Demonstration Focus Group with PHE 680

Moderator: E1
Participants: 7 students participating (6 female, 1 male), 1 notetaker, 1 moderator (E1)
Topic: Balancing life and meals for grad students who take evening classes

[…]

E1: Great. Alright, so, for the next question and all of the questions afterwards we’re not going to go around the
circle in the same way, so people can feel free to add as they like in any order. So as you all know, we’re interested
in how graduate students who take evening classes balance being in school with eating meals, so I’d like you to start
by talking about, um, on nights that you have class, tell us about what you typically eat.

A1: Well, on a night like tonight, I usually bring lunch. Well, I usually bring dinner from the cafeteria in the—
what’s that building? The music building. Yeah. I normally get dinner from there and I have lunch at my internship.
So pretty much eating on the go. [E1: Mmm-hmmm.] And when I get home I don’t really eat anything because I’ve
had my dinner in class.

O1: Usually um, sorry go ahead.

I1: The nights I have class, I usually, like, on Sundays I make like a whole set of meals. And I pack them up. So on
nights I have class, I take lunch, I make a sandwich so that’s my breakfast. And I take snacks, maybe biscuits or
crackers or fruits, yogurt. I just pack everything. So usually after lunch, during class, I nibble on biscuits or yogurt,
and that’s it. Usually when I come home, I don’t [inaudible], so I just eat breakfast, lunch, and I nibble on stuff and
that’s it.

O1: Yeah, I agree with her. Usually like after class I don’t eat anything because it’s late. And I don’t want to eat
anything large. So I would make sure my lunch is heavy or more balanced so it can last throughout the day. So I go
home and probably eat like a fruit or some kind of small snack that’s not heavy.

E1: Are there others who take a different approach when they get home to eating?

S1: In my work, my lunchtime is 12:30-1:30, so I eat my lunch at that time. And then at 5 o’clock I finish my work
and I have to run to the school. So I have no time to eat anything since 1 o’clock until I’m at school. So I have to eat
something when I get home. [Laughter, noises of amazement, “yeah!”] Because I’m so hungry at that time. Mostly I
eat fruits or whatever in the freezer.

E1: When you get home?

S1: Yes, I have to eat or I’m gonna be starving. [Others: “yes!”]

O1: For that reason, I actually take my lunch around 2 o’clock.

A1: A later lunch. I take mine about 3 o’clock, yeah.

I1: I guess because I nibble a lot on snacks, by the time I get home, I’m not that hungry.

E1: B, did you have a comment from before?

B1: Yes, normally I have a good breakfast, a little lunch, but when I get back home, that’s normally--I just eat. I’m a
picky eater. I don’t eat a lot, but when I get home, I still make sure I eat a little bit. My normal food. It will be little,
but I make sure I eat.

A1: No eba for dinner.

B1: No!

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E1: Say that again? [Laughter within the group]

A1: I said, no eba for dinner. I’m just teasing her.

B1: --What I mean is light, rice with--still I make sure I eat something.

E1: What is eba?

A1: I’m sorry, Eba is traditional Nigerian food. It’s made from cassava, sorry.

E1: A, can you explain your comment a little bit further for those of us who haven’t had it?

A1: When I meant no eba for dinner, eba is uh made from cassava. It’s grounded into like a very thin, almost like a
grain, and then you mold it with hot water. And it’s very very heavy [I1: Yes!]. Very filling. A lot of times, like they
have this saying in Yoruba, I don’t know how to say it properly, like you fall asleep after you eat it.

D1: Risotto?

A1: Yeah, it’s just like that. It’s very heavy and filling. And after you eat it the next thing to do is to go to sleep [I1:
yeah.]. So that’s why I was teasing her when she said something light.

B1: You don’t want to eat something like that because if you’re going to bed, the food will just stay with you.

O1: Like til the next day. [laughter]

S1: How do you cook that food?

E1: Say that again, S1?

S1: How do you cook that food?

Several: You just mix it--you mix it with hot water. That’s it.

A1: You purchase it as a grain. Unless you live on a farm and you make [inaudible]. You purchase it as a grain and
you boil it in hot water. You boil it for at least like 2-3 minutes. You let it boil it really really hot.

S1: Does it become very thick, right?

Several: Yes, yes!

S1: We also make that food. We make it many ways. Do you know wheat? Wheat flour. [All: yes!] And also corn.
And also millet. You’ve heard of millet, right?

Several: Millet, no.

D1: It’s like wheatina?

S1: The grain looks like the mustard grain.

A1: Yeah, and you mix it with hot water and you stir it. [Several: stir it, yeah.] Almost like pounding. [Several:
Yeah.]

S1: We make that food too.

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E1: I like that we’re learning about the commonalities across places that people come from and food traditions that
they have. Um, L, did you have something that you wanted to say earlier?

L1: Okay, normally on Mondays I will have like leftovers from Sunday. So what they call Sunday-Monday
[laughter]. So I wouldn’t like be rushing home to prepare a meal, you know, so that’s like a convenience for me. To
eat what I have.

E1: What happens after Monday?

L1: I eat whatever I’m in the mood for.

E1: Anything that you’re in the mood for that you—Are you more likely to prepare the food yourself or more likely
to order?

L1: More likely to prepare the food myself. I eat less fast food. I mostly eat food that I prepare myself.

E1: So even on nights when you have class?

L1: It doesn’t matter what time I get home, I make sure to prepare my food. It doesn’t matter what time. I eat
anytime of night, I’m not watching my weight or anything. [Loud laughter from many.]

E1: Could you tell us a little bit more about a night that’s not a Monday where maybe you have class and you
prepare something at home, just an example of what you might prepare yourself?

L1: Okay, I like—I wouldn’t do anything too difficult. Maybe like plain white rice with maybe curry chicken. That’s
easy to prepare, you know. So, that’s it. [B1 licked lips at description.]

E1: Okay. That’s helpful, thanks. Um, so somebody, I, I believe, oh no, it was A, mentioned that cafeteria here on
campus. Are there other people—well, I’m curious about how frequently do you all eat something that you have
purchased on or near campus when you have class.

A1: Once in a while, only because I checked the ratings in the cafeteria and it’s NOT good. Every once in a while if
I can’t—I’m running late for class or I can’t get something else. I’ll take a chance, say my prayers, and then I’ll grab
something.

E1: Others?

I1: Yeah, like, I kind of have a routine. So days that I don’t have class, like Wednesdays and Fridays. I don’t go for
internship as well. I eat out. There’s a Chinese restaurant close to the house. So they kind of know that I come on
Wednesdays for lunch specials. When I come in, they’re always like, “Mixed chicken and—chicken and mixed
veg!” And I’m like yeah. So I kind of take it as a treat because most of the other times, like I cook. So on
Wednesdays, I’m like, you know what, I don’t want to cook. I might as well just buy food. Sometimes I buy food at
the cafeteria, but as A just said, after the environmental class that we took [inaudible, laughter]

A1: [inaudible] rat poison, rat bodies. After that class, like I’ll order a salad and that’s it!

I1: After that class, I stopped ordering salad and I stopped ordering sandwiches. I only buy cooked food so it’s like
maybe the heat—[inaudible, people disagreeing, I1 laughing]

E1: Others who maybe use the cafeteria or use other sources of food on campus or around campus? Anyone?

S2: When I have class, on Mondays and Thursdays, I normally eat whatever my husband brings me. [laughter]

E1: Whatever your husband brings?

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S2: Right, cuz we share, we share transportation. So we come in the morning together, he goes his way. And then
I’m at work. And then he’ll pick me up from work, the days I have class and he brings whatever. And I kind of
protest now because I’m tired of Kentucky Fried Chicken. I’m like, “Don’t bring me that.” [laughter] So maybe, last
time we had a Subway sandwich. But yeah, unfortunately I have to rely on fast food for those evenings that I have
school.

E1: And where are you eating when you eat on these nights?

S2: In the car, waiting to come to the class.

E1: So for those of you who haven’t mentioned this already, how are these nights on which you have class different
from nights on which you don’t have class, in terms of eating?

B1: Mine is different anyway. On Mondays, I said I had a little lunch, little bit fast [inaudible]. But my typical days
when I don’t have classes, I eat my dinner maybe 6:30. I don’t eat late anyway. So I can still walk around the house
and the food will still digest. So Tuesday to Sunday I do that, but Mondays I eat [inaudible].

I1: I think for me, like the fact that I take classes at night. I was thinking about it the other day and I was like, I don’t
get to eat dinner these days, even the days when I don’t have class. Because I’m used to taking heavy lunches, so
and I snack, so when it gets to the evening time, I don’t take anything or I just drink cereal or something, so, I don’t
know if it’s the class or the fact that I’m used to eating heavy meals. Even on the days I don’t have class, even on the
weekends. Yesterday I really wanted to eat, but I was like, I think, I have things to do, I have to meet the RAs and
by the time I was done it was like 9 and I was like, oh I don’t want to eat anything now.

E1: Anyone else on nights other than class nights and what you’re doing food-wise.

A1: Well, you have more freedom on those nights.

O1: Well in my case, my mom does the cooking, so I eat her food. I get a chance to eat her food and she’s Nigerian
and they cook very heavily [looks at I], so I can eat that at 7 o’clock and be okay by 12, as opposed to eating that at
9pm or 10pm and, you know, going to bed with a full stomach, so that would be the difference.

E1: Thanks. Um, so kind of piggy backing off of I1’s last comment about getting into a routine of having evening
classes and having your schedule shift to some degrees, even on days when you don’t have evening classes. I’m
going to ask you to think back to when you first started taking night classes here at the school and to think about
how and what you ate on those nights. How was it different that now? I think most of you have been in the program
for a couple of years now at least. So how was it different back then?

A1: Well, um, for me, I was doing a lot more partying then [laughter], so I was eating at all kinds of hours of the
day. Even like late night, you know, the kitchen’s still open at Beehive, I’ll grab something while I’m in there...so
it’s much more structured now where I’m taking food with me, I’m cooking things and bringing my container. It’s
more structured now as opposed to then where you’re still trying to find out what your routine is and what’s gonna
work best for you.

I1: I think for [inaudible]. Initially when we started I never used to take lunch or take snacks, so by the time we were
done from class, I was very hungry. So I ate, but I started getting concerned because my tummy was shooting out
[laughter] because I was eating late. I was so concerned about it, so I decided to start taking snacks. And I was
commuting from Jersey, so it was just too—I got home really late and I had to eat at that time because I was very
hungry. So I stopped doing that. But I moved to the Bronx, then it was easier for me to make food. So it kind of
structured how I eat now.

E1: Others on their past approaches?

L1: Back then I skipped a lot of meals. Because I was taking a lot of classes [sounds of appreciation]. And you know
a lot of assignments and stuff. But now I’m only taking one class, so I have more time to prepare. And um, that’s
basically the difference.

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S1: My case is different from hers. In the beginning, I used to take a train. You know the train, the Metronorth stops
in Fordham. I used to go into the pizza shop, just grab one slice and eat on my way. So I used to have time. Now I
drive, I don’t have time. So I don’t eat anything until I finish my class—that’s the difference.

E1: Anyone else who can remember back to the beginning of the program?

B1: Yeah, when I first got in the program, I remember I used to eat from the cafeteria. Sometimes salad, sometimes
rice or whatever. I never, I don’t eat fried, all those kinds of food. I make sure my dinner, sometimes even in the
afternoon [inaudible]. Most of my classes is finished now, so I used to cook now, maybe during the weekend I
would put it there, so anytime I got home now, I could still eat something I cooked myself, but before I used to eat
from the cafeteria.

E1: I wanted to ask this before—are there other places that people eat on campus besides the cafeteria?

S1: Yes. Sometimes, not usually now, before I used to just grab some chips or soda from the vending machine here.

A1: Well there’s a Starbucks over in the next building. I sometimes grab coffee from there.

I1: There’s the halal truck. Right in front of the gate--

S1: Outside the gate, right?

I1: Yeah. Sometimes I’m like, yeah, maybe I should go. My friends always say, [inaudible, maybe: “How are you
gonna eat food from”] the halal truck, but I’m like, it’s the rice. [laughs]

O1: [S/h]e’s never there, always go to the one on the next block.

I1: The one over at—

O1: The corner, yeah.

E1: Okay, some of you have already started to get at this but what is your ideal way of eating on days when you
have class at night, and let’s start with S2.

S2: You mean what I would like to do? Probably have a more balanced meal. You know, one that is more like what
I would normally eat if I didn’t have class, like maybe a meat, a salad, or some vegetables. And when I have class, I
normally don’t. As I said I have fast food. So yeah, that would be ideal.

E1: Okay. Others on what would be ideal?

O1: I’d like to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with fruits and vegetables.

E1: How could you achieve these things in the context of still having class at night?

O1: You have to plan it out.

A1: [inaudible, laughter]

I1: But I think it’s difficult because most times you leave work or whenever you are like 4:30, then you go on the
train, then you’re here at 6. So even if you wanted to have dinner—

O1: Unless you eat in class, not everyone wants to do that. [giggling, laughter]

A1: You should have saw me with the box of chocolates a minute ago, I was struggling-- [More laughter]

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O1: At least you won’t go home hungry.

E1: Um, others? On what their ideal approach would be?

S1: I would grab some salad, if there were something available right after work, but I don’t have that time now.

E1: Um, so what are some of the factors that are most challenging in getting to these more ideal form of eating on
nights that you class? S, you just mentioned availability.

S1: Time is the number one factor.

E1: Other factors?

S2: Technically I could probably uh eat while I was still at work, but then that would leave me less time to get here.
Even though it’s a short trip, it’s still, you have to get here, you have to park the car, you have to walk here [S1:
Yeah.]. So it’s a lot about time.

A1: More choices on campus too. For me, I realize that’s a deciding factor for me. On days I do get here maybe 15
minutes or 20 minutes earlier, and I can grab something. What is that? [referring to a sound]

E1: Next door.

A1: Oh. I would want to grab something else other than the salad downstairs in the music building. You know, you
might want to grab something else, just something different.

E1: Others on factors that make this challenging, other than time, other than the lack of choices here?

D1: What do you guys all think about finances, like in the cafeteria?

A1: I don’t think finances is the issue in the cafeteria. [laughter] Because I mean it’s not expensive food. Like if you
were to go to chipotle, you’re spending like 10 dollars on a meal. Versus here where it’s like $4-5 dollars. I don’t
think it’s so much—[others mumble assent?]