting East Lansing Farmer’s Market added to my interest to return next year, perhaps I will not only frequent smaller grocers, but also try and discover new ones.