In my last post, I discussed the starting formations of my topic.  After reading the excerpt from Tacopedia, I knew I wanted my topic to have some relation to Mexican food and the culture associated with it.  In my early research, I primarily used the UT Libraries ScoUT feature.  Through this, I found Gustavo Arellano’s Taco USA, a book focusing on how Mexican food fits into the vast and varied food culture of the United States of America.  

    After this, I hit a block in my thoughts.  I didn’t really know where I wanted to go with my topic, I just knew I wanted it to have something to do with Mexican food in the broader context of the United States.  So, I took to Google, and through many blog posts and journal articles, I found my specific topic.

    Within the US, many of the foods we eat are americanized versions of foods enjoyed in other cultures.  Often, it is looked down upon to enjoy these “inauthentic” variations rather than the originals.  What I’ve chosen to explore through my research is how we perceive authenticity of food in America, specifically focusing on Mexican food.  The article which inspired me to choose this specific topic was Minerva Orduno Rincon’s “The Authenticity Trap of Mexican Food in America” from the Phoenix New Times.  Her article lightheartedly criticized food critics who judge the authenticity of a restaurant by whether their tortillas were house made, a common facet of perceived “authenticity” in Mexican cuisine.  

    My bibliography will include a variety of sources, but a majority of them will be articles and blog posts.  I hope to include a diverse selection of authors.  Currently, my authors are all of Mexican descent, but I have sources from both male and female viewpoints.  I’m hoping to find sources which focus on this topic from the minds of non-Mexican Americans to compare their viewpoints to that of Mexican Americans.

    I’m still debating whether my topic is right as-is or if I should change the scale.  Would it be beneficial to broaden the topic to cover perceived authenticity of all cultural foods in American cuisine, or should my focus remain on Mexican food only? On the other hand, should my topic be narrowed down to a specific food in Mexican cuisine: perhaps just tamales or enchiladas? Right now, I think the scale of my topic is where it should be, but I’m curious about your opinions.  

I have decided on the topic of the American food industry for my annotated bibliography. After working on the Nutrition Team at the Whole Foods Global Offices, I was able to get a behind-the-scenes look at one of the America’s healthiest grocery stores. With my background in nutrition and experience working this job, I’ve gained a great deal of knowledge about the healthy side of the food industry. However, I realize that this exposure isn’t necessarily shared with the rest of the American population considering the current state of our nation’s growing waistbands. Moreover, I realize that the majority of the American population doesn’t abide by a healthy diet, yet obsesses over food and diet tactics. My question is why? Fortunately, there are experts and journalists who share a similar interest in this topic and have some of the answers. Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Food Rules, has done in depth research on the history of cooking and eating, and discusses the dilemma humans now have with all of the food choices. In the book Salt, Sugar, Fat, Michael Moss shares his discoveries on some of the major food companies (i.e.- Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Pillsbury, General Mills) that produce the vast majority of the processed food in America. On top of these books, documentaries on this topic include: Food, Inc., Fed Up, and Cooked. Aside from those books and documentaries, I’ve started to research articles published on the EBSCOhost database using key words, such as, “America”, “food industry”, “obesity”, and “processed food”. Through this research, I’m hoping to expand my knowledge on the factors contributing to obesity and the food obsession in this country. Moreover, my aim for this annotated bibliography is to make connections between the different publications and hopefully make some discoveries for myself in the process. Although I still have more research to do, I’m currently stuck on figuring out how to properly summarize large books and documentaries in the form of text.

Over the past few weeks, I have significantly improved my perpetual state of writer’s block. Usually, when I have a writing assignment, I delay and delay, trying to find the “perfect” topic, the “perfect” way to phrase my thoughts, the “perfect” supporting articles, etc. However, through my Learning Record Journal and expanding my research tools beyond Google, I took a more proactive, effective approach in my research, and I have finally decided to research food marketing and business.

At first, I was stumped on what to possibly research in the wide world of food. However, by using Google, cookbooks, food magazines (like Bon Appétit), cooking novel excerpts, etc., I gained inspiration for several topics, such as American-French pastry-making, the New York food scene, the history of Vietnamese food, etc. I settled on food marketing by recalling my past semester during recruiting season. I interviewed and networked (and almost accepted a job) with a huge food company, and I genuinely loved my conversations with the employees/recruiters about how they market their products. Recalling these enjoyable interactions, I decided to combine my love for food and my business background to research food business and marketing – from ubiquitous brands, such as Coca-Cola, to new, trendy fads, such as Sprinkles Cupcakes. I also plan to use primary research by conducting informational interviews with my prior contacts at the food company.

A couple of articles that I found interesting and relevant to my research were about Sprinkles’ marketing with their cupcake ATMs (http://www.contentboost.com/topics/content-creation/articles/375548-whats-sweet-you-sweeter-sprinkles-marketing-strategy-behind.htm) and General Mills’ decision to cut US advertising expenditures (http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/general-mills-plans-u-s-ad-spending-cuts/304764/). These are high quality articles that explain the behind-the-scenes marketing/business strategy for two completely different food brands.

Does anyone have suggestions for other research tools and/or search queries? Are there any suggestions on questions that I should ask the food company employee?

I’ll be honest: I’m not making much progress. I’m at somewhat a complete inertia in trying to decide a topic. I don’t want to commit to a topic I am not passionate about, or at least would have trouble writing a lot about. One topic that particuarly interested me was comparing celebrity chef’s cookbooks. I forgot who mentioned it in class, but someone mentioned that 2 Chainz has a cookbook, and if that isn’t worth researching, I don’t know what is.

The main tool I have been using to try and find exemplary sources is Google. I am best at evaluating and utilizing digital sources, and I think I will keep it that way. It’s 2017, so I shouldn’t have a problem finding a plethora of relevant information online. One topic I was also thinking about was recipes in the digital space, such as websites like allrecipes.com, where individual users can submit and rate recipes. I think it could be promising to investigate how professional chefs and culinary celebrities are beginning to be overshadowed by strangers on the internet, who just have a really good recipe to share. Another topic I have looked in to is investigating GIF/Video recipe makers like “Delish,” which have amassed tens of millions of followers and inspired much of our class to cook.

As I write this, I realize that I definitely want to focus my research about food media in the digital space. Hopefully, I will have narrowed down my research to a specific topic by the end of the day.

http://libguides.uky.edu/c.php?g=223240&p=1478068

Research update at moment, mine is going well at the moment. Using the web I have located a few readings that I would like to look further into recipes from the 1800s. Using the UT library database is a little difficult at first but when I went to librarian she was able to help me use the system. I have been to the library to look into the history in that time period: historical events that can alter why recipes are created and the tone the author used while writing. I still have a lot of work left to complete, but right now I feel like I am at a good starting point.

When this assignment was first announced, my mind started turning with all the possible avenues that I could explore. I first began my research by simply googling different areas of interest and seeing what sources came back. I wanted a topic that would allow me to explore not just one particular sect of food, but I also knew I needed to have a clear idea of what I was researching and exploring.

Within the last few days I have decided upon my topic and am just starting to gather resources. The inspiration from my topic has come from my love of The Food Network. I used to watch cooking shows when I was little, and although many of the same stars are featured on the network, the premise of the network has changed from educational to more of a reality game show network. This paradigm shift made me question how television cooking as a whole has changed through the years, including before television was even a household item. I also want to bring this question to the present day and see how the internet has changed the dynamic as well.

In the light research that I have done, I can already tell there has been a drastic change. From the type of shows the food television produces, to the status of the chefs of these shows; Chefs are now full-fledged celebrities with copious amounts of projects under their belts. So for the article, How food television is changing America, has been a great starting point in my research.

Some questions I have are: What questions do people have about this topic? What are some good resources to find scholarly information?

Over the past few weeks, I feel that I have already improved my research abilities tremendously. I regrettably admit this, but prior to Rhetoric of Food I had never used the UT Library Database, so having recently utilized this tool feels like an achievement in itself. When considering what topic I want to explore, I immediately thought, “Why not research food and eating in Cape Town”? since I am traveling there this summer and will probably be doing some recon on the topic anyways. However, finding scholarly articles on this topic proved to be difficult; instead I was left with a handful of texts about food regulations in South Africa.

Scratching that idea, I moved on to plan B, my favorite food: pizza. I quickly decided that this topic would prove to be interesting because I have already journaled about my love for pizza and its a food appreciated by most everyone. I can also take this topic in all sorts of directions: types of pizza, it’s history, strange toppings around the world, and the list goes on. Google Scholar and Ebsco are the main data bases I have been using so far and they have a collection of material to read and chose from. Does anyone else have a database they would recommend?

Pizza: A Global History by Carol Helstosky

Slice of Heaven: A History of Pizza in America

I’m still in the developmental stages of my research for this annotated bibliography assignment. While I have a general focus on my project—unusual authors of cookbook—I want to find something that brings everything full circle. My inspiration started after buying my sister’s birthday present, a Salvador Dalí cookbook, which seemed quite out of the norm. At least to me, it did. So with that purchase came the heart of my project! For resources, I suppose I could use the present I purchased, or I could use that to find a particular kind of unusual author. Maybe I will focus on singers, movie stars, or other unlikely figures. All I know thus far is that Snoop Dogg and 2 Chainz both have cookbooks, so I doubt I’ll fall short of finding fun and unusual cookbook authors.

As far as research methods go, I’m still using Google just to find out who the unlikely celebrities are that have cookbooks, and from there, I’ll probably do further research into those specific authors. Once these particular sources have been discovered, I plan to keep track of these sources through a GoogleDoc, I suppose. It’s an easily accessible source and it’s simple to keep organized.

My research process for this assignment began with the need of choosing a topic.   After thinking for a long time, and considering several options such as the history of ice cream and the historical and cultural significance of Jewish food, I finally think I have settled on a topic: chicken. It occurred to me that chicken is a main staple food in almost every culture in the world. How did this come to be? How did humans decide that chicken would be one of the most popular meats in the world? After doing some initial research on Google, I came across this magazine article from renowned scientific and historical organization Smithsonian. This article gives a very detailed history of the chicken and its introduction into the human palate. I feel like chicken is unique because of the many different ways it can be prepared and served: fried, grilled, over pasta, sliced on a sandwich, etc. So far, I am keeping track of the websites that I find in a bookmarks folder on my computer. I wonder, has anyone tried any of the other research management tools that we discussed in class the other day, like Zotero? I also wonder what other kinds of texts could be used to support my project? I am thinking of finding some old recipes involving chicken. I need to explore the UT library database to try to find these. Unfortunately, I have two tests tomorrow and have not had the chance to scour the database for information.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-chicken-conquered-the-world-87583657/