Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology Xochitl Ruiz implemented the new JanTerm course Food Lab L.A. to the college’s catalog, which allowed students to explore food in a way they might have never thought of before. The class focused on various types of food and encouraged students to see all aspects of it through an anthropologist’s point of view. Participants visited locations throughout L.A., including Grand Central Market, Le Pain Quotidien, La Fortaleza tortilla factory, and even visited a corn street vendor.
The experience encouraged students to go outside of Whittier and gave them the opportunity to conduct field work and learn directly from those who sell, distribute, buy, and consume food. One of the projects is to visit a business based on social media recommendations and then formalize their own review and create their own branding around that location.
“I want students to think about how we consume things and how a product actually comes to us,” said Ruiz. “[The course] is about connecting food in relation to urban structure, gentrification, and assumptions about culture.”
