Cate and O'Donnell

Cate and O'Donnell have very distinct areas in which they studied, let alone the food in the respective place. Cate discusses the world of "spread" at jails around the San Francisco area. These people are served a combination of everything for their meals called spread. This is a large part of the lives of the prisoners. Not that jail food should be glamorous, but the ideas Cate talks about in regards to the sustainability of the spread for the prisoners. The idea of spread brings the community together because that is what they have to consistently rely on. 

I think the common denominator in both of these studies is the idea that the food you eat is directly related to what resources are the most efficient for the area in which you live. This is offers a new way to look at what cultures eat what food. 

O'Donnell's study was an analysis of the foods available in a Chinese environment. The main point being made was the idea of what foods are available based on the resources available. Like the jail situation, these people rely on the fish, rice, and beans because it is readily available for the people of the country. I thought it was interesting to see the contrast of what people eat and the pride they have in it. They take pride in the fact that the resources around them make up a large part of their lives. This was interesting to me because it is one of those things you don't realize until you look into what is actually taking place, similar to what is happening in both of these articles.