Casey interview:

1. Describe your food situation--do you cook, eat leftovers, eat out, etc?
1. Eat at home for pretty much every meal
2. Cook for myself for breakfast and lunch
3. Love that dinner is prepared
2. If you are able, could you define your food preferences? For ex. Vegan, paleo, raw, etc.
1. Omnivore---it’s pretty important for me to eat meat but im starting to care about it less
3. What are the most important factors determining your eating habits?

When cooking, mainly taste and satisfaction.

But I also appreciate that the food being bought satisfies all these requirements basically.

Except i don’t think it’s that ethical. Like sometimes we decide to go for non-organic for the sake of price.

1. Convenience?
2. Nutrition?
3. Price?
4. Taste?
5. Ethics? (food waste, carbon footprint, industrial food)
6. Does your housing situation allow you to easily satisfy these requirements? Is it restrictive?
1. How much do you typically spend on food per day? Per week?
1. 5.17 a day, factored into rent
2. Extra $10-$20 per week

Health:

5. Do you follow nutritional recommendations provided by the government?
1. No, absolutely never
2. People probably do that for me for dinner though, they follow a guideline
6. Would you change anything about the way you eat? If you could what would it be? Are you able to make this change?
1. Hmmmmm
2. I wanna eat lunch at a more well-scheduled time. Work and poor self-discipline gets in the way of me doing this.
3. Prepare more light stuff, I usually just make hearty stuff like pasta that fills me up
4. But I just feel like I’m supposed to eat light stuff. I prefer the other stuff. Bc it fills me up more and has better taste.
7. Do you feel the housing situation leads you to overeat or undereat?
1. No, it actually allows me to be super flexible with how much I want. I could overeat or undereat if I wanted. The house has nothing to do with it.
8. Do you consider yourself a healthy eater?
1. Yes
9. Whole grain or white?
1. Both. I’m thinking of bread. I like the taste of both of them. I know whole grain is “better” cause it has more nutrients, so I appreciate it for that reason. I know its better for me.
2. Ultimately, I eat whatever comes my way

Relationships:

10. How are other people involved in your food habits? Who do you eat/cook with?
1. I cook with my partner and friends a lot. My house allows me to cook with all of them easily--we’re together and we have lots of food. It’s fast, we can make something good.
2. I also cook alone-- just cause I like cooking
11. Do you feel that other people in your house and in the community respect your food choices?
1. Ya, although lots of people are critical of my laissez-faire approach to food. Some people in the house don’t feel that food should be such an easy-going decision. There should be more moral considerations involved
12. Do you feel any cultural connection to the food you eat? Emotional?
1. Cultural- yes. I eat tons of pasta cause I’m italian. I cook based on where I came from and what I grew up eating. I have pretty good flexibility here that allows me to cook based on my cultural background.
2. Emotional- yes. There are particular foods that bring me more happiness, especially if that food is connected with my past. Since food is so cultural for me, it’s also emotional. I also get together with other italian friends and the emotion is amplified.
3. Food is great excuse to hang out with other people. It’s a bonding experience.
13. What do you eat with your family? What do you eat when you are not with your family?
1. I eat WAY more when I’m with my family, and the food is way better. Not better quality, but better-cooked. I eat way more meat with my family. I eat more salad with my family. Family eating habits are healthier.

14. Do you feel comfortable/satisfied with the food situation you have? Why or why not?
1. I feel SUPER satisfied. I think it’s the best food situation I could ask for in the nation. Truly. Arguably in the world. The quality of some of the food isn’t the best (because this is the US), but given the way the system works (in the US) and the amount of food options we have available, it’s incomparable to other situations. It’s cheap, it’s abundant, I have a huge kitchen available, people are here to collaborate with. Everybody should live in the coops.