"Look at your fish!"

The object I chose was an empty glass milk bottle that I got from the farmers market. My husband and I go every Saturday to get our favorite milk, amongst other things, from JD Farms. The glass bottle has their logo on it, its a little barn and silo with a cow and the words "JD country milk" Russellville, KY. It also says it's all natural grade A milk, low temp pasteurized at 150 degrees and non-homogenized. At the very bottom of the bottle is a bible scripture "This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." The bottle says its 64 oz but it looks bigger, that's probably because of the shape and the thick glass. It has grooves in one side of it to grab for easy pouring. The top has a plastic handle for transporting milk to the car and into the home if you have multiple jugs. On the back of the bottle it tells a little more about the farm, who they are and what they believe. It tells you that this is a family business (which my husband and I know, because its the sons who make the trip every saturday from kentucky to nashville,tn.), that the milk is natural and fresh. It tells you a little about the cows too! The cows roam on green pastures of chemical free grass and have been injected with no artificial hormones or antibiotics. They make a promise to the consumer to "treat our cows with respect. Happy cows produce healthy milk." The bottom of the bottle says "stanpac" which when I researched is an Ontario based company that sell packaging for dairy products, one being these half gallon glass bottles. The glass bottle is a great option for packaging milk for many reasons. Glass bottles can be sterilized and re-used. Helping reduce waste produced from plastic milk jugs. Another is it is more friendly to the enviroment, one site states that "Plastic is made from petroleum, and its manufacture is highly polluting. In fact, making one 16 oz bottle out of #1 plastic generates 100 times the toxic emissions as making the same bottle out of glass." Another benefit is the flavor, it locks in the same farm fresh flavor, without the free of chemicals seeping into your milk. The same website states that, "Some people have raised concerns about chemicals leaching from plastic. And nowhere is this more worrying than when the plastic is used to hold our food. Glass, on the other hand, is known to be safe." And lastly, the glass milk bottle is nostalgic. But more than nostalgia, I think this is pointing to something greater. The idea of doing things as they were done before technology, consuming food the way our grandparents did, is what I think this generation is heading towards. The milk is not only from a local farmer who you can know, in a glass milk bottle but the milk is pasteurized at a low temperature. High temperature pasteurization helps extend a milks shelf life but kills the good enzymes and bacteria that your body needs. But who wouldn't rather have fresh milk every week that tastes better and is better for you? When you buy locally you don't have to think about extending a shelf life because of the transport from a big factory many states away to your grocery. This is something else we can learn just by examining the bottle.

There is a new trend of farmers markets popping up all over the country and in Nashville, it is now possible to attend some sort of farmers market somewhere in the city Monday through Friday. Now,\ that's pretty sweet if you ask me. 

Mini-study

I spent my time at Bongo Java watching and taking field notes. I chose this location as my field site for a couple reasons. One is that I love coffee and I could drink while I watched and secondly, it's a close location for campus, making it easy to visit often.

I made myself comfortable each time on the outside patio. I visited twice for this study and both times, it was a gorgeous outside. The sun was shining , the temperature was around 70-72 degrees, though it felt warmer with the sun on you. I longed to take in a lungful of fresh fall air but was choked up by all the smoke. It seemed that over 50% of people sitting on the patio outside were smokers. Due to Nashville laws about smoking inside restaurants, that includes coffee shops, it made sense that people would be smoking outsides. However, we are on a college campus, so the majority of people at this coffee shop were students, evidenced by all the bookbags and backpacks propped next to their owners. Again, it made sense then that there would be smoking at this location since Belmont is a smoke-free campus. Still, I couldn't help but be taken back by the fact that these smokers were so young. With all the literature and advertisements about the harmful effects of smoking, I am perplexed. Could it be the pressures of school? Is it a casual thing? Whatever the reasons, I am sure they are vast and I was just observing and not asking questions.

Bongo seems to be the hub of social activity for campus students. A way to feel away from campus but still close enough to take a quick coffee/cigarette break. Most of the people I watched on the patio were talking, there were a few people reading or on their computers, but this seemed to be a time to catch up with old and new friends. There was a couple, on my first visit, sitting right next to me, who appeared to be on a first date of sorts. She sat very closed off, upright with her hands in her lap and her legs crossed. They bounced back and forth with stories of where they were from, interests, etc. He seemed more comfortable and he leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

Another trend I noticed at Bongo was all the plaid. There was literally one table of 5 young men, all in plaid, not to mention the other plaid strewn across the patio like a splatter of paint. It felt like 6th grade all over again for me, I could hear Nirvana playing in the background of my mind.

These visits just touched the surface but two trends I noticed were plaid and smoking. I would be curious to see if those two were connected somehow; if it has anything to do with image? Curious.

Research Ideas

Homesteading (Urban?)

I think I would like to investigate, locally, the recent resurgence of homesteading in our country. Possibly follow a couple blogs, online groups and possibly meet with a couple local women who have their very own homestead. I think the question here would be what is the motivation? Or why have a homestead? What are the benefits of a homestead? Something along those lines. 

As of now, I don't know of another idea of something I would be interested in researching. I think I am pretty sure I will go the homestead route. That could all change but it's something I am very interested in learning more about.


***I am now considering changing my topic because it may prove to be rather difficult to study my fieldsite via the web. I am not exploring the idea of the farmers market and why to shop locally. I would attend the Nashville Farmers Market on Saturdays during their busiest time and watch listen smell and also, dialogue with the farmers and the consumers. 

Double Entry Notes from the Bongo (Java that is)

What surprised me?
I was surprised by the fact that I couldn't even smell the fresh air let alone much else due to all the cigarette smoke. I did get a whiff of a yummy smelling breakfast burrito for about 20 seconds before it was vaporized by more smoke.

What intrigued me?
What intrigued me was the girl who walked by me with the crazy mohawk-ish hair. It was like a curly wad of hair in the middle of her head, it wasn't sticking up like a mohawk just the same central theme on the head. I've seen a lot of crazy hair, this was just bizarre.

What disturbed me?
What disturbed me was how many smokers there were, I noticed only 10 people out of 30 on the deck of bongo java who weren't smoking.