research

My subcategory for campus life is "healthy living". Specifically, I would like to focus on getting students to live healthier by eating healthier. 

I came to the conclusion that the best place to observe people and their healthy eating habits would be at a grocery store. This is where most people make their primary food decisions. One of my favorite places to shop for healthy food is the Seward Co-op. This is also the closest co-op to campus and I figured that this would be the place where I could find some of the most health-conscious individuals in the twin cities metro area.

What is a co-op? ---> http://seward.coop/coop/whatisacoop

First, I spent some time in the Co-op's fresh produce section where I observed shoppers as they picked through the fresh vegetables. Two older women were rummaging through the available bundles of lettuce and kale, trying to find the best one. People perused the aisles slowly, not in the mad rush that is typical of big-box supermarkets.  The produce was magnificently arrayed, well stocked, and beautiful. 

However, this section is mostly for buying in bulk to be cooked later. I wanted to observe something that would be more directly related to people's food choices when they are hungry, now!

So, I walked over the the Seward co-op deli section. Here there is a wide selection of prepared meals, soups, salads, etc, all priced by the pound. I loaded up a plate with leafy greens, spinach, carrots, peas, broccoli, and sprouts. The salad was delicious, fresh, and affordable; costing only $2. The dressing I used was labeled "Seward Goddess" which I highly recommend.

After my "Observation" salad, I interviewed two shoppers who were also enjoying a deli meal.

I first met with Marianne and inquired about her healthy eating habits. She mentioned that she eats fresh salads about five times a week, and sometimes up to twice a day. Her favorite thing about eating something fresh is that is makes her feel better. She knows that she is taking care of herself, and that feels good psychologically. In this way, she receives a boost that is both mental and physical just from eating healthy and knowing that she is going herself good.
When making a decision about what to eat, she considers multiple variables. Time is very important to her. She said, "It's not just what to eat, it's when will I eat it and when with I have time to cook it?" The convenience of having these things already prepared is why she often choses to eat at the co-op deli, even though this food is more expensive. 
She really doesn't like eating food with added unnecessary ingredients.


One problem she brought up with trying to cook healthy meals is that often by the end of the day, we are too hungry and tired to think and put in the effort and energy to make a creative meal from scratch. She said everyone has their fallbacks - the meals you know how to prepare quickly every time. For instance, one of her favorite fresh food staples is Kale.


Her favorite thing about the Seward Co-op salad bar is the variety of toppings which in her opinion, makes a "huge difference" in the enjoyability of a fresh salad. Boring food isn't food someone is going to eat consistently. The selection is nice because she often doesn't have all of these items at home. 

I asked if she would eat even more fresh greens if she could grow them herself. She enthusiastically affirmed that she would.


I then met with Deborah. She told me her personal story of how she never used to eat healthy foods, until one day, she became very sick, and that prompted her to turn her entire life around.

She said, "What you put in, you get out. It's true." She mentioned the power of knowing where our food comes from and referenced food-related documentaries such as "Food Inc", and "Fat Sick And Nearly Dead".



Deborah said that she likes to carry fruits such as apples or strawberries with her in order to reach her daily allotment of fresh foods. She reflected that our food choices often represent our lifestyles. One thing that was important to her was convenience - she prefers that her salads come pre-washed, and even then she likes to wash them again, just to be sure. She emphasized the need for the consumer to be able to trust the produce that they are eating and feels assured that when she eats at the co-op the food has been vetted and certified to be healthy and fresh - and because of this, it is worth paying the co-op's higher prices. She really likes having the peace of mind that she is buying something fresh every time. 

She also mentioned that she prefers to eat small, bite-sized fresh portions such as cherry tomatoes, so that she doesn't have to cut things while she is on the go which would then create the need to save the leftovers in a tupperware container, etc. She also likes small snack packs, saying that she would rather buy a plastic-packaged container of baby-carrots and hummus over any similarly packaged processed food.

She expressed a desire to bring back the natural beauty of the foods we eat. She would like for food companies to emphasize the naturally bright colors of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of relying upon artificial food colorings, etc. 

She also mentioned that she loves adding fresh herbs to her meals. Some of her favorites were Mint, Basil, Thyme, and Rosemary. She said that friends often positively mention the noticeable flavors that these fresh herbs add to her meals. 

• Marianne needs a fast way to cook a healthy, non-boring meal at the end of the day because cooking something from scratch takes too much energy.
  
• Deborah needs a convenient way to eat fresh foods on-the-go because she doesn't like carrying around tupperware containers. 

I then went to the University's own "Fresh Food Company" which is located underneath the 17th Ave. Residence Hall. This campus dining location features a large open space and highlights the process of food preparation by university dining staff. Students are able to see the preparation of their food as opposed to other dining halls in which the kitchen and staff are generally hidden from view. There is a sense of openness here which I liked. 

I decided to go to this residence hall dining location because it seeks to maintain an air of green "freshness" that I thought would be similar to the Seward co-op. I wanted to observe a location where students eat regularly - especially somewhere where the emphasis was on healthy dining options. Whereas the Seward co-op is moderately expensive, this is where students regularly eat "healthy" on a student budget. 

The salads at the UDS location seemed a little less fresh that Seward's.

Some sections were picked-over from students selecting the freshest-looking produce and leaving the undesirable remainders. Students were messy, too, leaving the serving area unappetizing. 










I met with an Armenian Freshman named Natalya. Whereas most students that I saw in the dining hall were eating pizza, fries, etc, she was eating a large, colorful salad, which was what initially drew my attention to her. 

I was surprised to learn that while she would not normally eat salads, she has been forced to because there is no certified Halal food available to students on campus.  I learned that eating a vegetarian diet is one of the easiest ways to eat Halal. Since she cannot be sure of the status of other available meals, she has been effectively forced into eating a strict vegetarian diet. This was not her first choice, but she said that she has been quite happy with the change. She said that she feels like she has more energy, and has even lost a little weight. I warned her about the infamous "Freshman 15", but don't think that will be a problem for her given her new diet. 
She said that it has been challenging, and that she would like to see more cooked vegetables - things that are steamed, or roasted, etc. She also mentioned that she would like to see the addition of lentils to the student menu.

One thing she doesn't like about vegetables is that sometimes they can get boring in regards to tastes and textures. So, she likes to mix things up with some variety, which you can clearly see on her plate. She said she prefers simple dressings like extra virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.

• Natalya needs there to be more Halal-certified dining options on campus because the lack of this has forced her to adopt a vegetarian diet (which, she admits, isn't necessarily such a bad thing).
  
  
  
  Some potential areas for improvement within my subcategory might be in regards to convenient student access to fresh foods - possibly through portioning meals out in snack-sized containers, increasing the availability of culturally-influenced foods such as lentils and Halal-certified foods, increasing awareness about where our food actually comes from, and trying to make the preparations of healthy meals less stressful and more enjoyable.