This is Muhammad. He's been working at this food stand for four out of the 16 years this stand has existed on Mondays to Thursdays, 8am - 6:30pm. I pass by this stand twice a day as I go to and from class from the parking lot. I always saw him sitting outside the stand reading a newspaper, but never actually walked up to buy anything from the stand. There are several coolers in front of the stand, probably containing meat for the hot dogs he likes to make. He also sells a wide array of snack foods, from candy bars to chips to coffee. I feel like though all of these foods sound very tasty and he sells them cheapest out of the three total food stands on the Laney campus, I question how hazardous this could be on one’s health and whether students go there frequently because it is cheap and convenient. As Bodley states in “Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems”: “The universal shift to urban life with both parents working outside the home, combined with massive commercial advertising, has dramatically increased the worldwide appeal of and market for highly processed and packaged convenience for foods, as well as ‘fast foods’ that are high in fat and sugar and low in nutrients ” (p148). I know that we most likely see the same food in these stands in numerous other places, but I never thought about how just convenience and low pricing could have an impact on one’s diet and health. It also makes me wonder whether some people have no other choice but to buy processed and packaged foods because they are cheaper to buy compared than high quality foods, such as those sold as "organic"...
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