Dillon Kadimi Interviews Pi Lambda Phi Brother Diego Serna Garcia

1.     Basic background information:

a.     What year/major/age are you?

Junior, psych major, 20.

b.     What ethnicity do you identify with?

Hispanic

c.     What are your gender pronouns? How do you identify?

Him, his

d.     Which of the following best describes your CURRENT social class

Working class/lower

a.              Where do you live/ what type of housing?  

I live in Berkeley in a fraternity house

2.     Describe the food situation where you live. I.e is food provided to you, do you cook for yourself, do you use a meal plan, etc.

Food is partially provided throughout most of the year every week but becomes scarce toward the end of the school semester.

3.     Do you feel comfortable with the food situation you have? Why or why not?

Yes, when there is food. But it tends to run out fairly quickly, before the weekend comes. Right now I don’t have enough money to buy food and am surviving off the bit that’s left in my house.

4.     What is most important to you when deciding what and when and where you are going to eat?

Pricing.

5.     Do you feel that other people in your house and in the community respect your food choices?

Yes.

6.     Do you feel any cultural connection to the food you eat? Emotional?

No.

7.     How important is the price of the food in determining what you will eat?

VERY important.

8.     How important is nutrition in determining what you eat?

Right under pricing; I would rather eat a cheap, non-nutritious meal, if I am low on money, than a more expensive nutritious meal.

9.     If you are able, could you define your food preferences? For ex. Vegan, paleo, raw, etc. no food preferences.

I eat anything

10.  Do you feel free to make your own food choices, or are external factors restricting you?

 External factors definitely affect my food choices. Mainly cost of food and access, in terms of geographic location. Foods tend to be more expensive on or near-campus, as opposed to eating further away from the main urban area.

11.  Would you change anything about the way you eat? If you could what would it be? Are you able to make this change?  

Yes. If I could, I’d eat more nutritiously, but it’s hard to do that when nutritious food is expensive.

12.  How much do you typically spend on food per day? Per week?  

Around 40 bucks.

13.  Do you follow nutritional recommendations provided by the government? 
     Sometimes.

14.  Do you consider yourself a healthy eater?

I would say so.

15.  Who do you eat with?

About half and half alone and with others.

16.  What do you eat with your family? What do you eat when you are not with your family?

Mainly traditional plates when I am with my family, and food of my choice when I am not.