Today I made some major revisions to my Twitterive.  I realized after my conference with the professor that it needed a lot of work.  My place was still unclear and much of the story was was being told, rather than shown.  The majority of my Twitterive was just journal entries, which did not really flow well together.  Therefore, I decided to add some narrative with dialogue and description to make my story more interesting.  I also added some aspects which show the contrast of my life at Rowan to my life at home, including a to-do list for both places.   I also added a poem about the stress of college.  Also, in my original Twitterive, I focused on my relationship with Sarah a bit too much.  I realized that it wasn't exactly relevant to my story to include so much information about our relationship.  Now she is still a character in my story, but there is less information about our past.  I think my Twitterive now clearly demonstrates my disconnect to my place: Rowan.  I tried to better convey the stress I feel on campus.  I contrast this to the comfort and relief I feel at my home.  Overall, I'm very happy with the changes I made.  

    Liz and I decided to further our research about living with food intolerances by visiting both Trader Joe's and Shoprite.  We compared the two stores to see how well they accommodate invididuals with food intolerances.  Overall, we found that Trader Joe's is extremely helpful to people with special dietary needs, while ShopRite is not.  My field notes from both stores and their websites is below:

  Trader Joe's 
- Clearly labelled signs indicating gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, low sodium, etc.
- All organic items
- Had a wide variety of soy ice cream and non-dairy milks
- Had Earth Balance products- but rather expensive
- Very good prices
Website:
- Listed items that can be found in the store- vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.
- Easy to navigate

ShopRite 
- No sections labeled as gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, etc.
- Very few organic items
- Only one brand and one flavor of soy ice cream
- No Earth Balance
- No organic beef
- No organic milk
- Did have almond milk
- Staff was not helpful in finding items that were dairy-free
Website:
- No ingredients of products listed
- Information on food allergies, but no specific products listed for individual needs

The following is the final two entries of my food journal for the Collaborative Research Project:

April 11th

Breakfast
Granola bar
    -Observed in an elementary school all morning.  I grabbed a healthier snack from my apartment before I left.

Dinner
Tofu Pad Thai
    -Sometimes the caf has some good tofu options like this.  It’s probably processed and not as healthy as it sounds, but it’s the best I can get.  When they do have this, I make sure to get it.

Dessert
Mint chocolate chip ice cream

April 12
Breakfast
Frosted Mini Wheats
    - When I have time, I like to grab some cereal in my apartment.  I try to buy healthier cereals full of fiber, and low in sugar.

Lunch
Fruit Cup
    - I went for the healthiest option in between classes in the Ed. Building.

Dinner
Pizza
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli
    - Again, options in the cafeteria were scarce, so I went with some unhealthy options.  I made sure to get the broccoli so I would get something nutritional.

The following is days 4 and 5 of my food journal for my Collaborative Research Project.  Through this experience of keeping a food journal so far I've realized just how unhealthy my diet is here at Rowan.  I often skip meals, and I rarely think about the nutritional value of anything I put in my body.  This weekend illustrates this:

April 9th
Lunch
Pizza and fries
    -We ended up going to the caf in between meals, so there wasn't much else being served.
Snack
Doritos and Chex Mix
    - Most of my day was spent at a concert called Profstock on campus, so I basically went over six hours without eating.  This is what I ended up eating afterwards.

April 10th
Lunch
Apple
    - I try to keep healthy snacks like fruits in my apartment, so I grabbed one of these before I headed home for the day.
Dinner
Salad
Lasagna
    - Finally, a home-cooked meal from home.  My mom tries to feed us balanced meals with plenty of vegetables when I go home, especially because she knows all about my terrible diet at school. 

The following is days 2 & 3 of my food journal, which is part of our research for the Collaborative Research Project:

April 7th

Lunch
Egg rolls
Noodles with shrimp
Peas
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
Dinner
Chicken marsala
Peas and rice

    - I ate both lunch and dinner at the cafeteria today.  As usual, I just chose what looked most appetizing.  I made sure to get a lot of peas, because I know that I don't get as many vegetables as I should on campus.

Snack
Twix bar
    - I was in the library doing work for a few hours, so I turned to the vending machine for a late night snack.  I did not consider the nutritional value of this.

April 8th

Breakfast
Dunkin Donuts sesame seed bagel
    - I went to the art museum with a friend this morning, so we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. 

Dinner
Mac and cheese
Green beans
Egg rolls
Pizza
    - I took advantage of the buffet in the cafeteria for dinner today. I didn't really think about anything I ate, other than the green beans.  I always try to incorporate some sort of vegetable into my meal. 

Dessert
Cake
    - The cafeteria unfortunately serves dessert every single day.  Some days I can't resist, despite how bad I know it is for me.

Snack
Pistacchios
    - I try to keep healthy snacks like these in my apartment.  I try to buy things that are low in fat and calories.

Liz and I have decided to keep a food journal of what we eat for a week.  We will look at the differences in how and what we eat, as she has a food allergy and I do not.  We'll explain our thought processes (or lack thereof) before eating a meal.  Check out Liz’s blog to see the contrast in our eating habits.  Here’s my first entry:

Breakfast
Fruit cup
    -I usually grab something small like this from the Education building in between classes, if i even eat breakfast at all.  I try to choose something healthier like this, rather than a bagel or muffin. 

Lunch
Chicken sandwich with Roasted Peppers 
    -Again, I got this from the Ed. Building in between classes.  I try not to think about where this chicken comes from after watching Food, Inc., but I still eat it anyway.

Dinner
Meatloaf
mashed potatoes
Green Beans
    - I eat dinner every day in the cafeteria at Rowan.  The cafeteria is a buffet, so I usually just go for whatever looks decent that day. I never ask for nutritional information or ingredients.   

Snack
Sun chips
Reese’s eggs
    -This is the result of hanging out with friends on campus.  I clearly wasn't thinking about my health before choosing to eat these.

    Liz and I conducted our first interview this past week.  I interviewed Liz on what it’s like living with her food allergy.  This was my first time ever interviewing somebody, and it was harder than I expected it to be.  I had talked to Liz about her food allergy prior to the interview while coming up with interview questions.  This was probably a mistake because it made the interview less spontaneous.  I had already heard about much of her illness beforehand, so it felt like we were forcing conversation a bit.  I did however get some good stories from Liz about experiences she went through with her food allergy.   I was able to get a better understanding of what it’s like to live with a food allergy.  Someone that does not have one does not really understand the huge impact it has on one’s life.  It was eye-opening to talk to someone that lives with one.  

    Throughout the interview I felt as though I was relying on the set of questions I had typed up a bit too much.  The conversation ended up being somewhat choppy when I had to look at my paper to see what questions I would try to ask next.  I found myself feeling very self-conscious with the camera pointing at me as well.  Overall I think I was able to get some useful information from the interview and I was able to get a better sense of what it’s like to live with a food allergy.

Topic: Food Allergies

Primary Research Question:
What is it like to live with a debilitating food allergy?

Secondary Research Questions:
Does it prevent you from doing any physical activities?
Does it effect how you interact with people?
Does it cause a sense of embarressment for you?
How does it affect how you eat on the go?
Is it difficult to shop for groceries?

People to Interview:
Liz
Friend of Liz's

This post is in collaboration with Liz Mason

1. What types of food allergies are there?
2. How healthy are elementary school lunches?
3. What is being done to prevent childhood obesity in this country?
4. How much more expensive is it to shop for organic foods?
5. How does one know if an organic item truly is organic?
6. Is it actually healthier to become a vegetarian or vegan?
7. What are the health benefits of various diets?
8. How healthy is the food served in college cafeterias?
9. What effect does preservatives and additives have on the body?
10. How is fast food advertising geared towards younger children?

    The article "What is Oral History" gave me a good idea of all of the aspects of oral history.  Oral history is basically learning about the past through spoken word.  It can range from informal conversations with family members about the past, to recorded interviews, and more.  One section that caught my attention talked about interviews.  "The best interviews have a measured, thinking-out-loud quality, as perceptive questions work and rework a particular topic, encouraging the narrator to remember details, seeking to clarify that which is muddled, making connections..., evoking assessments of what it all meant then and what it means now."(3)  It says that a good interviewer listens carefully to the narrator, gathering information and asking tough questions.
    Chapter 3 in Brown's Like it Was: A Complete Guide to Writing Oral History  the interview process is discussed in depth.  The main points I got from it are as follows:

1. Coming up with productive questions:
Make a list of things that interest you about the person, and then create questions based on them.

2. The author stresses focusing as much as possible on listening to the narrator.

“…Listening well is much more important than consulting a list of questions, especially if your narrator wants to talk.”

But having a list made him more confident and helped  him to get a clear idea of what information he needed out of the narrator.  When making a list of questions, leave them general so that you can personalize them when actually talking to them.  Don’t just read from the paper!

3. Analyzing your questions:

Are they likely to produce boring answers?

Are they leading questions?

Get more perspectives through asking how the subjects’ parents/children/neighbors felt

If you get boring answers, ask follow-up questions

4. Practice!