What to Eat?

An Ethnography On the Issue of Eating Healthy in CSUN by Roxana Waterman

            Since the beginning of the semester each student in the class was assigned the task of an ethnography project that involved L.A. and its youth in some manner. This would generally boil down to being about something we cared about, so plenty of us had to think hard on what we wanted to focus on. For my particular ethnography project I wanted to know more about dealing with food consumption issues in urban settings. I have worked in the food industry before, and I’ve always been interested in people’s choices between healthy and unhealthy food. I also have friends who have always talked about their issues with dieting and how hard it is to do so when they constantly want to eat unhealthy food. They’ve always made it sound like it was an issue of personal control, or lack thereof, but I’ve started to think otherwise.

In urban areas, we’re often constantly tempted by fast food restaurants lining our streets and filling up our shopping centers. Universities are like microcosms of the larger city environment because of the fast-paced, high-stress lifestyles its community members practice. A college student is regularly concerned with meeting deadline after deadline of assignments, regularly trying to fit a social life around a schedule of work and school. When it comes to choosing your food, it’s never really down to what you think is best for you, otherwise a majority of people would be eating salads and there would be a serious decrease in fried food demand. Other factors work in to it: how much you’ve eaten that day, how tired you are, what your area has to offer, how much time you have to eat. As a student at CSUN I’ve known what it’s like to feel exhausted and simply wanting to eat a slice of pizza before I have to get to my next class. I’m sure other students know what I’m talking about. In my three-hour classes I’ve noticed that plenty of students come back from break with a bag of chips as their meal and the obvious reason for that is that anything else would take too long to order because we’re often only given 15 minutes tops. A meal involving steamed vegetables, for example, would not be an option. 

            Then there’s the issue of what’s actually available to you. I used to work in one of the locations at CSUN and I found that for anyone wanting a non-meat meal you might not have the best of options available to you. Say that a location has fifty options for meals, and ten of those fifty are meatless, therefore they are the only options for vegetarians. Say four of those ten are generally agreed not to sell very well because people simply don’t like them so you’re down to six. Some might say six isn’t bad, but that goes with the assumption that people looking for meatless meals would definitely like the six offered to them. Then there’s also the issue that meatless doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, so if health is your goal you’ve got even less options. After all, what happens if you’re vegetarian but don’t want to go for the cheesy slice of pizza? Or what if you would go for that if only you weren’t lactose intolerant (like I am)?

             People in modern day do their best to focus on doing what’s healthy for them. We’re in an era in which we’re trying to deal with a very fast-paced lifestyle while knowing that lots of what is available to eat isn’t good for us, but if you hardly have the time how can you really fight that? This project looks to CSUN to see just how easy or hard it is for students who wish to eat healthy here to actually do it. I know far too many people who feel stressed and irritated at the idea of attempting to diet while having so many limitations in their environment, and I think looking at the food availability rather than ideas of self-restraint and control might help some better understand how they might help themselves. I care about this kind of information because I believe that living healthy lifestyles in general is important (from the food you eat to the chemicals you put on your body) and that not enough people realize exactly why it’s so hard for them to achieve their goals when it comes to being healthy. Urban settings especially make it easier for us to take the cheap, often unhealthy route and most of us don’t have the resources or the energy to fight that. I think most students would agree that they often feel too tired to put in the effort, and I’m sure most Americans would say they’re tired and then some.

Process of Studying the Arbor Grill and The Pub Sports Grill

            Originally I had intended to observe the Sierra Marketplace instead of the Arbor Grill because of its popularity and various options, but I found it overwhelming to do on my own. It’s a much larger location than the other two (the Arbor and the Pub), so when I originally mapped it out I realized I should consider a smaller location, and that’s when I switched to the Arbor Grill because their style most resembled that of the Marketplace. My maps total out to three with the Marketplace, and then two others for the Pub and the Arbor. I have two interviews or two and a half since I asked another girl questions a bit spontaneously when I was at the Arbor once. I took inventory of the kind of food both places offered, focusing on how much and the variety. I considered price in my inventory collection, but the truth is I didn’t find that to be as much of an issue as actual taste did. I didn’t necessarily write all inventories down though- the Pub, for example, is in picture form. When people were hungry, they were willing to pay for the more expensive meals, but of course they often turned out to be the less healthy options. My notes go for about five handwritten pages in my notebook, they were mostly taken when I chose to sit down in one of the locations and simply observe people there (with special attention to their food choices). I found this to be the most enjoyable yet the most awkward because I wanted to avoid anyone noticing me sitting there watching everyone else. When you’re sitting alone as a student, chances are you’ll be absorbed in what you’re doing (eating, talking on the phone, listening to your iPod, reading a book, studying, etc.) and not in the people around you, so I would naturally stick out like a sore thumb. This is made all the more difficult when you’re sitting in the middle of an eating area in order to get a good look at everyone in the vicinity.

            The details I mentioned above about the difficulties in choosing what’s available (like having to deal with vegetarian options that taste terrible) were discovered while I was doing my fieldwork and weren’t ideas I originally had in mind when starting out. I figured at first it was just a matter of whether or not the school offered healthy choices in their eateries, but as I spoke to some people I found that even what was available was still not an option for them. One interviewee, Beth, specifically told me she thought the Veggie Burger in the Arbor was disgusting, and later another interviewee named Sandra said the same and added, “They burn the bun, and the patty is too dry.” I wasn’t originally thinking I would run into this kind of detail, so that was interesting to come across. One of my interviewees, Kevin, mentioned that he ate what he most craved, but that was only because he rarely ate out and tended to bring his own food (some fruit, a granola bar, and a sandwich- so notably healthy options). Otherwise most things went as expected. I looked at menu options and I looked at what people seemed to purchase the most, and I found my guesses to be mostly right. People often ordered what made them feel full and feel comfortable (often dependent on the time of day or the weather) and if they ordered something presumably healthy, it was the largest option they could get (a salad) and it only happened at the Arbor Grill. It definitely didn’t happen at the Pub, although I expect that since both places are so different from each other. The Pub leans more toward large meals often consisting of chicken or beef and plenty of fried foods. The Arbor has more variety, but of their 30 or so options only 3 fall under their Healthy Options heading, and as I’ve mentioned before, those three weren’t exactly popular. Aside from that, the Arbor gets a lot of business from the three shelves of snack foods it offers. This location probably offers the largest variety of snacks in the entire school.

The Importance of Atmosphere

It isn’t just the food that was different though. The spaces of the Arbor Grill and the Pub are two very different types of spaces, which is part of the reason I ultimately chose them. The Pub has the feel of, well, a pub. You can imagine what that consists of: indoors, darker lighting, spaces for several people to sit together, television and radio, lots of noise, lots of excitement even when there isn’t some kind of special sporting event going on. In contrast to that, the Arbor Grill feels more like a cafeteria of sorts. Its outdoor eating area is made up of many stone tables with attached benches spread out in a grid-like fashion that leave room for about four people to a table. Almost each table has a yellow umbrella attached on top in case the trees don’t keep out the sun enough. Music plays in the background (usually pop music) and people chatting is heard all around. There are trees shading everything and hedges to make a clear border between the eating area and the walking spaces around this location. I found the hedges to be interesting because in some areas they’re like high walls rather than low borders. On the western and southern side of it you can people-watch since they’re next to the largest walking areas, but on the northern side you have this high wall that doesn’t let you see those on the other side, which is kind of another seating area/walkway/green space (not the kind of green space for sitting, you’re likely to end up with thorns stuck to you). 

A Vignette on the Arbor Grill

During one of my visits to this area I decided to sit and simply watch the people around me to see if there was anything I could gain through simple observations that might shed some light on my questions: I'm sitting in the outside eating area of the Arbor Grill. It's one of those somewhat chilly days, although it's been a week in which the weather can't decide what temperature it wants, so plenty of people are walking around in clothing that would've been appropriate yesterday, but not today. I'm sure many are regretting not bringing a sweater. I'm looking a pair that is sitting diagonally from me across the eating area. I can't hear what they're saying, but I can somewhat tell what they're talking about. I don't think they're a couple, something about their body language is too relaxed without any romantic undertone. They lack self-consciousness; there aren't any flirty smiles exchanged or anything like that. They're both eating, him eating a burger and her eating a personal pizza. He's leaning back, chewing as he listens to her talk. She's leaning her head on one hand, with her elbow on the table, the other hand is gesturing with a small pizza slice in it as she talks. She keeps gesturing toward him, as though she's giving him advice on something, and he's nodding his head as though agreeing. At some point, he leans forward and puts his hands on the table, palms up, as if to say, "Well, so this is the problem." He talks without interruption, and by the exasperated look on his face, you can tell his problem is big to him. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with her because there's nothing defensive or upset in her own body language. She's got one of her arms over her upper legs now, like she's cold, but mostly she's just listening intently.

They seem intent on eating quickly, as though they hadn't eaten in hours and they finally now get to satisfy their basic needs. Many people in the area are eating like that, many also have Freudian Sip cups in their hands-- not on the tables, but in their hands, presumably because of the warmth coming from whatever hot drink they've chosen. In fact, plenty of foods out here seem to be hot foods. There aren't many salads to be seen.

Despite this being an eatery, the chill in the air doesn't allow for there to be many food aromas. You can smell a sort of “coldness” in the air, or rather you can feel the coldness through your nose, without much of a scent attached to it. It's the kind of uncomfortable day in which you just want something hot to eat, something comforting. It's no wonder I see so many personal pizza boxes around me. What options can students really have when the weather alone will push them toward unhealthier choices? Does this mean that the healthier choices don't offer much comfort on uncomfortable days? Curling up with a salad isn't the same as curling up with a cup of hot chocolate, after all. But there are comforting foods out there, they're just not available here from the looks of it. 

Thing come off very differently in The Pub Sports Grill. In the Pub it seems that people are there more in the evenings to relax after a day of classes or studying. You see larger groups sitting together ordering large meals and talking very loudly and excitedly. At the Arbor they seem to go at all hours to simply grab something to eat, or in some cases, just to study. You’re more likely to see couples or trios, and several people entirely by themselves. It makes me wonder about the privacy of their homes that they choose to be solitary in such a public location- or alternatively the distance of their homes, since they may be waiting for their next class to start and nothing more. I have the image of one girl stuck in my head because she was sitting not far away from me highlighting passages in a massive textbook, all the while I was thinking that the music sounded very loud from where I was sitting. Alternatively, for the Pub I have stuck in my head the image of a guy wearing a baseball cap eating from a large plate that had a very delicious looking burger and a side of fries while talking with a group of about five other people. All the while I’m eating a tiny cold salad wishing I had ordered that burger instead. 

Comfort In Food and the Value We Place on It

From talking to people about the food choices in the school, it seemed that people were generally happy with things like pizza and Chinese food and all the other basic things, however when it came to the “healthy options” several repeated the same idea that those options weren’t very good. Personally, I tried a “healthy” option in both locations. In the Pub, the only option specifically labeled Healthy Option was a cold salad in a container about three inches wide, three inches deep. It was not comforting after a long day of classes, and it was not filling in the least. At the Arbor Grill I chose to try their salmon fillet and was disappointed by the small serving size (and a little confused at the side of spaghetti they add to it). In fact, I decided to wait till I got home to add some rice to it, although I’m not sure that many students have the luxury of living nearby. It was no wonder to me that the pizzas sitting in the heated area in the corner were going so quickly; they’re just a more satisfying meal even as mini pizzas. When I got my food a part of me even wondered if I should just grab a box of pizza regardless of having already spent money on something I’m not happy with, but I told myself not to be lazy and just walk home. Again, not all students have that luxury.

            I wonder how much The University Corporation, the corporation that runs these eateries, considers the demographic of those wanting to eat more healthily. While this is not a focus of my ethnography, it should be noted that the Marketplace installed a salad bar not long ago as well as a taco bar. It seems that they took the time to consider that many people in this community would enjoy mainstream Hispanic food, but also that people wanted healthier options. The Arbor is also aware of the healthy option aspect because they dedicate on section of their display to a display of making salads when people come to order them. It reminds me of Maria Peterson’s observations of the Grand Performances group and their attention to demographics. This group specifically accounted for different ethnic groups in certain areas of L.A. and in their audiences in order to study how to attract more of each. Peterson notes that, “Recognition of ethnic groups in the audience provides a means of evaluation of success or failure in drawing the desired audiences” (p. 52, Sound, Space, and the City, 2010). We’re talking capitalism here, after all, so I would imagine that food supply in these eateries would work in the same way as this example. In lieu of ethnic groups you have groups that are concerned with healthy eating, and the evaluation of their success or failure would work through observations on how often people order their “healthy options”. From my own questioning, it seems they don’t sell very well, although the market is there for them. I would say that TUC would be heavily rewarded in looking into healthy eating more closely, as it seems salads, a widely perceived healthy option, are popular with people looking for something better than fried chicken strips. As of now, they’re somewhat failing in drawing desired consumers.

Creating Change

            When trying to create change though, it’s best to look at what makes it possible and what makes it impossible to do so in this kind of scenario. It isn’t always loud protests that create change, sometimes change happens in ways people hardly ever consider. We just have to think about what might make this case so particular. Setha Low discusses the importance of public spaces for democracy in her book, On the Plaza, explaining that, “Without these significant central public spaces, social and cultural conflicts are not clearly visible, and individuals cannot directly participate in their resolution” (p.240, 2000). She’s making a point about architecture of a plaza in Costa Rica, an issue that had a lot of cultural and political meaning embedded for the people involved. The space itself allowed for people to create all kind of protests against changes, but it made me think of the fact that so many other spaces in Los Angeles, for example, don’t make themselves available to that even though their greatest interest is in attracting the favor of the public. Of course we cannot claim these eateries are “ours” in the same way a cultural group in Costa Rica can claim their plaza is “theirs”, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from professors, especially in the Institute for Sustainability, it’s that becoming aware of our own ability to change things in this school is key to ever making anything happen our way. In fact, I recall a time in which a professor mentioned an attempt to bring a Farmer’s Market to the school, but the idea was squashed because not enough students were backing the plan. It would certainly work as a kind of protest to have a regular event in which we all gather around the idea of healthier or more sustainable food. If the TUC saw that this was getting high amounts of demand, it would certainly make them re-consider simply having cold salads as some of their best options.

            My point here though is that it isn’t easy for us to form the same kind of protests present in Setha Low’s ethnography. While at times the protests were just what we pictured, people loudly demanding change in large groups, at other times they were simply discussions informally held on the plaza over the changes being proposed and the changes already made. Vendors were particularly alienated in this plaza, yet at least one returned after being granted permission from the municipality because of his appearance on news channels explaining his situation. Setha Low’s ethnography might shed some light on how we could go about demanding better healthy food options here at the school and in the larger Los Angeles area. The situations are quite different, but we can always find parallels that might help. We are not so deeply attached to these eateries, maybe not even so deeply attached to this school, so it’s not as easy for us to be passionate about creating change unless it means lowering student expenses. If we made silent protests in the form of bringing our own food to the school, chances are TUC would not notice, although the entire time they’d still be talking about better ways to make people spend more money in their locations. 

However, if there were more verbal complaints or even simple commentary where managers can notice them, then we might be forming a kind of protest that isn’t an easily dismissible spectacle like a large scale, all-out protest would be. These locations tend to have little boxes on one wall in which you can add feedback, but not every one of them does. And even if they did, these forms of feedback are not as impactful as simply mentioning to the chef (my order was taken by one at the Arbor) that you wish there were more healthy options on the menu. It seems very bold for many people, but if enough people do this it would be impossible for a chef, or a manager, or an employee to not take notice. We have to remember that their greatest concern should be over consumer demand. A capitalist organization often takes advantage of people’s wants even if it’s not best for them, but it is still subject to what people want when they have finally decided what they think is best for them. In other words, you can let the market take advantage of you, or you can take advantage of it. This is not to say I think we should all rally now head over to both locations, the idea here is to simply consider the options in more latent forms of protest.

Conclusion

At the end of my observations it was interesting to find that the issue here wasn’t necessarily lack of availability, but rather a lack of good options from the already existing options. There’s also this detail of the exhaustion of youth and their need for possibly instant gratification through food after a stressful day of schooling. I would think this is the largest factor in which it’s so difficult for most people, especially youth, to eat the way they want to eat and thus have the kind of healthy life they want to have. How can you say not to a hot slice of pizza when you just took an exam that has been stressing you for weeks? Would you really want the veggie burger with the dry patty and burned bun instead? That is not to say that these are the only reasons people eat unhealthily. Especially in the larger city, we’re constantly bombarded with other factors like advertisement, cost, habit, social influence, etc. For example, if a group of your friends say they want to go eat at the Pub, how willing are you going to be to say that you’d rather go home and make yourself a nice bowl of steamed vegetables? Even when we don’t have the money, we still scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to join a social group we’re attached to. There are few people I personally know (and coincidentally there are some I interviewed) that will strictly eat a certain type of food because they are very much invested in controlling what they do and don’t eat.

In the future, when I think of people’s eating habits, I’m likely to make fewer assumptions over their ability to control themselves, or the simple factor of temptation. There’s a lot that goes into the final decision of, “That looks good, I think I’ll get that”. I’ve known before that it was never so simple, but it’s almost depressing to think that even attempts to care to this kind of audience have not been entirely successful. It’s damaging in a way that we might not consider, especially if food locations simply assume that the issue here is not that their food isn’t appealing but that the amount of people wanting healthy food just isn’t large enough. We should hope that these locations don’t think exactly that, otherwise efforts to live healthily will become slower and weaker as time goes on. The youth of this city don’t have the energy to push this kind of agenda if they have obstacles like low sale numbers against them. At least I don’t think they have the energy for large scale protests that often require sacrifices on their part (not attending classes, for example, although I’m sure some don’t see that as a sacrifice) so it may be time for them to consider alternatives to getting what they want.

Bibliography

Low, Setha, 2000. On the Plaza: The Politics of Public Space and Culture Austin, TX, Texas University Press.

Petersen, Mariana, 2010 Sound, Space and the City: Civic Performance in Downtown Los Angeles. Philadelphia, PA:  Uni. of Pennsylvania Press.