WSDE Interview

General demographic questions:

1. How many people live in the home?

Three.

2. What are the professions of the adults in the home (ex: teacher, food service, lab technician, unemployed)?

Architectural Designer, (John) and an Art Consultant, (Connie).

3. Where does the family live (what part of San Diego)?

North Park.

Food specific questions:

1. How often does your family eat out? Where do you usually go?

Once or twice a week. We often go to Antique Thai, a Thai restaurant in Point Loma, Toronados, a Pub in North Park, or Pisano’s, a family-owned Italian restaurant in North Park.

2. Do you typically buy food based on price, health, or something else?

We typically buy whatever doesn’t have meat or dairy products in it, (everyone in our family is either vegetarian or vegan). We do try to buy whatever is on sale though.

3. Do you usually cook more from scratch or buy pre-made foods?

We try to cook from scratch as often as possible. Whatever we buy that is “pre-made” often requires quite a bit of preparation, (such as pasta etc.)

4. If time/money/etc. were not an issue, what would you change about your eating habits?

Nothing really, we would probably have slightly better portion control, but otherwise there isn’t much we would change.

5. How many meals per week does your family typically eat together? Which meal do you eat together (ie: dinner)?

We almost always eat dinner together, and occasionally breakfast. We don’t usually get to eat lunch together since Madison is at school and Connie works away from the house. So typically, we have around seven to fourteen meals together a week.

6. Do you buy any organic foods? Why or why not? Are there any other constraints or requirements for the food you buy?

We try to buy organic whenever possible. We have done a lot of research on where food comes from, so we like to try to eat as naturally as possible. The only real “constraint” for us is that we don’t eat meat products. But luckily, it has become easier and easier within recent years to be a vegetarian or vegan.

7. Does culture or ethnicity have any influence on what you eat? How? (give examples)

Not really, we like experiencing different types of food. Again, the only thing we have to think about is our vegetarianism and veganism.

8. Do you feel like you spend too much money on food?

Only occasionally. We try to buy on sale whenever possible, but with inflation and trying to buy organic we do end up spending a lot of money on food. However, we often buy our food far ahead of time, so we do get a break from shopping.

9. What food tradition do you think Americans value?

Thanksgiving is the only “tradition” that I can think of. In all honesty, so many people today are concerned about price and fast gratification, the fast food industry has completely taken off. We have stopped valuing what we eat and we no longer appreciate what “good food” tastes like.

10. Where do you buy your food?

Von's, Henry’s, Trader Joe’s, and Fresh and Easy.

11. Who shops? Who cooks?

Typically John shops, but everyone cooks. We like to switch who cooks fairly regularly so we can have a wide variety of tastes and types of cooking.

12. Does your family eat more fresh produce or processed foods?

Fresh produce, we can’t eat a lot of processes foods. We don’t feel like we are missing out at all.