Extra Credit: Autoethnographyof Food and Family
(1-3 pages, double spaced, 12 point font due by email by September 11, 5 pm.)

An autoethnography is not simply an autobiography, in it you tell a story about your life – in this case your ‘food life’, with a heightened awareness of your social and cultural embeddedness: in a family, a home, neighborhood, school, ethnicity(s), possibly religion and more. An autoethnography connects the autobiographical and personal to the cultural, social, political and economic. Your writing can be informal. Let your own voice come through Use “I”.

1. Your family and food.
Do you or your family have a history of farming, gardening, restaurant, cooking, food business, nutrition? Raising chickens, beekeeping, canning, fermentation? What other skills do you or family members have with regard to food? Which of these have you learned or plan to learn?

What are (or were) the main and subsidiary roles and responsibilities for providing food, shopping and cooking in your family home? What about in your current household (if different)? Are there gender or age-specific roles? How do the individuals feel about their roles? Do they get pleasure and satisfaction?Is it a burden?

Are (were) there special meals for special occasions? What happens in the kitchen? Whose province is it; on what occasions? Are there times when it’s a gathering place for meal preparation? What pleasures and tensions?

What about food access and affordability: where does your family (and/or current household) get its food, both uncooked/ingredients and prepared? Grocery stores, gardens, markets, family, neighbors (casual economy) fast food trucks, vendors, restaurants, SNAP CalFresh, school meals, Meals on Wheels, church/community food programs? What is the proximity to home of your food? How do you get there? How long does it take? Can you get good, fresh, food near home? Culturally, emotionally satisfying? What do you wish you could get more easily? Can you afford to buy the food you’d like to eat?

2. Cultural connections.
Food connects us to our roots, history, traditions. What about the religious, cultural, “heritage” background of your food? What feasts, fasts and celebrations play or played a role in your home? What about food rules, for example halal or kashrut?

3. Your personal relationship with food.
How well do you think you eat? Do you get the nutrients you need? What would be an ideal personal food picture for you? What criteria do you use to evaluate? Are you a vegetarian, vegan, raw food eater? Optional: What food-related allergies, illnesses, eating disorders, experiences with weightor body image have you experienced?

What are some of your favorite foods to eat? To cook? Are there foods you crave from home when home is far away or when you’ve moved to a new place? When there are ingredients you need to make a favorite dish that you can’t find locally, how do you solve the problem?

Think about experiences you had with food as a child. What memories do you have of shopping, cooking, eating? Were there family foods that embarrass(ed) you or that you are/were proud of. What about mealtimes? Who ate together, on what occasions and what was the mood/conversation at the table?

4. Food-related interests or passions.
What interest and involvement do you have in food politics and food policy? Have you been involved in community service related to food, hunger, nutrition? What food-related interests, anxieties, skills and accomplishments do you have that you haven’t mentioned so far? What you are especially interested in learning about or going deeper intothis semester? Is there a dish, skill or passion you would like to share with this class?