When looking at how a society fills its basic need, one can easily compare the various ways the community gets its food. Observing the prices, general feel, and interactions between customers and employees at three different types of food markets gives a general sense of the motivations behind how people make their food decisions. For my ethnography, I chose to look at Meijer, Whole Foods, and a local farmers market in Okemos.
Meijer was the food experience that I was most familiar with. The prices were moderately low compared to the two other locations. The prices here were the most inclusive due to how low they were, and they also accepted food stamps. They clearly put their value in quantity while still maintaining basic quality standards. People there acted distant and were dressed in a variety of ways, including everything from business suits to pajamas. Employees seemed willing to help, but only if called upon, and various mechanisms were put in place to avoid the need of employee help, like store maps, many different signs, and price check devices. If one were to assign a motto to the experience of a supermarket like Meijer, it would be “Get your stuff and get out”.
Wholefoods, on the other hand, was an “experience” (as later described by my roommate). The staff there maintained the thin line between involved and intrusive. Price wise, it was more expensive than Meijer. They did not appear to accept food stamps, but on later research, I learned they did, but they didn’t advertise it. What stuck out the most to me about this location were the customers. Almost all of them appeared to be white, middle class, 20-30 year olds who were in good physical shape. I came away from Whole Foods shocked at how much I spent. Everything in Whole Foods you could pick up and eat while walking around the store, and simply pay for it later. This caused me to end up spending far more than I anticipated merely because I could consume lots of items, while not having to consider the impact on my budget.
The farmers market was by far the most interesting, and simultaneously infuriating, location I visited. The food was the most expensive at the farmers’ market. There was slightly more variety in the customer base when compared to Whole Foods, but not nearly as much variety as Meijer. The part of this experience that I found irksome was the customer and farmer interaction. They were exceptionally personal and they came off as very pushy. When discussing the products available at a lady’s stand, she was exceptionally blunt and demanded to know if I was going to buy her product. Her directness shocked me so much, I ended up buying a “stuffed cookie” I did not want, and some banana bread that I was unsure if I wanted to buy.
When looking at the shopping experience as a whole, what impacted me the most was the “bang for the buck” factor, not in the purely monetary sense, but also including the interactions and environment of the locations. Whole Foods by far had the best ratio. They were friendly wand interested, while keeping prices slightly competitive. The clientele there appeared to be mostly middle or upper class. When listening to conversations I heard buzzwords like organic or local thrown around. They appeared to care about where their food was coming from, but did not seem overly informed about the process. The farmers market shoppers were very informed about their growers. Some of the conversations I heard about didn’t sound like what I expected from a producer and a consumer, rather like friends meeting up for their weekly chat about pumpkins. The customers seemed genuinely interested in the products, and the producers were curious as to how their products were received. Recipes were discussed and people had lots of pride in their cooking. The interactions at the Farmers Market reminded me of the 1950’s attitude towards food discussed in “Something from the Oven” by Laura Shapiro. At Meijer, I was hard pressed to see any interactions between customers and employees, other than asking for product location.
When considering who the various stores included and excluded, the thing that stood out to me were how available the location was and how expensive it was. The Farmers Market was not only very expensive, but it also had a very specific location. This would pose a general hindrance for individuals who do not have transportation and often have little control over their own schedules. Obviously Meijer would be better for low income individuals because of the low prices, but one can look more in depth at why Meijer would be a better for lower class shoppers. A talked about in Food, Inc. people in lower class income brackets do wish to eat healthy foods, like those offered at all three of the locations I visited, but they find that unhealthy food, like BigMacs or soda, are cheaper and more filling. So lower income Americans would probably shop at Meijer rather than Whole Foods (due to the price) and the Farmers Market (based on price and location).
Overall it is clear that from the outside, Whole Foods advertises toward the upper or middle class, while Meijer claims to be a store for all socioeconomic ranges, and while the Farmers Market claims to be for everyone, the location and price exclude any lower class individuals from shopping there. People have access to unhealthy food that is more processed and less beneficial than homemade food rather than getting locally grown produce that would compose a wonderful diet. Clearly we have issues with how food is viewed in society when stores like Whole Foods advertise as being chic and trendy for being organic. The observations made from simply visiting and observing these stores make it painfully clear that something has gone wrong in the American food system.
Meijer was the food experience that I was most familiar with. The prices were moderately low compared to the two other locations. The prices here were the most inclusive due to how low they were, and they also accepted food stamps. They clearly put their value in quantity while still maintaining basic quality standards. People there acted distant and were dressed in a variety of ways, including everything from business suits to pajamas. Employees seemed willing to help, but only if called upon, and various mechanisms were put in place to avoid the need of employee help, like store maps, many different signs, and price check devices. If one were to assign a motto to the experience of a supermarket like Meijer, it would be “Get your stuff and get out”.
Wholefoods, on the other hand, was an “experience” (as later described by my roommate). The staff there maintained the thin line between involved and intrusive. Price wise, it was more expensive than Meijer. They did not appear to accept food stamps, but on later research, I learned they did, but they didn’t advertise it. What stuck out the most to me about this location were the customers. Almost all of them appeared to be white, middle class, 20-30 year olds who were in good physical shape. I came away from Whole Foods shocked at how much I spent. Everything in Whole Foods you could pick up and eat while walking around the store, and simply pay for it later. This caused me to end up spending far more than I anticipated merely because I could consume lots of items, while not having to consider the impact on my budget.
The farmers market was by far the most interesting, and simultaneously infuriating, location I visited. The food was the most expensive at the farmers’ market. There was slightly more variety in the customer base when compared to Whole Foods, but not nearly as much variety as Meijer. The part of this experience that I found irksome was the customer and farmer interaction. They were exceptionally personal and they came off as very pushy. When discussing the products available at a lady’s stand, she was exceptionally blunt and demanded to know if I was going to buy her product. Her directness shocked me so much, I ended up buying a “stuffed cookie” I did not want, and some banana bread that I was unsure if I wanted to buy.
When looking at the shopping experience as a whole, what impacted me the most was the “bang for the buck” factor, not in the purely monetary sense, but also including the interactions and environment of the locations. Whole Foods by far had the best ratio. They were friendly wand interested, while keeping prices slightly competitive. The clientele there appeared to be mostly middle or upper class. When listening to conversations I heard buzzwords like organic or local thrown around. They appeared to care about where their food was coming from, but did not seem overly informed about the process. The farmers market shoppers were very informed about their growers. Some of the conversations I heard about didn’t sound like what I expected from a producer and a consumer, rather like friends meeting up for their weekly chat about pumpkins. The customers seemed genuinely interested in the products, and the producers were curious as to how their products were received. Recipes were discussed and people had lots of pride in their cooking. The interactions at the Farmers Market reminded me of the 1950’s attitude towards food discussed in “Something from the Oven” by Laura Shapiro. At Meijer, I was hard pressed to see any interactions between customers and employees, other than asking for product location.
When considering who the various stores included and excluded, the thing that stood out to me were how available the location was and how expensive it was. The Farmers Market was not only very expensive, but it also had a very specific location. This would pose a general hindrance for individuals who do not have transportation and often have little control over their own schedules. Obviously Meijer would be better for low income individuals because of the low prices, but one can look more in depth at why Meijer would be a better for lower class shoppers. A talked about in Food, Inc. people in lower class income brackets do wish to eat healthy foods, like those offered at all three of the locations I visited, but they find that unhealthy food, like BigMacs or soda, are cheaper and more filling. So lower income Americans would probably shop at Meijer rather than Whole Foods (due to the price) and the Farmers Market (based on price and location).
Overall it is clear that from the outside, Whole Foods advertises toward the upper or middle class, while Meijer claims to be a store for all socioeconomic ranges, and while the Farmers Market claims to be for everyone, the location and price exclude any lower class individuals from shopping there. People have access to unhealthy food that is more processed and less beneficial than homemade food rather than getting locally grown produce that would compose a wonderful diet. Clearly we have issues with how food is viewed in society when stores like Whole Foods advertise as being chic and trendy for being organic. The observations made from simply visiting and observing these stores make it painfully clear that something has gone wrong in the American food system.