Introduction

I finally have a bit more time in my life that I know I could keep a relatively consistent blog for myself and, more importantly, for my work.

Being raised by a 100% Italian mother made food an important part of my everyday life.  Whenever we had company over she was always offering them food or beverage, and there was always enough food for unexpected dinner guests.  Going beyond just having a love for food, both of my parents could be considered “hippies” in the sense that they never allowed us to have high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or hydrogenated oils in our household.  Luckily I still was able to enjoy this healthier food and didn’t find it too restricting – something that could have influenced a major rebellion toward junk food (although I will admit that I often tried to trade my fruit leathers for my friends pre-packaged snacks at lunch).  Moving to Ithaca, NY to attend Ithaca College for undergraduate study only worked to solidify my relationship with “healthy” food because of the extensive food consciousness in this community.  The summer after my freshman year I began working in the deli at the local cooperative market, GreenStar, which further shaped this mindset. 

Beyond merely having a strong connection with my food, I have always been fascinated with medicine. Growing up I always thought I’d become some kind of doctor or nutritionist, although I don’t think I realized to what extent this subject actually mattered to me.  My dad has always had a cabinet in our kitchen stock full of high quality vitamins and although his father was a take-a-pill-for-anything-and-everything doctor, we used more home remedies that most of my friends.  Now that I’m in Ithaca it seems like we barely used any “natural” medicine because of the extremity that I now turn to alternative medicine.  Working at GreenStar definitely helped define that shift, especially once I began working in the wellness department.  Not that I take supplements religiously, but I definitely have a very stocked shelf of supplements and herbal/homeopathic remedies for everyday ailments.

I began my college career as an Exploratory Major, as the process for auditioning for Musical Theatre programs my senior year of High School made me realize that I had other aspirations in life beyond performing.  Although that is still a large part of my life, my focus became much more on my academic career.  I started to take classes to begin a track in Physical Therapy, but decided that was a little too scientifically embedded for my liberal arts focused brain.  I then switched tracks toward Culture and Communications before declaring myself as an English Literature major with a minor in Still Photography.  It wasn’t until the Spring of my Junior year that I realized that I couldn’t ignore my passion for Anthropology, and with a couple classes already under my belt, it would only take one extra semester to graduate with a double major and a minor.  More than merely taking a broad look at Anthropology, I intently began focusing on food and medicine within that discipline, taking courses such as “People, Plants, and Culture” (Archaeo/Ethnobotany), “Integrative Medicine in American Culture” (Medical Anthropology), “Hunters and Gatherers” (Archaeology/Anthropology), and “Archaeology of Food”.  I also focused my individual fieldwork/independent study on “Food as Medicine,” organizing research, participant-observation, and interviews on how/why people change their diet for health.

As I am closing the chapter of my undergraduate career, all of this knowledge and research is continuing on in my everyday work.  I also do not see my fieldwork as something that is yet complete (as this topic is extremely vast), but instead as something that I will continue working on for quite a while.  For my final credit needed for graduating, I went to Belize, Central America with an Environmental Studies class for two weeks – staying a week longer with the accompaniment of my 28 year old brother.  One of the assignments for this class was to work on a conversation project with locals; following my field of study I casually interviewed locals on their perceptions on food and health.  The results of this work deserves an entire post of it’s own, which I will follow up with in the near future.  However, as part of our class trip we also spent two days working with a traditional Maya healer named Polo Romero in the Northern Yalbec Region of Belize.  Polo taught us how to make a stretcher, a sling, and a jungle salve from natural ingredients in the rainforest.  Beyond this he also spoke individually with many of us about our own personal ailments, as well as further explaining his beliefs.  Myself and one other student were assigned (as a favor, not a grade) to create a book about what we learned with Polo (mainly instructions with accompanying photographs).  Because of this assignment I was able to get much closer with Polo than others in my class – we got to pray with him before we went out to harvest the medicinal plants needed, etc.  Between this life-changing interaction, as well as the varying conversations I had with people about food and medicine, I feel like my work became charged with a new focus and drive.

I’m hoping that this blog will allow me to share and express the work I’m doing to a larger community of people, as well as give myself small assignments to stay focused/motivated.