Scientific Method - Essay Example

Relationship between food supply and Americans Nutritional Preferences of Affiliate There has been increasing debate in America showing that the foods supplied to most Americans contribute to obesity especially processes foods. The following study will seek to establish whether grocery stores actually stock more of processed foods instead of healthy fresh foods and as a result influence the nutritional preferences of Americans. Three grocery stores were selected and their respective stock of processed and fresh cereals quantities in kilograms determined.

The general realization is that grocery stores stock more of processed cereals as compared to fresh cereals indicating that maybe nutritional characteristics of Americans may be influenced by the foods supplied to them. Introduction According to a survey conducted by American farm policy as documented by Blatt (2008), the increase in obesity in the American society is not caused by eating more food, but by eating more processed food instead of fresh farm produce. As outlined by Deutsch (2010) most Americans obtain their food supplies from supermarkets and grocery stores and it is important to establish whether they just prefer processed food, or there is reduced availability of fresh farm produce.

The following study will conduct a survey on three supermarkets on the quantity of processed foods in kilograms and compare them with the quantity of processed foods in kilograms. Materials and Methods The three grocery stores were visited from 1pm to 2pm on 1st and 2nd which was on Thursday and Friday Most Americans buy their weekly supplies during weekends and a previous inquiry from the managers revealed that by Thursday and Friday they are always fully stocked in readiness for the weekend shoppers.

The study employed the services of two high school teenagers who went to two grocery stores while the researcher personally went to one store. The researchers were supposed to visit the grocery section of both processed and fresh cereals and then record the quantity of foodstuffs in each section in kilograms. They researchers were provided with scientific calculators to convert units that were not in kilograms to kilograms. The researchers were also given excel sheets (sample provided in Figure 1) with separate sections for processed and fresh foods.

Each section had provisions for recording the type of cereal and the quantity in kilograms. After the collection of data, the data was computed and presented in a percentage form to show which type of cereals had the highest percentage and whether the difference was significant. Percentages for each grocery store was also computed to determine whether there was difference in the quantity they stocked.Results and Conclusion The results determined that all of the three grocery stores stocked high quantities of processed cereals as compared to fresh cereals as shown in Table 1Fresh (%)Processed (%)Grocery Store 18812Grocery Store 27921Grocery Store 38515The study realized that of the processed cereals stocked in the three grocery stores the beans and breakfast cereals were the most preferred representing 80% of the totally processed cereals stocked.

The study also realized that the major fresh cereals in the American diet were oats and corn which made up 74% of the total fresh cereals in the three grocery stores. Table 1 also shows that there are very little differences in the respective quantities of processed and fresh cereals which show that it is a major trend in the region. Although the study was not able to realize whether The general realization is that grocery stores actually stock more of processed foods as compared to fresh foods.

Food consumption is significantly determined by availability of a given type of foods (Dass, 2003). Therefore, the availability of processed foods is an influencing factor to the observed trends of increased consumption of processed food in America. Although the research was not able to establish whether there is also a culture among Americans to prefer processed foods, the study realized that grocery stores stock much of processed foods as compared to fresh foods. Further studies need to be undertaken to establish whether, the increased supply of processed food is due to their convenient nature with regard to handling and transportation or it is influenced by increased demand from consumers.

The study also realized that breakfast cereals and beans are the most stocked processed foods by the grocery stores.ReferencesBlatt, H. (2008). Americas food: what you dont know about what you eat. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Dass, S. K. (2003). Food and nutrition: concepts and measurement. New Delhi: Chawla.Deutsch, T. (2010). Building a housewifes paradise: Gender politics and American grocery stores . Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.