FOOD/HEALTH/ MIGRATION
Interviewee: 23 year old male, Lehman College student, "A"
Duration: ~15 minutes
Location: Lehman College campus
M: What is your age?
B: I’m 23.
M: What is your gender, what are your pronouns?
B: Male, he. He/him.
M: What is your racial or ethnic background?
B: African-American.
M: Where were you born?
B: I was born upstate Poughkeepsie, New York.
M: Do you strongly identify with your roots? Why or why not?
B: My roots? How so?
M: Your roots as in your birthplace, or maybe even culture, ancestry.
B: I’m a first generation. my parents came here from Dominica and I say you know they told me a lot about their culture and growing up in America you know I got a lot of American identity, so I identify with my roots.
M: What is your college enrollment status? So are you like a freshman?
B: I am a senior.
M: Nice. What is your job?
B: I work in the office as a college assistant.
M: How many hours a week do you work?
B: I work twenty hours a week.
M: How stressful is your occupation on a scale from 1 to 5? So 1 being barely and 5 being extremely stressful.
B: I’d say like a 2.5 maybe 2-3.
M: Do you have a lunch break?
B: No, but I don’t work enough for a lunch break.
M: Ok, are you able to take breaks and eat snacks?
B: Yes.
M: Does it interfere with your regular eating schedule?
B: Um it depends. I feel like sometimes if I eat snacks like too much snacks it’ll upset my appetite. I don’t eat as much meals as I would like to.
M: Ok, are you a US citizen?
B: Yes.
M: What about your family?
B: Yes, they are.
M: Have you migrated and if so where to and from? And migration can be anything like commuting on the train to flying abroad.
B: Like out of the country? No, Besides Dominica that was like ten years ago.
M: Do you commute? Do you use public transportation?
B: Yes I take the bus everywhere.
M: Ok, so at what times do you commute? Like during rush hour...
B: Yes, rush hour in the morning and evening usually after rush hour so it’s smoother when I go home than when I come to school.
M: Ok describe the feelings you experience while commuting. So do you feel stressed out or pretty chill…?
B: It really depends on the bus. Sometimes when I find a seat I’m not really stressed out. This morning was like especially packed and that’s the worst. people are very rude and they push and it’s very packed. It does get stressful but it’s only momentarily so I try to keep my nerves.
M: Do you eat on your commute?
B: No.
M: Do you just dislike eating on the commute?
B: Yeah, I usually just drink water on my commute, I don’t really like to eat in public.
M: How come?
B: First, I don’t like other people eating but I feel like you got your food and especially with ... like my bus and stuff. I don’t think nobody should eat, it’s basically a preference, I don’t feel as comfortable, I wanna be comfortable when I eat.
M: What foods do you like or dislike?
B: I love macaroni and cheese, I love fried foods more than I should, I don’t like avocados, I don’t like tomatoes.
M: What constrains your food choices? So personal or emotional reasons time money ...
B: I would say, access for me personally because I feel like where I live there’s not many healthy options compared to like... there’s a Popeyes Burger King McDonald’s a Wendy’s fried chicken. There’s so much unhealthy options versus healthy options but again I feel like if a person wants to eat healthy ... I can take advantage of the little resources but that doesn’t mean...
M: Yeah, where do you live?
B: Parkchester.
M: What is your culture’s cuisine like?
B: It’s a lot of meat, a lot of soups, pumpkin soup there’s usually some kind of rice and beans and chicken... Fruits as well. Passionfruit is big. Starches and meat, I guess.
M: Ok. Do you cook?
B: Very little. If I cook it’s probably like an omelette or I can make macaroni and cheese. I don’t cook much but I know how to cook.
M: Ok, do you cook your culture’s cuisine or?
B: No I can’t. Because it’s usually my parents.
M: In your experience does financial security affect how you make food choices?
B: For sure, for sure. If you’ve got money you can do whatever. I feel like if I could afford you know to eat more healthy I would eat more healthy. It’s more expensive to eat healthy, I think so.
M: Ok, how about your family’s food choices?
B: I’d probably say the same. My mother, she tries to eat healthy all the time. She goes out and gets whole wheat or whole grain or she stays away from meat... She chooses to really to spend to eat healthy.
M: Do you worry about running out of food?
B: No, no.
M: Ok. Do you consider your diet to be balanced nutritionally?
B: Definitely not. I wish it was but definitely not.
M: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to cut the size of your meals or skip meals?
B: Yes, yes. There was a time where I worked at Shake Shack and I used to eat that all the time. I used to eat that all the time and high blood pressure and the salt that runs in my family I noticed there was a point in my life where I would get up or sometimes … my head would start to spin and I was like, bro I’m like 20, I can’t be doing this, I immediately stopped eating Shake Shack. I quit two weeks. Now I don’t eat red meat or fish as much and I try to watch the salt.
M: Can you provide a story or an example of when you felt the most or least secure regarding food security?
B: There was a point when I was in high school when my pops had left his job because it was so far from him so while he was looking for a new job there was a point where we had to get food stamps, and so most of our food would come from the store or from … we really couldn’t eat out, so I felt like that was the least secure but at the same time I feel like the government really helped out with that food stamps because we were able I was able to eat a lot of cold sandwiches they offered that a lot of groceries I got so at the same time while I wasn’t secure as far as spending power what they provided for us I think was a little bit of both.
M: What is your definition of health?
B: Health is, what you said earlier, a balanced fruits and vegetables it’s a limited not a limited a proportionate portion size to your weight and to your BMI. Fruits and vegetables, watching your salt, watching your cholesterol.
M: Okay, do you have any allergies, intolerances, or health issues related to your diet?
B: No.
M: No?
B: No.
M: Ok. How would you rate your overall health? So 1 being poor, 5 being excellent, and then in between is the rest.
B: I’d say a 3.
M: Ok. How come?
B: I’d say, there was a point where I was going to the gym and I was very more fit, and I stopped so I feel like that’s the reason why, and also my diet is trash like I told you so I feel like the diet’s the most important thing the gym is good but if you don’t have a good diet then the gym isn’t doing what it should for you. So I feel like my diet is number one and the gym is number two.
M: Ok, I mean I guess you mentioned diet is probably the biggest thing to improve your health, but are there other ways to improve your current health?
B: In what way, like your physical health?
M: Like overall.
B: I think there’s other extracurricular stuff like people who smoke you shouldn’t smoke if you smoke, you shouldn’t. If you do smoke and it’s weed or something, you should smoke healthier if that’s vaping or if that’s an edible or something like that smoking on papers or smoking with tobacco that’s not good for you. Drinking, a lot of people sleep on drinking, drinking is very bad for you especially if you drink beer so eliminating beer is also good for you.
M: Ok, um, how would--
B: I’m lying, I’m lying: sleep!
M: How would you think others would rate your overall health, so like your family, doctors…
B: I went to the doctor’s recently. She said, y’know besides weight, your health. Doctor said it’s okay. Again, my doctor told me dieting too since high blood pressure and diabetes run in my family it’s good to be proactive instead of waiting till I’m 30 or 40 and develop that so you could start young. My family my mom always telling me about fried foods and stuff like that, so I’d say probably rate it 2-3 as well?
M: Do you have any current or past health problems? This could also refer to like mental health not just physical health.
B: Mmm, no, no. I wanna say, like, now that I’m understanding more about mental health there was a point, like, I was sad but I feel like now that I know the extent of depression, I used to say I was depressed but now that I’m fully aware of how bad ... I don’t want to use that word lightly.
M: Do your doctors focus more on the physical or mental components of your health?
B: I’d say in the past it was more physical but as of late like the past two years one of the first couple questions was Are you ok? Like how are you? Like besides your health how are you feeling? So I think in the age we’re getting to more and more it’s becoming more important for mental health but there’s still a lot of strides to go for sure.
M: Yeah, ok. Do you think your food choices affect your health problems in either a positive or negative way or both?
B: Both, for sure. You could tell if you have a breakfast early in the morning you’d have more energy for the day and for the days where I don’t have breakfast I’d have little sleep I could see myself crashing so sometimes it could really provide energy, and it really has a lot of effect on your day and people don’t realize that because it’s something that’s just so … if they have been eating a certain way if you could change it it’ll do a lot for your lifestyle.
M: For sure. I have two questions left. What is your perspective of Western idealizations and values regarding body image? What about your family’s?
B: I think my family um my family doesn’t idealize a certain body type I think my family’s very accepting. You know of course you want to be healthy but they understand so there’s no really expectations or standards of what you should be. As far as Western, I feel like a lot of Western culture is focused on this ideal body shape and we really I don’t want to go as far as to say fetishize it but there’s definitely a beauty standard and people try to … beauty so a lot of it is the community.
M: Ok, has the Western cultural emphasis on thinness, dieting, and exercise have clashed with your culture’s ideals of beauty and health?
B: I don’t think so. I think you know within my you know I came from an area where our self esteem was implemented so being confident with who you are and being happy with yourself as long as you’re healthy of course but I don’t ever feel like we had to feel like we want the same thing that’s just how my family just raised me so I never felt insecure about my look, if I felt insecure it’s because of the choices that I’d make and I feel like I have to make better choices for myself I never felt outside questionable.
M: Okay, cool. That’s the end of the interview, thank you.
Duration: ~15 minutes
Location: Lehman College campus
M: What is your age?
B: I’m 23.
M: What is your gender, what are your pronouns?
B: Male, he. He/him.
M: What is your racial or ethnic background?
B: African-American.
M: Where were you born?
B: I was born upstate Poughkeepsie, New York.
M: Do you strongly identify with your roots? Why or why not?
B: My roots? How so?
M: Your roots as in your birthplace, or maybe even culture, ancestry.
B: I’m a first generation. my parents came here from Dominica and I say you know they told me a lot about their culture and growing up in America you know I got a lot of American identity, so I identify with my roots.
M: What is your college enrollment status? So are you like a freshman?
B: I am a senior.
M: Nice. What is your job?
B: I work in the office as a college assistant.
M: How many hours a week do you work?
B: I work twenty hours a week.
M: How stressful is your occupation on a scale from 1 to 5? So 1 being barely and 5 being extremely stressful.
B: I’d say like a 2.5 maybe 2-3.
M: Do you have a lunch break?
B: No, but I don’t work enough for a lunch break.
M: Ok, are you able to take breaks and eat snacks?
B: Yes.
M: Does it interfere with your regular eating schedule?
B: Um it depends. I feel like sometimes if I eat snacks like too much snacks it’ll upset my appetite. I don’t eat as much meals as I would like to.
M: Ok, are you a US citizen?
B: Yes.
M: What about your family?
B: Yes, they are.
M: Have you migrated and if so where to and from? And migration can be anything like commuting on the train to flying abroad.
B: Like out of the country? No, Besides Dominica that was like ten years ago.
M: Do you commute? Do you use public transportation?
B: Yes I take the bus everywhere.
M: Ok, so at what times do you commute? Like during rush hour...
B: Yes, rush hour in the morning and evening usually after rush hour so it’s smoother when I go home than when I come to school.
M: Ok describe the feelings you experience while commuting. So do you feel stressed out or pretty chill…?
B: It really depends on the bus. Sometimes when I find a seat I’m not really stressed out. This morning was like especially packed and that’s the worst. people are very rude and they push and it’s very packed. It does get stressful but it’s only momentarily so I try to keep my nerves.
M: Do you eat on your commute?
B: No.
M: Do you just dislike eating on the commute?
B: Yeah, I usually just drink water on my commute, I don’t really like to eat in public.
M: How come?
B: First, I don’t like other people eating but I feel like you got your food and especially with ... like my bus and stuff. I don’t think nobody should eat, it’s basically a preference, I don’t feel as comfortable, I wanna be comfortable when I eat.
M: What foods do you like or dislike?
B: I love macaroni and cheese, I love fried foods more than I should, I don’t like avocados, I don’t like tomatoes.
M: What constrains your food choices? So personal or emotional reasons time money ...
B: I would say, access for me personally because I feel like where I live there’s not many healthy options compared to like... there’s a Popeyes Burger King McDonald’s a Wendy’s fried chicken. There’s so much unhealthy options versus healthy options but again I feel like if a person wants to eat healthy ... I can take advantage of the little resources but that doesn’t mean...
M: Yeah, where do you live?
B: Parkchester.
M: What is your culture’s cuisine like?
B: It’s a lot of meat, a lot of soups, pumpkin soup there’s usually some kind of rice and beans and chicken... Fruits as well. Passionfruit is big. Starches and meat, I guess.
M: Ok. Do you cook?
B: Very little. If I cook it’s probably like an omelette or I can make macaroni and cheese. I don’t cook much but I know how to cook.
M: Ok, do you cook your culture’s cuisine or?
B: No I can’t. Because it’s usually my parents.
M: In your experience does financial security affect how you make food choices?
B: For sure, for sure. If you’ve got money you can do whatever. I feel like if I could afford you know to eat more healthy I would eat more healthy. It’s more expensive to eat healthy, I think so.
M: Ok, how about your family’s food choices?
B: I’d probably say the same. My mother, she tries to eat healthy all the time. She goes out and gets whole wheat or whole grain or she stays away from meat... She chooses to really to spend to eat healthy.
M: Do you worry about running out of food?
B: No, no.
M: Ok. Do you consider your diet to be balanced nutritionally?
B: Definitely not. I wish it was but definitely not.
M: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to cut the size of your meals or skip meals?
B: Yes, yes. There was a time where I worked at Shake Shack and I used to eat that all the time. I used to eat that all the time and high blood pressure and the salt that runs in my family I noticed there was a point in my life where I would get up or sometimes … my head would start to spin and I was like, bro I’m like 20, I can’t be doing this, I immediately stopped eating Shake Shack. I quit two weeks. Now I don’t eat red meat or fish as much and I try to watch the salt.
M: Can you provide a story or an example of when you felt the most or least secure regarding food security?
B: There was a point when I was in high school when my pops had left his job because it was so far from him so while he was looking for a new job there was a point where we had to get food stamps, and so most of our food would come from the store or from … we really couldn’t eat out, so I felt like that was the least secure but at the same time I feel like the government really helped out with that food stamps because we were able I was able to eat a lot of cold sandwiches they offered that a lot of groceries I got so at the same time while I wasn’t secure as far as spending power what they provided for us I think was a little bit of both.
M: What is your definition of health?
B: Health is, what you said earlier, a balanced fruits and vegetables it’s a limited not a limited a proportionate portion size to your weight and to your BMI. Fruits and vegetables, watching your salt, watching your cholesterol.
M: Okay, do you have any allergies, intolerances, or health issues related to your diet?
B: No.
M: No?
B: No.
M: Ok. How would you rate your overall health? So 1 being poor, 5 being excellent, and then in between is the rest.
B: I’d say a 3.
M: Ok. How come?
B: I’d say, there was a point where I was going to the gym and I was very more fit, and I stopped so I feel like that’s the reason why, and also my diet is trash like I told you so I feel like the diet’s the most important thing the gym is good but if you don’t have a good diet then the gym isn’t doing what it should for you. So I feel like my diet is number one and the gym is number two.
M: Ok, I mean I guess you mentioned diet is probably the biggest thing to improve your health, but are there other ways to improve your current health?
B: In what way, like your physical health?
M: Like overall.
B: I think there’s other extracurricular stuff like people who smoke you shouldn’t smoke if you smoke, you shouldn’t. If you do smoke and it’s weed or something, you should smoke healthier if that’s vaping or if that’s an edible or something like that smoking on papers or smoking with tobacco that’s not good for you. Drinking, a lot of people sleep on drinking, drinking is very bad for you especially if you drink beer so eliminating beer is also good for you.
M: Ok, um, how would--
B: I’m lying, I’m lying: sleep!
M: How would you think others would rate your overall health, so like your family, doctors…
B: I went to the doctor’s recently. She said, y’know besides weight, your health. Doctor said it’s okay. Again, my doctor told me dieting too since high blood pressure and diabetes run in my family it’s good to be proactive instead of waiting till I’m 30 or 40 and develop that so you could start young. My family my mom always telling me about fried foods and stuff like that, so I’d say probably rate it 2-3 as well?
M: Do you have any current or past health problems? This could also refer to like mental health not just physical health.
B: Mmm, no, no. I wanna say, like, now that I’m understanding more about mental health there was a point, like, I was sad but I feel like now that I know the extent of depression, I used to say I was depressed but now that I’m fully aware of how bad ... I don’t want to use that word lightly.
M: Do your doctors focus more on the physical or mental components of your health?
B: I’d say in the past it was more physical but as of late like the past two years one of the first couple questions was Are you ok? Like how are you? Like besides your health how are you feeling? So I think in the age we’re getting to more and more it’s becoming more important for mental health but there’s still a lot of strides to go for sure.
M: Yeah, ok. Do you think your food choices affect your health problems in either a positive or negative way or both?
B: Both, for sure. You could tell if you have a breakfast early in the morning you’d have more energy for the day and for the days where I don’t have breakfast I’d have little sleep I could see myself crashing so sometimes it could really provide energy, and it really has a lot of effect on your day and people don’t realize that because it’s something that’s just so … if they have been eating a certain way if you could change it it’ll do a lot for your lifestyle.
M: For sure. I have two questions left. What is your perspective of Western idealizations and values regarding body image? What about your family’s?
B: I think my family um my family doesn’t idealize a certain body type I think my family’s very accepting. You know of course you want to be healthy but they understand so there’s no really expectations or standards of what you should be. As far as Western, I feel like a lot of Western culture is focused on this ideal body shape and we really I don’t want to go as far as to say fetishize it but there’s definitely a beauty standard and people try to … beauty so a lot of it is the community.
M: Ok, has the Western cultural emphasis on thinness, dieting, and exercise have clashed with your culture’s ideals of beauty and health?
B: I don’t think so. I think you know within my you know I came from an area where our self esteem was implemented so being confident with who you are and being happy with yourself as long as you’re healthy of course but I don’t ever feel like we had to feel like we want the same thing that’s just how my family just raised me so I never felt insecure about my look, if I felt insecure it’s because of the choices that I’d make and I feel like I have to make better choices for myself I never felt outside questionable.
M: Okay, cool. That’s the end of the interview, thank you.