Shopping for Culture: Adventures in the Supermarket
Location
CSU
Student's Major
Anthropology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Winifred Mitchell
Mentor's Department
Anthropology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
Everybody goes to the supermarket, people from all careers, economic classes and ages. People shop for groceries regularly, often the same day of the week and time of day. They may even buy the same items each time, as if it were a weekly ritual. Additionally, most of us must buy our food, we do not produce it ourselves. In that, we give away some of our self-determination to those who market food. Most people have definite attitudes about grocery shopping, which shows up in their behaviors at the supermarket. The grocery store is an equalizer of people and a general sample of the population. It provides a good environment to experience culture in action and learn more about people. I used a supermarket to observe, follow and interview people. I compared my impressions of the meaning of their behavior with their ideas of themselves. This paper presents my conclusions.
Shopping for Culture: Adventures in the Supermarket
CSU
Everybody goes to the supermarket, people from all careers, economic classes and ages. People shop for groceries regularly, often the same day of the week and time of day. They may even buy the same items each time, as if it were a weekly ritual. Additionally, most of us must buy our food, we do not produce it ourselves. In that, we give away some of our self-determination to those who market food. Most people have definite attitudes about grocery shopping, which shows up in their behaviors at the supermarket. The grocery store is an equalizer of people and a general sample of the population. It provides a good environment to experience culture in action and learn more about people. I used a supermarket to observe, follow and interview people. I compared my impressions of the meaning of their behavior with their ideas of themselves. This paper presents my conclusions.
