Mary Ann Bass

Food preservation practices of selected homemakers in East Tennessee

Food preservation practices of homemakers in an East Tennessee county and selected environmental factors which may have influenced these practices were studied. Home Demonstration Club (HDC) and Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) homemakers were interviewed. Of the homemakers interviewed, 96 percent participated in food preservation. Canning, pickling, makingjelly, and freezing were the most commonly used methods of food preservation, with some homemakers also participating in curing, drying, and burying Foods. The HDC and EFNEP homemakers differed in education level, social participation score, and income. Only for freezing, pickling, and curing did the proportion of HDC and EFNEP homemakers using a specific food preservation method differ. The amount of food preserved varied both within and between the groups. Preserving procedures of the homemakers were similar. The homemakers were proud that they were contributing to the food supply and providing foods which were liked by their fam...

Food preferences and food prestige ratings by black women in East Tennessee

Preference and prestige values of 111 foods were obtained for middle class urban black women in east Tennessee. Foods were scored by frequency of selection. Prestige values were scored using a semantic differential scale based on the polar terms high and low class. Many of the foods listed high on the preference list also scored high on the prestige scale. Spearman rank order correlation coefficients for preference and prestige were calculated to assess possible relationships between these variables. Positive correlations were found in 44 of the foods tested.

Rainy Season Food Behavior of Selected East Nicaraguan Miskito Indians

The availability, distribution, and consumption of food by a group of Miskito Indians during Nicaraguas rainy season were studied. Field research was conducted in July and August of 1976 in the small, east coast village of Kakabila. Field study methods included observation, participant observation, and key informant interviewing. A week each was spent with four families in home observation. The family plantation (farm) was the source of the largest percentage of total servings of food for each family observed (mean = 39%). Other frequently served foods were obtained from village grocery stores, fishing, village fruit trees, and loans, gifts, and purchases of food from other vil lagers. Cassava was identified as the core food in the diet of participating families. Other important foods in the diet were fish, green bananas, breadfruit, coconut milk, coconut water, and mangoes. The Nicaragua rainy season is made up of both rainy and non-rainy days. Because Kakabila villagers often travelled a great distance from their home to procure food each day, it was hypothe sized that the seasonal rains (rainy days) of Nicaraguas rainy season would alter the core foods consumed by the villagers by interfering with food procurement. However, the villagers adapted to seasonal shortages of food through a food sharing system. Thus, this hypothesis was not confirmed.