Qualitative Findings.
I. Do Chefs Source Local and Sustainable Food? Why or why not? A number of common themes arose in chefs’ explanations for whether they chose to source food locally and/or sustainably or not and their reasoning behind such decisions. Five of these themes are discussed here.
a. Experience & Training Throughout all of the interviews, chefs discussed their previous work experiences in the restaurant industry. Chefs who had previous experience working in a restaurant that procured food locally and/or sustainably knew the processes involved in this type of purchasing. This type of sourcing differs from the conventional ordering processes’ from a large distributor, such as Sysco or US Foods. Participant I demonstrates how these ordering procedures differ. To be xxxxx, it's so much easier to just order through Sysco. They're a system, and I don't know how interested you are in how restaurant accounting works, and things of that nature, and cashflow. And working with the bigger companies makes life easier. If you just sit in front of the computer, you have your order guide, you just say I want five pounds lettuce, I want five pounds tomato. I don't care where they come from. I don't care if they're in season or not. I just need them for my recipe. And you just sit there and go boom, boom, five minutes your orders for the week are done. When you work with so many farmers, you have to physically pick up the phone and make 10, 12 phone calls like three, four times a week to get all your ingredients.37 When a chef orders from one large distributor, such as Sysco they only need to place one order with everything needed. Comparatively, when they work with various farmers, they must determine who they are going to order what products from, place all those orders separately, and make distinct checks for each order. The participants who had familiarity sourcing ingredients unconventionally were familiar with the amount of time and work it takes to purchase from multiple farmers. These participants were also knowledgeable about information regarding production practices and knew what types of questions to ask farmers and purveyors. For example, they ask questions regarding what an animal was fed throughout its life, how much time it spent outdoors, and how it was killed. Other questions a chef can ask could be directed towards fish purveyors. These questions can include information about where, when, and how a fish was caught. Chefs with experience sourcing local, sustai...
Qualitative Findings. Challenges Experienced When Utilizing Maternal Healthcare Services Ten in-depth interviews were analyzed to explore mothers’ perspectives on the challenges. The questions from the in-depth interview guide included:
Qualitative Findings. Participants in the sample clearly recognized that they and their care recipients suffer from an array of experiences subsumed under the construct of food insecurity. As one caregiver, a single mother, said, “The thing that only God and I know [is that] yesterday my children went without taking any food – nothing. I had some shoes in my house. I wanted to sell the shoes [in order to] prepare some lunch for them.” Another caregiver referred to the food insecurity and distress of one of his care recipients: “[T]here is a woman who [only] boils beans [for her family’s meals]. She is raising two children without a father… Because life now gets expensive, that troubles her mind.” Qualitative results also pointed to positive effects on wellbeing that come with being an AIDS care volunteer, a role that positioned informants within unique social networks involving other volunteers, patients, and divine beings. The representative quotes from informants listed in Table 1 highlight cultural values that emphasize 1) empathy for those “lower” or more vulnerable, 2) reciprocity involving humans and divine entities (God, saints), and 3) mental satisfaction with helping others. TABLE 3.1: Quotes from in-depth semi-structured interviews highlighting empathy, human and divine reciprocity, and mental satisfaction. Profile Quote Single man, age 35, veteran volunteer caregiver “[Being] a volunteer caregiver… will get you to think something good for human beings…and you will sympathize with human beings… Sometimes I will get aid from NGOs [in return for volunteering]; but you have to forget this thing. By believing in God...and doing God’s work, you can live.” (May 8, 2008) Single mother, age , veteran volunteer caregiver “In all my life, what makes me the happiest…is [to see those patients] being human – being able to work and feed themselves. He is now selling second-hand clothes. She is now sewing. We are now good sisters and brothers, and I am very happy.” (October 7, 2008) Young wife and mother, HIV+, newcomer volunteer caregiver Young woman from wealthier background, newcomer volunteer caregiver “What motivated me to be a caregiver? First, I myself am, of course, a patient [i.e. living with HIV/AIDS]. And second, to see others’ pains like my own [and] understand how many hurt people there are. If I am not benefiting in my own way, I will get something from God. God will pay me [back for] my weariness.” (May 20, 2008) “I am working with happiness – I convinced myself for t...
