For our oral history and collaborative research projects we decided to do some investigating in Pitman's school cafeterias and the food they are feeding our children. We decided as a group that we are going to go to the local farm Duffield's and interview them on some area's that will help us better understand their methods of production and what part they play in the economy in the area. Alongside of that we are going into the schools to find out if they use the local resources they have available to them and find out if they are giving our children healthy options to eat. As a group we decided that each of us needs to form a few questions that we would want to ask each of these places. Here are a set of five questions for each.

 Duffield’s Farm
1.       Are any of the vegetables you grow here organic?
2.       Is it cheaper or more expensive to grow organic produce?
3.       Do you sell to local schools in the area?
4.       Would it be beneficial to you to sell to school?
5.       Is there a method or reason to the produce you grow at your farm?

Pitman School Cafeteria
1.       Do you buy products from local farms?
2.       Are there specific calorie measurements the children must have per meal?
3.       Does your budget on food affect the way you decide what food to purchase?
4.       And if so would you choose the healthier more expensive option or processed     
          cheaper option?
5.       Have there been any recent changes in the past few years in the food that is being
          served in the schools?
6.        If so what are the changes?

    Before watching the first two episodes of the British Chef Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution I was in the dark about much of what goes on in school cafeterias across America. It was Jamie's goal to get into schools across the US and try to change the food that we are feeding our children. Huntington, West Virginia is the town that he focused on being that it is known to be the unhealthiest town in the entire world. His goal was to show the town healthy options instead of eating processed, broken down food. 
    Throughout the first two episodes Jamie came encountered with many struggles trying to achieve this goal. He had many people against what he was trying to do and achieve for this town. When he went into the towns elementary school he was baffled by what he saw being served to the children. Everything that was being put out for them was process or had loads of unhealthy preservatives in it. He decided to conduct a test and make a fresh cooked meal from healthy non processed foods and give the children a choice to choose which meal they would like. The turnout was shocking to Jamie, almost every child chose the processed food over the home cooked meal. This disappointment just gave him more incentive to make a change in this school and was determined to get these children to enjoy healthy food. 
    After watching this just a few episodes it has made me really question what these schools are feeding to our children. Are the people in charge really looking out for our children’s health or are they just looking for cheap options to feed our kids. This has really given me the encouragement to look into this issue that is within schools nation and worldwide. I would highly recommend this short series to anyone who is looking to see what is truly going on behind the closed doors of the cafeterias of our schools in America; your eyes will be opened after only a few short minutes.

1. Are school lunches healthy for children?
2. Are there certain criteria that cafaterias must meet for school lunches?
3. Where does the food come from for school lunches?
4. Is there anything organic used in the school lunches?
5. What are the health standards of the kitchen in a school cafateria?
6. What has changed about school lunches over the past ten years?
7. Do schools really promote healthy eatting?
8. Why is America one of the most overweight countries?
9. Where is the most healthy country in the world?
10. Are there healthy options offered for children in school?

    Before reading the chapter "Conducting the Interview" in Like it Was, I never realised how many different aspects went into having an interview with sombody. There are specific things to prepare yourself for before, during, and after the interview that will benifit how your interview turns out in the end. For instance there are specifici types of interviews in which you need to choose specificially who to interview, such as if you wanted to write about a culture that is dieing out, you could conduct a "how to" interview on the specifics of their culture. 
    Two ways to prepare yourself for an interview is to first have a specific set of questions planned out before the interview begins. This allows for you to have a better understanding of what you are going to ask the person and will give you a general idea about where the interview could head towards in converstation. The next preperation method would be actually reading the questions aloud to a friend or someone who will listen. This allows you to be confident in your interview and shows that you know and understand what you are talking about. 
    When reading the sections about the different tips you can think about when conducting and interview there were many different points that I thought were very important for a person to take into consideration when interviewing. One fo them being from the section labled "Setting Up". I never thought about this untill reading this article but you need to make sure that while during your interview you are in an area far from distractions. Distractions can take away from the interview causing you to loose valuable information and focus on what is being disucssed. You need to try to find a quite, nice location comfortable for the both of you whThe last section of this chapter is what I found the most interesting, even though it wasn't very long I thought it was a great way to brainstorm questions for an interview. This sections was labled,"Looking at Old Photographs". By looking at old photographs of the event or time in history helps you pose questions about what was going on at that point in time. You can figure things out about the economics, fashion, and setting which can all be turned into types of questions you can ask the person being interviews.  

"Oral history . . . refers to what the source and the historian do together at the moment of their encounter in the interview." - Alessandro Portelli

    Oral history has played a very important role in the translation of important events and specific moments throughout society and life. When we read articles that talk about the past, I find I most relate to and enjoy the piece of writing when it comes from first hand accounts of an individual. When you are construting and interview on a subject, you recieve the real facts and find out what really happened in that percice moment through that individuals eyes. You are able to see, smell, and feel what exactly that individual saw, instead of writing from written accounts of what happened from different documents. 
    Referring to the quote at the top of the blog, an interview determines how the subject being discussed is going to be viewed by the audience. It is up to the "historian" to pick out questions to ask the "source" to find out the specific details of the event. They must decided what questions and use and not to use because they will ulitmately determine how the subject is going to be read by everyone who reads about it.  Interviews are the most personal and I believe accurate way finding out details out about specific events or occurances in our lives or history.

    When reading through both Narrative Inquiry’s many questions, opinions, and thoughts ran through my mind. Clandinin and Connelly’s piece I was able to get more out of and understand easier than Situating Narrative Inquiry by Clandinin alone. This long piece was extremely drawn out for what was talked about. I pulled out some quotes that really stood out to me while reading both of these pieces and explained what I felt they meant.

1.      "Telling stories of ourselves in the past leads to the possibility of retellings"

I really loved this quote; I believe they are trying to say that the stories of our lives can live on in the hopes that others will retell the stories to others and so forth. This allows for stories to keep alive for many years and for many people to hear.

2.      "The answer to the question, Why narrative? is, Because experience."

This quote basically is saying that without experiences throughout our lives we would have nothing to write about. I know many of my writings are based around events in my life that have made an impact on me and if it weren’t for those experiences I would not know and understand certain things I do today. When writing a narrative it allows for us as the author to let the readers know the lessons, feelings, and events that make up our personal “experiences” so they can understand fully about what took place.

3.      “ Narrative inquirers embrace the power of the particular for understanding experience and using findings from research to inform themselves in specific places at specific times”

Narrative inquires allow for us to be able to focus on specific instances that make up our experiences. This is where we are able to narrow down the importance of what bounded certain experiences into our brain and why they stick our as essential to us.

1. Was it easy to read and understand?
2. Should I add more geners?
3. Did it flow from one piece to the next?
4. Should I add or take anything away?
5. What things should I consider revising?
6. Any open suggestions?