Category Archives: Research

Flushing, Queens

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When I first got to Flushing, I did not realize how big this part of Queens was. I started out on main street where it is mostly Chinese immigrants that populated the area. Everything was in Chinese, the signs, menus, prices and the writing on the products. The thing I found most interesting about this area of Flushing was the stand of all different kinds of food, hot food, fast food, fruits, vegetables, fish and meats and a lot of things that I have never seen before. One of the mini supermarkets that I went to on Main Street had an enormous variety of Chinese candies mostly hard candies and chewable candies like starbursts shaped and flavored all differently. The drinks were even foreign to me, mostly the types of soda. The soda sold in the markets along main street and the Hong Kong supermarket are not like coca cola or sprite the colors of the drinks are even unique, there was bright green, purple, red, pink in thick glass bottles that had this little ball in the cap that had to be pushed through into the bottle so it could become carbonated. The food was not entirely strange to me. A lot of the Chinese food was the common things we see in Chinese restaurants around Staten Island, but there were a lot of things I did not recognize. The different kinds of fish cooked in various ways I have never seen before was this fish I saw at a street vendor was the whole fish just grilled on a stick.

Ten minutes away from Main Street, Flushing turns into an entirely different place. By Kissena Blvd, it becomes populated with Jewish families and a lot of Muslims. Around this area, there are only about three supermarkets that sell fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. Compared to Main Street there were markets that sold all different kinds of food everywhere. This part of Queens had mostly fast food places to eat with a couple pizzerias, one of which I went to called Valentino’s and a lot of food stands and restaurants that sold Hallah food because the area was highly populated with Muslim families. Another thing I found most interesting was the parks; there are tons of parks by Kissena Blvd. The people who live in this area hang out in the parks more often then people in my neighborhood of Huguenot does with a park being right down the block from my house. The park was crowded with all different kinds of people; some people seemed like they were just talking a walk through the park if they had nothing to do. I asked people in the parks if they had any other information about Main Street, but they all said the same thing “it’s full of Chinese people” and that’s all they had to say. One thing I found funny was that one person told me they call the area where Main Street is “chino main” because of all these Chinese people and that you can only buy Chinese food and products there.

Colonial Bread

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In Dr. Smith’s class, my classmates and I were placed into groups and we made presentations on different colonial foods. The foods that were researched were bacon, bread, beer and cider, sauerkraut, eggs (cakes and cookies), plum pudding, rum, butter and cheese. Every group did a great job explaining how their food impacted colonial America. My group discussed bread and its effect on America.

The ingredients for colonial bread consisted of flour, yellow corn meal, rye flour, yeast, brown sugar, scalded milk and water. The ingredients were mixed and placed in pans over night and were left to rise over night. The dough is baked at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about one hour. In colonial America, the women had the jurisdictions of collecting the dairy products, kneading the dough and baking them in the oven. During this time, bread did not indicate social status because it was consumed by everyone however, the food such as meat, fish, etc., indicated social class. Due to the fact that wheat was growing abundantly in New York City, bread was able to be made by many people in society. Bread was a food that accompanied every meal throughout the day.

This research project helped me realize how bread influenced America. Over the years, bread has always remained a prominent food throughout time. During history, the recipes for bread have evolved. The tools to make the bread have changed. Yet, bread has never disappeared from American culture. I always thought that bread was a unimportant food that is loosely served with every meal. After learning about colonial bread, I have gained respect for it’s importance.

Article On Spices

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I found this article while browsing the internet and thought I would share with the group. Since we’ve been talking about the importance of spices and their impact on European society, I found it to be extremely relevant. It addresses the turning point that occurred with the popularity of spices within high society. Why did they suddenly lose interest in the the very culinary accessories which had made their cuisine so elite in the past? Did they simply not like them anymore? It discusses how the colonization of India and the Americas supplied an abundance of spices and how that lead to a decline in popularity. I found it interesting because the article is saying that something so influential at the time was slowly washed away by the inclusion of the lower classes. This is a testament to the influence societal trends have within the world of food, and consequently, history. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

Food Deserts Are Everywhere

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Food deserts are something I never really thought was a problem, but after witnessing and learning about how it effects everyone in the community, it is more then just a community problem. Food deserts are most common in low income and low access communities. The USDA found out that there are nearly 23.5 million people in the US are living in food deserts and more then half of them are apart of low income families. To be considered living in a food desert you have to be more then 10 miles away from available and afordable fresh fruits and vegetables. The price of fresh fruits and vegetables in local markets or grocery stores are not cheap, instead of buying a bunch of grapes for $3 why not buy a bag of chips for only 50 cents. However, some people do not even have a choice, they can only buy those bags of chips or cookies. But with food deserts becoming more common and it being harder for families to get fresh foods it is challenging to keep a healthy diet. Not being able to afford or get to fresh fruits or vegetables caused the obesity rate to double in the past 20 years. The USDA is always trying to find new and healthy eating habits to lower the obesity rate in america but with food deserts becoming more frequent it is more challenging to have everyone try to follow their guide lines to a healthy diet.

Touring Port Richmond over the week made me see and notice things I would never get to see. There was one store that was completely empty that used to be a supermarket that now closed down. Even though there are a lot other supermarkets and farmers markets on the block that is just the first of many to close down. Instead of opening more farmer markets or grocery stores that provide fresh foods I also noticed that more and more chain fast food restaurants have been opening, in Staten Island especially there is a fast food restaurant on almost every other block. When I was on vacation this summer in Aruba, we had to pass the towns where the locals lived to get to our hotel. The airport was on the opposite end of the island so we had to drive through almost the whole island which is only 20 miles long. On the way to the hotel I noticed there was not a lot of grocery stores or farmers markets, I only saw about 3 or 4 farmers markets and 2 local grocery stores that sold fresh food. Even in Aruba there is fast food chains everywhere rather then more grocery stores.

In 2008, New York’s Mayor Bloomberg opened up the idea of Green Carts to help put an end to New York’s food deserts.The Green Cart is a stand on a sidewalk corner that only sells fresh fruits and vegetables in places with little access to them. Most of the costumers that shop at the green carts are from low income families that make under $25,000 a year. Since Mayor Bloomberg established the Green Cart over 500 permits have been issued to owners running Green Carts in New York. 350 opened in the Bronx and Brooklyn, 150 in Manhattan, 100 in Queens and 50 in Staten Island. Since the Greens Carts opened there has been a 71% report increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Food Deserts in America

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This past week in my Citizen’s Appetite RFT, my class watched a movie titled A Place at the Table (2012). This movie made me realize how many food deserts exist in the United States even though this country produces more food than it possibly needs. The standard definition for a food desert according to Oxford Dictionaries is an area where it is hard to have access to and buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. A disturbing fact that I learned is that 1/6 Americans are reportedly hungry; this results in 50 million Americans being hungry today. Every president has claimed that they would combat hunger and that we are growing as a society but, the total number of Americans reportedly hungry has risen each year. The United States sadly ranks the worst among the IMF Advanced Economy of food insecurity.

Food deserts affect many low income areas throughout the United States and many people living in these areas are either having a hard time feeding there families or they are becoming obese. This is because food deserts consist mostly of Ma and Pa shops, which rarely sell any fruits and vegetables, and fast food restaurants. These places mainly sell cheap processed food’s made from corn; this leads to higher obesity rates. Americans buy these food items because it is cheaper and also because fruit and vegetable prices have risen. Many people have to either walk very far or spend a lot of money to go to a supermarket that is out of town. These barriers lead people to buy more processed foods and their health is affected as a result of this. Research shows that not getting nutrition your first three years of your life can lead to neurological problems and many other lifelong risks such as diabetes. One last disturbing fact is that 1/3 three children born in the United States from the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes.

The movie A Place at the Table (2012)  has made me realize that not many people have access to the nutritious food that I eat every single day.  Hunger and failure to ingest proper nutrition has lead to many health issues in a country that has more than enough food to feed its entire population. As Americans in this great country we need to figure out a way reduce the number of hungry people in the United States and we find out way to reduce the amount of food deserts.