Part 2: (topical) background and setting for field research

[what I know/learned about the topic, and the setting for the ethnographic research (which will be presented in Part 3)]

I was “enculturated” (a euphemism, as Krissman said in Wk 1, for “brainwashed”) from birth by my parents, community, and society to believe without a second thought that my culture (or better said, subculture [“white,” working class, male, “straight,” Californian, Jewish, etc.]) is superior in every way to all others (Moodle, Wk 5, Beliefs and Values define Culture). 

Fired from UCLA, tried for murder, & now at UCSC

All peoples in every culture raise their young via enculturation, although some societies are much more tolerant and others much less so than the USA (see, for example, Moo's fall break links). However, when I observed negative aspects of my culture (including racism, sexism, domestic and international violence, and homophobia), and as I learned about many other unpleasant aspects of our nation's history, I experienced increasing “cognitive dissonance.” Like most curious individuals, I began to look for alternative explanations for why "my" world is the way that it is...

Why do so many humans try to alter their consciousness?

Student, minority, and pop culture activists at the time helped me to reconsider my culture from other points of view. The radical nature of the popular culture of that time, including the widespread use of psychotropic drugs, likely played a role in helping me toward my "vision quest" of a better world. Of course, the use of intoxicants and other methods to alter the everyday state of mind is common in cultures around the world (exs, a Crow man discussed in RCA, 53; the Yanamamo and Chagnon snorting ebene in the Wk 3 Moo; &, the Moody Blues, singing about searching for a Lost Cord by a variety of means, including tripping with LSD guru and former Harvard psychology prof, Timothy Leary).

As a part of my early indoctrination, I had been led to believe that capitalism is the best, “right,” and “natural” economic system for all of humanity. Imagine my surprise to discover that foragers (C&C, ch 10; RCA, 33-35) in the Kalahari Desert can live long, healthy, and peaceful lives without markets or money, and by sharing everything with one another instead of hoarding as much as possible for themselves. Or, that social stratification, and increasing inequalities are rooted in growing population sizes/densities anywhere in the world, and not merely an evil invented by Western civilizations. However, Euro-centric nations have taken this evil to its most extreme due to the fortuitous interdependent development of "3 isms" (imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism) in an increasingly single "globalizing" world-system during the past 500 years (Krissman, Wk 11). It was also in the last half millenium that the vast majority of the world's cultures were decimated via ethnocide at best, and genocide all too often (Krissman, Wk 1).

Kalahari hunters sharing the meat harvested in their "garden"

Until about 8 to 10,000 years ago, all humans shared what they had with their families, friends, and neighbors; until a few hundred years ago, the peoples of most cultures continued to do so (Krissman, Wk 4 lecture)! 

It is only in recent times (RCA, 38, 48) that:

•          advanced industrial technologies produce more food with fewer workers, yet the number of poor and hungry earthlings has exploded, from 500 million people in 1950 to 3 billion (about half the population of the planet!) by 2000;
•          the USA, although the largest economy on the globe, has the lowest life expectancy and highest income inequality of any industrialized nation;
•         the industrialized food system refined by America and exported around the world, expends 8-12 calories (mostly in nonrenewable petroleum) for every calorie of food consumed, an obvious example of an environmentally unsustainable economy; and,
•      the world's few most powerful nations have systematically undermined sustainable and equitable cultures around the world for short-term economic and political advantage (C&C, Ch 17).

Will we allow our society to implode like the classic Maya (Moo, Wk 3, Collapse and deforestation), wracked by internal divisions, external wars, and environmental devastation just so the most powerful few in the culture can accrue evermore wealth? Will the low wages and marginal status given to too many workers continue to make the illegal drug and sex trades preferable options to many young people (C&C, Chs 23 and 4)? I think Americans can construct a better system, but need to become more aware of our real problems and consider alternative solutions (C&C, 244, 245). 

I strive to make sense of the disparities between what I have been taught and what I have found out about the world in which I live… A look at Californians that don’t get enough to eat (mostly children!) may help explain the actual nature of our economic system. The Food for People website has a lot of information and numerous photos about the facility, its history, staff, volunteers, newsletters, and programs, as well as how and why every good citizen should donate time, food, and/or cash to our county’s official food-bank. I am discussing Food for People from a volunteer’s viewpoint…

Outdoor mural and window into pantry

In addition to being the food-bank for seventeen local food distribution sites throughout Humboldt County, Food for People has 12 different programs that provide food to walk-in “shoppers,” people that experience food emergencies, seniors, children, the homebound, and many others. As noted in Moo (various links in Wk 10), there is a growing problem of wealth inequalities, so Food for People is a local illustration of the huge need for even the basics of life –  decent housing, adequate education, affordable healthcare, and ample healthy food – by up to half the planet’s human inhabitants.

Both governmental and non-State sources contribute support to Food for People. Because of diverse private and public donor mandates, every client’s household size and income earnings must be determined before they can shop in the  pantry. Federally subsidized foodstuffs, for example, are provided only to those that are below a specific income level for a given household size, while the private donors allow those with slightly higher incomes to recieve non-Federal foods, including a limited amount of fresh fruits and veggies.

Food for People has intake interviewers that try to identify each client’s overall household resources and needs, and all available assistance to get those needs met. There are scarce but still existent public and private resources available to help some obtain low-cost healthcare, childcare, housing, and job training (RCA, Chs 3 and 7). The interviewers provide referrals to various country programs to eligible clients.

Intake interviewers also find out if clients have dietary restrictions or lack cooking facilities. These issues may lead to adjustments in the types of foods that clients are provided. As the Director of Volunteers explained it, “The interview is a chance for us to touch base with those that come to the pantry, and to make sure that we’re serving them to the best of our ability.” I shifted from a shopper’s helper to an intake interviewer a few months ago, which has put me more in touch with the diversity and immensity of the economic and other problems many of our clients face… It amazes me to see how many of my neighbors survive on so little!

After intake, each client is introduced to a shopper’s helper. The helpers are given a laminated card that has been filled in by the interviewer. This "shopper's guide" lists all of the categories of food for which the shopper is eligible. These categories include federal surplus goods of various types, fresh fruits and veggies, and canned, packaged, and wrapped goods from dairy, grain, and miscellaneous categories. The amounts and types of food each shopper receives are also determined by the stock on hand when the shopper comes to the pantry.

The Food for People food pantry

At least 3 shoppers' helpers and 2 intake volunteers are on duty during pantry hours, and are usually kept busy. After intake the helpers escort the shoppers around the racks and coolers that contain the items that are available. Many specific items (especially the fresh veggies and fruits) vary by the season, the day of the week, and even the hour of the day. New food items are constantly flowing in via various sources, after which they are sorted, weighed, and put out on the racks, table, and coolers by volunteers. Of course, items also run out as shoppers select the items that they want.

Warehouse volunteers sorting produce for Food for People

Due to the high demand for food – Food for People serves 12-15,000 people a month (!) – individual shoppers only get to shop in the choice pantry once a month. Due to federal guidelines a shopper usually gets enough food on each monthly visit to supply about a week of their household’s total monthly needs. And, it's not that the food-bank doesn't bring in much food to distribute; last year Food for People put 1.2 million pounds of edibles into clients' hands! A separate program allows clients to return once more each month for an “emergency box” (and fresh produce) that has a few days of extra meals. These boxes are put together with the recipient’s individual and household needs in mind. Finally, there are racks with free breads and bins with free produce that anyone can come in and take daily, although the quantities that each walk-in can take from the free area are usually limited.

I will describe the training, highlight experiences as a volunteer intake interviewer and shopper's assistant, and profile clients with both ethnographic and demographic data in Part 3. This post will provide the bulk of my ethnographic research. Stay tuned!