Insider Language

• CSA: community supported agriculture
• markets
• organic
• pesticide free
• bio-dynamic:" is a method of organic farming that treats farms as unified and individual organisms,emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a self-nourishing system without external inputs insofar as this is possible given the loss of nutrients due to the export of food. As in other forms of organic agriculture, artificial fertilizers and toxic pesticides and herbicides are strictly avoided."
• raw milk and cheeses: dairy products that aren't pasteurized
• rBHT free: dairy products from animals not fed a growth hormone
• regional
• free range
• pasture and grass fed: animals whose main diet is grass rather than corn and grain
• Farmer Dave: a well known farmer who provides a lot of the local restaurants with produce
• Nashville Restaurant Group: a group of local restaurants  most of whom use local produce and products
• Pick Tennessee: campaign focused on promoting local and regional products
• Sustainability: defined as "an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will last over the long term."

nterview

nterview

Rachel and I discussed several aspects of food.  Through the interview I learned that she and I have similar views on food and the American diet. I found that our views on food and the American diet are very similar; the one thing that kept getting mentioned was moderation.The thing that stood out the most was that we kept focusing on moderation.  The fact that Our portion sizes are too big and the belief that we have to clean our plates, is one of the major problems with the way we eat in America.  We also talked about Processed foods and the health consequences that are arising from eating too many of them is another group of problems that are arising in this country.  She spoke about living on campus and The food Rachel had to eat because there were no other options  Because the majority of the food was processed and chemical laden and it typically made her physically feel awful.  We ended the interview talking about Growing up in families with parents who cooked almost every night and the impact that has had on our attitude towards food.

Interview

Rachel and I discussed several aspects of food.  Through the interview I learned that she and I have similar views on food and the American diet. The thing that stood out the most was that we kept focusing on moderation.  The fact that our portion sizes are too big and the belief that we have to clean our plates, is one of the major problems with the way we eat in America.  We also talked about processed foods and the health consequences that are arising from eating too many of them.  She spoke about living on campus and the food she had to eat because there were no other options.  Because the majority of the food was processed and chemical laden, it typically made her physically feel awful.  We ended the interview talking about growing up in families with parents who cooked almost every night and the impact that has had on our attitude towards food.

map for local food

This Vin diagram is useful in seeing all the different aspects of Local Food.  So many of the categories intertwine.  This is also helps to access the big picture of "why."  Why are all of these different groups interested in and support local food?  The diagram also shows the different levels of involvement withing local food from simply eating at restaurants who support local foods, to joining a CSA to growing your own food.  This diagram also helps me to break down the different groups that I can talk to and interview.

Writing

What I would like to focus on most is cohesion.  I generally have a hard time with writing.  Instead of having one main idea as my focus, I tend to keep having ideas pop into my head and continue to use those.  Because of this my writing becomes muddy.  I would like to better be able to develop one idea.  Because of my inability to develop my thoughts jump back and forth and there is a lot of unnecessary filler in my writing. My papers subsequently look undeveloped and do not flow.  I am self-conscious with my writing and usually get frustrated.  My transitions tend to be weak and therefore my papers ideas do not always link well.  If I were able to develop my thoughts better I think that would help move me towards my goal of having cohesion throughout my papers.

CSA box

Original

A CSA box is the quintessential representative of local food.  Once you join a farm’s CSA you receive a box which you return every week to receive your farm produce.  The box holds the key to why people support local farms; we are supporting local farmers and accessing fresh fruits and vegetables weekly, which change throughout the season.  What arrives in the box is not only dependent upon which farm you choose but more importantly what the seasonal factors are.  If it is a bad month for crops then that is going to be reflected in your box, but if the season is bountiful then the box will be bountiful.  This is such a drastic change from the grocery stores we have become accustomed to.  If the crops are poor in the region they will just get them shipped in from California, Mexico, or somewhere else internationally.  The crops are then no longer harvested at their peak and then delivered but are picked before their peak and then shipped thousands of miles to sit on a store shelf.  The boxes differ per farm.  Some only contain vegetables while others contain fruits and/or flowers.  Some farms supple cheeses, eggs and meat of animals raised and slaughtered locally.  The box contains local food.

Revised

A CSA box is the quintessential representative of local food.  Once you join a farm’s CSA box you receive a box.  The box is returned weekly and filled with farm produce.  The box holds the key to why people support local farms.  We support local farms to access fresh fruits and vegetables.  The fruits and vegetables change weekly throughout the season.  What arrives in the box is dependent upon which farm you choose and the seasonal factors.  If it is a bad month for crops it reflects in the box.  If the season is bountiful then the box is bountiful.  This is a drastic change from the grocery stores we have become accustomed to.  If the crops are poor the grocery store just gets them shipped in from California, Mexico or elsewhere internationally.  The crops are no longer harvested at their peak and delivered but are picked before they are ripe and shipped thousands of miles to sit on a store shelf.  The boxes differ per farm.  Some only contain vegetables, others contain fruits and/or flowers.  Some farms supply cheeses, eggs and meat of animals raised and slaughtered locally.  The box contains local foods.

Observing the Curb

What surprised you?
  What I found to be the most shocking was the amount of people eating alone (not that this is a bad thing).  If you put it into a different context of what we are used to seeing while eating out it seems strange.  If I were to go into a restaurant it would surprise me to see so many people eating by themselves, but if I were to go to a coffee shop I would think nothing of it.  It is so interesting what we view as normal or abnormal.

What intrigued you?
   What I found to be interesting was the fact that the majority of the college age kids seemed to be at a healthy weight but almost all of the older adults in the cafeteria were overweight.  It would have been fascinating to go more in depth on this subject by exploring the food choices of the different generations but unfortunately there was not enough time to do that.

What disturbed you?
  The lack of attention given to eating lunch was the thing that I found to be the most disturbing.  People were on their phones and computers or watching tv the majority of the time they were eating.  How did American's adopt this lifestyle of always multi-tasking?  We always have to stay busy with something else and can never just be in the moment.