Assignment #3

The best answer to the Omnivore’s Dilemma posed by Pollan is research and moderation. I think Americans should eat more locally than they do now. They should reduce the amount of processed foods in their diet- eliminate corn syrup and other justifications of overproduction in the food industry. We as a people should force the food market to take better care of us and to be more transparent. I want more farms like Joe Salatin’s. And Americans should buy from and financially support the Joe Salatins of the nation by buying local, and from farmer’s markets when they are available. If we eat meat, we should take care to see that the animal is fed the diet it is most suited to. No more dying, disease generating cows on the market. And slaughtering shouldn’t be a fulltime job for anyone- if the reading is to be believed. Grass finished cattle should be demanded. And less meat in general, less food- we eat too much. So, we should dine in moderation, avoid industrially processed foods as much as possible- commodity corn laced items if possible, if we eat meat we should make sure that the process is as humane as possible for all parties involved and in general should support with our purchases agriculture that rebuilds the land instead of leading to erosion.

 

I think the future of the organic food industry is one of eventual take over. However, it may not do so under the same label. Just as Will Newman discussed, with the rising cost of oil we will have to look at non-oil intensive methods of production to provide our dinners. Organic is that. It will take a political movement to take it beyond the niche market place it currently enjoys now (some 2.5% of the overall food market). Americans will have to decide to move beyond the industrial institution if we wish to change before it is thrust upon us as the oil wells dry.

 

 

Final Reflection…

Question #1

Oreo cookies do not belong in the Declaration of Independence. This, by far, is the most valuable thing I have learned from this class, this term. What I mean by this? All cookies, all foods are not- and perhaps furthermore- should not be created equal. It may justifiable to speak of cookie-cutter men in terms of moral equality. It is not justifiable to speak of cookie-cutter food. An apple is an apple is not the same apple. Food should be judged by its qualities. Like all other portions of the world, the realm of food is not exempt from the analytical mind, it shouldn’t be. This is the most important thing I have learned from this class, this term. That the forces shaping the food I eat are just as charged, just as political, just as economical, just as social as the forces that shape all other things existent in the world of man.

Petrini writes that we should know our food, know its history, its preparation, its components. That it is this knowledge of what we eat that helps us better enjoy our meals. He also writes that it is our responsibility. Petrini (p. 20) states that focusing on the quality of food production is one of the first steps we must take in order to rectify the damages done by industrial food production. Petrini later provides (p. 93) us with three measures with which to measure our purchased food by: Good, Clean, and Fair. My point is this, I have learned that I must research my dinners as thoroughly as another might research their first car, or home, or school to send their children. And I must do this because my purchases provide the capital that in our society serves as the feed back for production. I want a healthier environment, one of the ways I can attain it, in a sense, is by buying it. By purchasing food that creates less damage, or is the product of a farm practice which may be rebuilding the land. And if I want a healthier me? I had best feed myself food that is actually grown for the purpose of providing nourishment, not to provide the highest yield per acre.

Question # 2.)

This group experience of mine was top notch. Benefits, far more than challenges, and even benefits in the challenges, were really the essence of my experience. A’s all around, they were fabulous.

This really was the best group work experience I have had during my attendance here at PSU. This was the first time when all members seemed keen on communicating, frequently updating and asking after each other. Perhaps it was the personality mix, or the simple glue of having a common goal, but there was a spirit of moving forward, going to the next thing in every dialogue. The only true difficulty we had was in tightening our focus, and even then, a few handfuls of discussion later, we had agreement. This project truly brought home that value of open dialogue when working in groups.

I would give them all an A, because they worked for it. None of them flaked out, anytime someone was done with a task they turned to the others and asked how they could help. I had no idea the seeming simple task of constructing an informational billboard was a thing requiring hours of discussion, research, and thought. And that was just the design. The construction itself took multiple hour upon hour long sessions- and the weird part was, it was fun. So give em all an A.

As for myself, I think I could have worked a little harder, but I was distracted. My Girlfriend’s cousin was married one weekend, and the next weekend I attended a funeral service for the Dad of a dear friend. So I was unable to get some of the things done, in as timely a fashion, as I had said I would be able to. The only real response I received from them was, “do you need help with anything?” Pedro, give those guys an A. I’d prefer an A too, but am ok with a B. =)

Question # 3.)

Goals of learning, ever churning, with a million other words that rhyme. An introduction to food issues in terms of communities, urban layout- indeed the over all geographic layout of human civilization, and society- was amply provided. Pollan frequently discourses on locality and the addition of transport and production costs to the overall costs of food. Petrini focuses often on the impact of food on local economies. Both authors discuss the damage wrought by conventional farming methods, and how political the process of food production is.

Between the readings in the packet, Pollan’s book, and Organic, Inc. by Fromartz the history of the natural food industry has been well explained. Several readings in the packet discuss the history and culture of cooperatives. The methods of investigation used by Pollan in his book as well as Fromartz give us two different examples of informative investigation.

I can think of no time in the class when we didn’t consider in some way the environmental and social aspects of sustainable agriculture, land use and in general food issues. Speakers David Padberg and Will Newman especially brought these issues home. Supplemented by the issues discussed by the documentaries, I don’t think one could escape the issues of land use and food production and trade.

This was the first course I have had a professor or instructor hand out group contracts. The formalizing of methods of communication for group work in the class… to have that discussion set down in the syllabus I think is a pretty good indicator of how the course was providing us tools to mesh with one another in a productive and positive manner. The discussions in class and the readings on the values behind how cooperatives are set up really gives a framework for people to try their best to make sure everyone’s voice gets included in the process. The value placed on all input, and to have agreed upon ways for feedback to those inputs, the entire consensus model in general seemed really a great way to move forward in a way that was beneficial for all.

The presentations themselves were a direct reflection of communication and critical thought. I don’t think I could say which of those two must happen first or if perhaps it is best as a simultaneous process, but in my experience in the course it definitely happened. My group spent at least half of the time working in discussion with one another, problem solving and listening to one another- it was really positive.

The application of the issues in the projects was pretty clear-cut. Every presentation seemed very focused on getting across some point or other that had been discussed in the course. The Gluten Brand group on educating about one of the many different health issues related to food. The Farmer Profiles focus on the promotion of local producers, helping people in the local economy, supporting practices that were better for the land. My groups focus working with Food For Thought was to get people to shop more locally, not at businesses with headquarters located hundreds of miles away, and at businesses that were more focused on the health of the land around them and the community around them. Every cooperative we researched- as per the principle of community involvement, was heavily engaged in events in their surrounding areas, we wanted people to be able to be involved in those kinds of things, to support that kind of involvement, by letting them know what was going on.

I think this course met its learning goals rather well.

Question #4.)

This capstone helped me engage in issues of social responsibility. It did so by providing me with a flood of information I had to process and be able to rearticulate, in class discussions, these blogs, and the group project as well. The group project especially seemed to me geared towards students tackling issues of social responsibility. For myself, I set out to help educate my fellow classmates at PSU. I wanted to share at least some of the information I had gained; one could argue I felt a responsibility. I would say that I felt such because the lack of information on campus about what is going on in Portland in many ways is astounding. I leapt at the idea of working with Food For Thought because I felt frustrated by this lack, I had never seen healthy eating, or socially conscious eating discussed in a formal manner that was public at PSU. I had never seen even something to the extent as the billboard we put up. This capstone allowed me to address an issue that I felt was important to me, in a manner that was for me positive. I hope as simple as it is in some ways, that the billboard we created snags someone’s attention and gives them some piece of helpful info they didn’t have before.

Question #5.)

It was slim. We kept in contact with Lori, and she was very open very helpful to us. But as we were working more directly with Food For Thought, we didn’t have a lot of contact with Peoples. Working with the people at FFT was great; they are an extremely nice bunch of People. Having a group member, Sage, who already worked there made it very easy for us to mesh with them and make sure they were cool with what we were doing- and they were really supportive. Also I got free coffee.

I don’t know that I would change anything, based on my experience. Like I stated, Lori was really supportive and helpful, once we seemed like were on a viable track she seemed very happy to let us go, and that seemed to really work for us.

This class was a great experience.

Assignment One

Yes, America is the land of golden fields… of people. So everything we eat is largely constructed of a corn fed base. Fair enough. I personally have images of mischievous little hell children sneaking about on the open plains, slaughtering the post pubescent- perhaps that is the only true utopia. I wonder if I were a cannibal, would I eat organic? If so, I probably wouldn’t be able to dine with conventional industrially farmed America. As this would leave me little choice but to either pack my own lunch every time I visited the land of corn-milk and corn-honey, or simply visit more of the fringe societals who refuse to pay tax and are likely to be those least missed by the authorities.

. Columbus certainly found something more useful than another trade route, he found the seeds to an empire. The Empire of Corn. The descriptions of industrial farming remind me in some ways of the way various addictive drugs are described to effect a human being. The incredible high followed by the crash. Or in farming terms, amazingly high yields on crops only to vampire the soil clean of any of its value, the top soil blowing away in the guise of dirt devils and dust clouds. The quantity of black gold soil has shrunk from a four foot thickness to a halfling two feet. Much like the skin of an addict will dissipate into sores and scabs, that once winning smile of mother nature turned gummy and black.

Now that may in fact be quite extreme, but it does make me wonder. If I consider why it is that conventionally grown foods are so much cheaper than the organics industry then for me at least certain words come to mind: Diminishing returns, price per unit, long term and short terms costs, the prisoner’s dilemma , profiteering. Those are a lot of words, I apologize and simply say that the list could be longer. If the organic industry does indeed account for something like 2.5% of the total food industry in America (as of 2006) then the infrastructure available to the organic industry should be in some proportion reflective of that comparative smurfness.

This poses a good news, bad news hypothesis. As the Organic industry continues to grow with Americans increasingly buying Organic labeled foods, 17% of Americans bought Organic foods in 2000, nearly 25% by 2007. The Organic Trade Association noted a sales increase of over 11 billion dollars in per year sales since 1996. In 2006 Organic food was responsible for some 15 billion dollars worth of sales. If we consider this growth as an accurate measurements of society’s desire for Organic farming then it is logical to assume sales, or profits, will continue to increase. As profits go up, so does investment and production. With production increases of Organic produce Organic farmers should see an increase in yield per unit- Organic food will become cheaper to grow as more is grown- provided the technology involved is permitting. The distribution price per unit should decrease if nothing else. Anyways, Organic food should at some point become less comparatively expensive when put against the cost to consumer it represents as opposed to the cost of buying conventionally farmed foods.

The bad news is with 2.5% of the market Organic foods likely have a much smaller infrastructure available and may take some time to grow enough before Organic food becomes enough low cost to be available everyone, allowing for a viable alternative to more than just a select few. Making Organic food an option for all people and not just a few scattered areas of representing in terms of ability to obtain Organic food a geographic, monetary or intellectual elite. As the woman quoted in “Organicize Me” well noted, Organic and or local food free of the fetters of the industrial farming structure isn’t available to all. Some people have to go to Wal-mart to get their Organic goods.

Cost is the real key. The immediate physical cost represented via geographic distances to obtain the food. As well stated by the people at Google’s Cafe 150, what is the point of buying Organic nectarines out of season compared to the cost of jet fuel? The monetary price set by the vendors available to the means of the consumers. The cost to consumers represented in how easy it is for the public to discover the touted benefits of Organic foods.

The movie “Super Size Me” states a figure upwards of two billion dollars a year as the amount spent on advertising junk foods, with only a rough two million being spent on advertising more supposedly healthier options. Despite how noninclusive these two numbers may be in terms of all actual money spent on advertising the two different alternatives, the order of the magnitude in difference does say something. People don’t know as much about eating healthy as they do about eating what is trendy, or well publicized. People buy what they know, what they are comfortable with.

The motivations behind my shopping…

It’s how I shop. I grew up in Beaverton, to my knowledge there are no Co-ops in Beaverton. Recently a New Seasons moved in, and once upon a time there used to be a Natures (now very long gone). I grew eating well, but with no idea that there really even was such a thing as an Organic market. I agree with the article when it states that not everyone has the infrastructure available to them to eat as they would like. You have to eat what you can afford to. If that means shopping at Wal-mart for some people, then that is exactly what they will do. My parents were quite poor while I grew up and they both worked- yeah, I ate fast food sometimes.

Now my parents have a bit more money, and things like eating healthier and paying attention to what is in junk food are more mainstream. I have two younger teenage brothers who refuse to drink soda- too much sugar. But they loved it when they were little, and so did I. People will eat what they think is best for them, this at times will mean what will cost them the least to not be hungry.

Now when I shop I try to get as much non processed, no preservative, sans indecipherable ingredients food as my monetary and temporal budget will allow. The food market is very, very guilty of information asymmetry. People don’t know, and don’t even know how to know what is in the food available at times. Not everyone can go to college just so they can shop at the grocery store. But everyone does go to the movies.

Do I think the film “Super Size Me” is hopeful or pessimistic…

“Super Size Me” is pessimistically hopeful. We are shown in rather clear terms an argument that equates regular fast food consumption with alcoholism. Like drinking there is a culture that supports it, those who happily function as exceptions to the rule by thriving off it, and many who suffer from it. It all boils down to trust. We want to trust the big companies, simply because it is tradition. And those traditions which state that we should perhaps consider at least questioning bigger organizations, well they’ve been marginalized. Because, isn’t it easier to agree and belong to something big than stand out alone?

Like alcoholism, “Super Size Me” shows that the damage can be to a degree reversible, in this way is is hopeful. But just like the Woo! Party! culture that we market ourselves that supports alcoholism, we have a similar culture that supports fast food. It isn’t as quite as overt, and in fact being overweight has different connotations than being a drunk. But they are still negative connotations, coupled with the lack of education on the effects of fast food consumption so prevalently portrayed in the movie, makes “Super Size Me” a bit pessimistic- Perhaps because it wants to scare us a bit.

Pollan writes about the manic behavior of Americans on their food related shopping habits. He writes that because we lack a unilaterally recognized tradition of cooking we are more susceptible to fads.

I think organic food is likely susceptible to the kinds of costs any business is. Whole Foods, or Whole Paycheck, charges what it does because it bills its produce as higher quality. And as Stusser writes, organically grown food as it is produced from supposedly healthier soil, can taste better. So I agree that there is a higher cost to a lot of organic foods, as organic is still seen, and in many ways due to scarcity (in comparison with conventionally produced foods), as a specialty item. I think that as long as organic food is seen as a specialty, the BMW of food, then it will be more expensive.

A cooperative business structure is a consensus based group of individuals who agree to follow seven binding principles. To: have voluntary and open membership, the organization is member controlled by a democratic process- consensus, all members contribute equally in terms of economic participation, the cooperative must remain independent, it must focus on working with its local community, cooperating and helping other cooperatives, and be focused on not only educating and training their own members but on public education as well concerning cooperatives. They are businesses set up to serve the community, structured in a way to allow all members to be able to participate in ways that are beneficial to them, no voices left unheard.

My first impression of Peoples is one of friendliness. I think that says a lot for their business model, places that are inviting and friendly are far more likely to have return customers- long term customers, and long term profits- which means viability as a company. I think the signs of customer involvement- member involvement is a really strong way to tie the business to the community and ensure that people continue to shop at Peoples.

Recycled paper is the first thing I think of when I consider a visual marker for a Peoples brand, that is both the appearance and vibe- they give away recycled pens. I would list sustainability as one of the markers. The other big one is quality. They sell higher end produce, and some higher end, certainly more expensive, specialty items in the store. Also friendliness as I have already discussed, they have a play area for kids, in a small as store as that. That says something huge on how family friendly that place is. Also a small area for people to sit at, have a cup of coffee in the sunlight (or cloudlight). The informative brochures peppered all over, and the flyers on events and other things going on tell me that Peoples is very concerned with their name being associated with the community. The farmer’s market is another great example of community involvement. They are actively creating a brand that says to people: this is a place where you can go to be informed, at ease, involved with other people in friendly environment, at a business that is friendly towards the environment, and by quality goods at the same time.

Assignment # 2

Question 1.)

a.)

Bread- I bought the bread (sourdough) from the stand in the market outside peoples, I bought it for multiple reasons. I bought that specific bread for reasons of taste, its bread straight from the baker, literally, and I know it’s yummy. Bread is a convenient food to have at home; it goes with a number of meals and is acceptable by itself, with little to no prep. It’s also filling, and (I hope) nutritious. I bought a couple of other things while at Peoples (grocery shopping after class!). The bananas I bought because they are convenient, I know they’re good for me, but really it’s because they taste good and can be grabbed as is as I run out the door for the bus. Carrots because I’m comfortable using them in dishes I cook, the convenience of familiarity, also I enjoy the taste. I bought the wine completely for the sake of taste. I would love a nutritional rationalization here, but no, I like it, end of story. And the coffee was pure addiction, socially conscious coffee, but bought for the sheer joy of coursing its caffeinated richness down my gullet. I don’t think I have ever seen a socially unconscious good in stock at Peoples, not surprising; this is one of the points of shopping at Peoples.

b.)

The sourdough was picked for two reasons, familiarity of style of bread, and because sitting there in its basket of fellows, it appeared delicious. As to how much thought the buyer placed in the specific style of basket, in the decision to use a wood basket at all, I am unsure. But that could also have been her playing to the market. A person shopping at Peoples would be more likely to be leery of a plasticized or metallic shiny packaging. Was I suckered by the combo of the simple wood basket and filled with a dozen or so loaves of tasty looking breads? Probably. But I received a decent loaf of bread, so I’m ok with it. I saw bananas and grabbed them. There may have been a sign, in fact likely was a sign, providing me with the price, name, and origin of those bananas. I’ll be honest though: I saw banana, thought banana, and trusted to Peoples to take care of the rest. I sincerely hope the next time I’m at Safeway or Fred Meyers I don’t do the same.

I checked the price of the carrots, I compared them to the other bunches stacked there and tried to pick the best, I would be curious if there are specific light bulbs designed for produce display and if so, does Peoples employ them? There is the in general Peoples advertisement style that permeates the entire store. The implication of trust and transparency alluded to by the locality signs, the constant peppering of informational packets and blurbs all throughout the store.

While I believe Peoples to be doing this because it is what they feel is right, I also classify this as a form of advertisement, not necessary dissimilar in style to the Starbucks approach. When I shop at Peoples I know I can just grab a bunch of bananas and not worry about it. I can trust Peoples to be consistent with the quality of their produce. This is the same kind of store branding that Starbucks engages in- that enticement of trust via the consistency of product. It is very interesting to see two completely different approaches and I am hoping reasons for using the same advertising method.

The coffee was purchased in a take away cup, the advertisement said it was organic, fair trade etc, but again, I was at Peoples and didn’t worry too much about it save to note that it was cheaper next time if I brought my own mug.

The wine, the wine was bought completely on the basis of the label design and the small sign for it Peoples had up. I like wine, but know little about it, so I’ll be honest I bought the bottle with the neat looking label. Other times I’ll by a fun sounding name, or type. It’s shallow shopping I admit, and a thing I am educating myself on (or trying to at least).

Question 2.)

Yuck. I felt gross, gross and burpy. Yuck. The burger was from the moon, or might as well have been. No earthly cow could have birthed this beef. And this was at Burgerville, a place I’ve had no issue eating at in the past: 510 calories of mediocre greasiness- mmmmm. Not to mention 30 grams of fat, 27 of protein, 30 g. of carbs, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, and another yummy 8 grams of sat. fats to be washed down with five grams of fiber. And Fries! 410 calories, 18g of fat, 4 of sat. fats, 0.5 g of trans fat, 57 g of carbs, 6g fiber, 6 protein, and 240 mg of sodium. The milkshake –vanilla- was another 720 calories, 91 carbs, 9g of protein, and 230 mg of sodium. It and the fries were far tastier.

The meat was from Country Natural Beef, likely processed at Fulton Provisions CO. here in Portland. The pickles on my burger were from Pleasant Valley Farms located in Washington. While the Fries were from Lamb Weston found in Pasco, Washington. Sunshine Dairy Foods provided the ice cream for my milkshake. Amusingly enough, it was a relatively local fast food meal.

Burgerville is kind enough to provide all this information at their website www.burgerville.com. And I consider them a far cry above either McDonalds or Burger King, but an hour later my digestion track still wasn’t happy with me.

Big Town Hero was my dinner stop. I know, I know, not very fast food places comparatively, but they aren’t Mom’s home cooking either. I hate iceberg lettuce. I used to work for Bellagio’s Pizza, and every so often I had to prep the lettuce for salads. The stuff is largely repackaged water as far as I can tell. My sandwich of choice was an 8” Turkey Bacon Avocado- it was smothered in iceberg.

The content value of my sandwich was: 780 cal., 240 fat cal., 13g or 20% fat, 3g sat fats or 15%, cholesterol was 30 mg, sodium another 1090 mg, and 20 g. of protein. I’ll be honest; I am not completely sure what the percentages are supposed to stand for. The information exists at www.bigtownhero.com/food_nutrition.html. I had to brush my teeth to get the foulness of that lettuce out of my mouth. Now, I asked for no Bacon, so my sandwich should have slightly different stats, but still I feel these figures give a relative idea the make up of my sandwich. As much as such figures can give anyways. It always seems to me that a key, or Rosetta Stone, is needed to translate the stuffs of food science.

All told, lunch and dinner cost me around fifteen bucks. I had Starbucks for breakfast, one Grande Americano and a chonga bagel. More stats: 1. The Bagel: 310 cal., 50 fat cal., 6g. of total fat, 2g. of sat. fat, 10mg. of chol., 560mg. of sodium, a total of 53g. of carbohydrates, 3g. of fiber, 5g. of sugar, 13g. of protein, 2% Vit. A, 2% Vit. C, 20% calcium, and 20% iron. 2. The Americano: 15 calories, 10mg. of sodium, 1g. of protein, 2% calcium, and 225mg of caffeine. Again, there was a helpful website: www.starbucks.com. I assume they assume we add cream to our Americanos, otherwise I’m a little confused at to where that gram of protein came from.

All in all the experience was greasy and unsatisfying, and at this point had set me back about 18 dollars. I know I’ve eaten worse, but, it has been awhile. Between the sawdust burger and the vile lettuce, neither my gut nor my taste buds were happy. But the service was good.

Question 4.)

Quantity differences are the first noted. There is more here, Whole Foods on 1210 NW Couch is a far larger space, packed with a larger number and greater diversity of goods. The lighting is different, in fact comparatively People’s is almost a little dark. Perhaps it is the special corporate sheen they rub on the lamps at night? I can see it now! Organically grown chimpanzees swinging on ropes hooked to the ceiling, hairy hollering pendulums moving from one light bank to the next. This is the secret of Whole Foods success! Or perhaps not, but it does serve as a pointedly visual distinction on the different levels of capital invested into the two buildings.

I have never seen conventional produce at Peoples. It’s there at Whole Foods, they label it, they label the origin of all their produce. In fact, as Pollan mentions in Chapter Nine of Omnivore, the place is bursting with all sorts of flowing food prose. Just as Pollan makes jokes of writing hunter porn in his chapter on pig hunting (p. 334-363), this place was awash in food porn. Peoples has signs describing their produce, labeling its origin, but it is a far more informational sign found upon the rows of Peoples, they don’t have a staff of English majors selling their food.

Meat is another glaring obvious, Peoples is very much a niche grocery store. Whole Foods is more a one stop sorta place. There is also a sea food counter, hot deli, freshly baked pizza, and a coffee stand in the corner. There is more available at Whole Foods, but it isn’t always organic, and the origins of every item in the store are not always posted. There is a fair amount of processed food in Whole Foods, even if most of it does seem to be organic.

The prices at Whole Foods seemed a little higher on produce, however they offer a variety of lower cost items such as shampoos and things of which Peoples only carries high end. Whole Foods also carries cards, flowers, and a few other “gifty” type items I haven’t seen at Peoples.

The money is more ostentatious at Whole Foods. I am very sure that has to do with location, but also image. Whole Foods constantly seems to be selling itself while Peoples is selling food. That is the biggest difference I noted. Whole Foods is big organic, buying from the large corporate organic farms. While Peoples is small organic, buying directly from the smaller organic farmers, I trust this store far more. And it’s because as all right as Whole Foods is, they don’t have a sign for people who eat raw, I don’t see brochures about the farmers they buy from, and I don’t see flyers about gluten free items. There seems to be a lot more attention to detail, and care for the market, inherent in the things Peoples does.

Group Project Proposal

Question 1.)

What is in food? What is in my food, or yours? Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006, p. 63) writes that both of the major companies involved in corn production, a vegetable Pollan (p.18) states is to be found involved in the majority of American food products, declined to speak with him. Black Gold, a film by Marc and Nick Francis (2006), lists that Starbucks, Nestle, Sarah Lee, and Proctor and Gamble, the four largest coffee buyers in the world declined interview for the Francis’ documentary. Super Size Me, a film by Morgan Spurlock (2004) shows repeated scenes where McDonalds stonewalled his attempts at an interview. Read the back of any package label of any common supermarket food, the multisyllabic maze presented begs for a linguistics expert much less a scientist. It is this barrier our group wishes to pierce, and in a very simple manner.

The systemic asymmetrical information existent within the food market is unnecessary. Not all food is heavily processed, or processed that far away. The only problem is finding such alternative foods. It is the aim of this Capstone project to lighten the burden of fellow PSU students who wish to pierce the veil, and seek out (no not bold new life forms) businesses providing a different, perhaps more sustainable, perhaps more organic, perhaps simply more healthy sort of food. Carlo Petrini, in his work Slow Food Nation (2005, p.180), argues that people should take the time to meet the people who produce their food, to do their own shopping, to actually take the time to cook their own meals. Petrini’s argument maintains that by spending the time to familiarize ourselves with the entirety of the world our food comes from, we shall in turn familiarize ourselves with the world we live in, enriching our lives.

Karl Marx in his Volume One of Capital (1876, p. 166) teaches that the commodity serves as a type of middleman between individuals denoting their social relationship via the exchange of the goods each individual produces. Samuel Fromartz, Organic Inc. (2006, p.30), writes that if there is a portion of American farming that can be considered a free market, it is organics. Thusly the only honest relationship an eater of food can have with a producer of food is one involving direct exchange. Pollan (2006, p. 295) notes that the “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” or the anxiety of eating, is an anxiety of choice, choice in a very complex and myriad food market that is highly indirect and difficult to decipher.

Works Cited

Black Gold, Marc and Nick Francis (2006)

Fromartz, Samuel. Organic, Inc. Natural Foods and How they Grew. Orlando, Florida: Samuel Fromartz 2006

Marx, Karl. Penguin Classics, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume One, New York: New Left Review 1976 [1867]

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, New York: Penguin Books 2006

Petrini, Carlo. Slow Food Nation: Why our Food should be Good, Clean, and Fair. New York: Rizzoli Ex Libris 2007

Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock (2004)

Question #2.)

The position of food cooperative system is to provide the best, most wholesome food available while building community and a sustainable local economy. Moreover, food cooperative system promotes healthy connections to our bioregion and the earth. Actually when I shopped at People’s, I could find People’s specialties that other grocery stores doesn’t have such as conscious product selection, mindful business practices, and the fulfillment of cooperative principles. In particular, People’s have 8 member benefits:

Excellent buying guideline – they sell healthy food such as local, organic, no preservatives, no color, no trans fat.

Patronage refund – members can get back a percentage of the money they spend at People’s.

True Democracy – members vote in board of director’s election.

Opportunity to participate – Hands-On-Owner program (people who volunteer in the store can get discount.)

Free yoga class – 4 times a week at People’s community room

Supporting business – discounts at over 40 participating business including restaurants, bike shops, health care providers

Special discount – members only 5% discount vouchers. Coupon books and newsletter

Practice cooperation – member strengthen the Co-op movement, sustainable business practices and local food system.

Furthermore I noticed People’s offer many vegan options, as well as alternatives for those with allergies or nutritional preferences. And their year-round farmers market plays a big role as a community gathering place in terms of that customers buy foods directly from the producers.

Question 3.)

A research strategy for investigating the problem you have identified, including:

a) Your methodology – how you will study the problem identified.

We plan on investigating and identifying any areas on campus that provide information on the benefits of organic/local whole foods and where students can purchase them. Additionally we will search for any information provided around campus on why the industrial food chain should be avoided if at all possible.

b) Your theories about what you would expect to find from your study-

We predict that there will be no sources providing this type of information, aside from that implicitly furnished by Food for Thought café. Therefore, we seek to expand the amount of explicit information available to students by creating a display on a large (approximately 7’ x 4’) bulletin board at Food For Thought providing information on the location, products, services, and benefits available to co-op members at People’s, Food Front and Alberta Food Co-op – including how to get to each store from PSU.

c) Timeline – steps your group will take to research and conclude project, including particular student responsibilities

1) Gather information on coops – including directions from PSU, possible reciprocal discounts for students/coop members, how much membership costs and benefits of becoming a member; community events sponsored by or held at each coop; sample market basket price of groceries at each coop; unique local goodies carried by each store, as well as the selection of goods available for those with specific dietary needs (i.e. gluten free or vegan items). Sage will gather information and take pictures at Alberta Food coop, Aya will do so for People’s, and Travis will for Food Front.

2) All group members will participate in creating an informational and entertaining display for the bulletin board.

3) Sage will investigate the possibility of Food for Thought purchasing produce from the same local farmers that People’s uses. If FFT can purchase local produce from these farmers, we will consider using part of the display board for posting farmer profiles as well.

d) The form of final presentation that will most clearly communicate your findings

We feel that a power point presentation will be most adequate to share the results of our project. It will also be supported by a 1-3 page summary of our findings.

e) The final product that you will have accomplished by the end of the term:

The most tangible product will be the display board at FFT. Also, it is possible that we will have initiated producing purchasing by FFT of produce sold by local farmers.

Question 4.)

Me, Myself, the not so humble I, shall focus on a thing or two. One of the portions of the billboard will be a map of Portland; I have offered to design it. My focus being on how to convey the information I want the casual passerby in a manner that is as cheap as possible for them to digest. Thinking of information in terms of visual stimulus and from there deciding upon the right balance, easy to read and informative, not boring would also be a huge plus.

Beyond this, I will need to collect flyers and promotional material from Food Front, located in NW, as well as take numerous pictures, and the marking of prices and available selections found at the store. In general brainstorming on ways to give people an idea what these places are, what they are about, and most practically- how to get to them.

Question #5.)

Inquiry and Critical Thinking: Will be used during of the design of the project. As we work within a limited space deciding what stays and what goes in the visual presentation, also how to best structure the updating events portion of the billboard so that it is easy to use for people posting the information as well as people trying to take away or read the announcements. The discussion of our research, what kind of data we collect on each of the cooperatives, how we collect it- I believe that fits well with Inquiry.

Communication: It is a group project; we will have to communicate. I feel that the success of any endeavor relies on the ability of those involved to best work together. That demands communication, and also that we have at least one or two discussions on how we communicate, be it from the basics like trading email addresses, to follow up discussions making sure we are all communicating in ways that make sense to one another, that everyone feels involved and heard.

The Diversity of the Human Experience: Relates in that we are presenting information on outliers. Cooperatives aren’t exactly your run of the mill business model. Also our focus is to help diversify the food choices available at PSU. By better informing the student population about the options available to them, we help strengthen the number of choices they have on where to shop. There is a different kind of experience going on in the cooperatives than you see in a lot of mainstream society; the rest of PSU should have a chance to check it out.

Ethics and Social Responsibility: Cooperatives work towards the sustainable development of their communities. By helping spread the word on these places, we help spread the word on the principles they hold. It is our responsibility to know the goals of these places before we promote them. That’s true with anything, anytime you promote a thing; you are responsible for knowledge of that thing. The entire focus of this course has been to generate awareness on the social responsibilities we have as the consumers of food products. By trying to get people to shop at places that are more socially aware of the consequences of food production we further awareness of the ethical and social issues related to food.