is also in people's homes where you get some sense of the complex
interaction of physical, economic, psychological and social factors with dietary practices. It is only by home visits that a comprehensive
approach to dietary evaluation can be attempted.
Although many of the initial home interviews I conducted were very stressful, prolonged contact eventually eased the tensions between myself and the participants in most households. Naturally, the most difficult interviews yielded little information - questions were incompletely answered or evaded altogether, responses were brief and devoid of descriptive detail. Others, on the other hand, were rich and informative, revealing much more than just the shopping and cooking habits of the household. The data yielded were not of the type which could be analysed in terms of specific categories or yes/no percentages but they provided an important contextualisation for the results of the dietary recalls.
Shopping
Shopping patterns were largely dictated by the fortnightly receipt of welfare payments on 'pension day' when cash was withdrawn from the bank or credit union* and groceries and other household items for the
fortnight were purchased. This resulted in a fortnightly influx of shoppers in the town, laconically described by Aborigines as a
'blackout'. A few women however, did their main shopping weekly or by the month.
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Most Australian welfare payments to urban dwellers are made directly into an account.
On 'pension day' many complex negotiations and cash transfers took place between network participants, often before shopping began, but generally speaking this did not appear to make inroads on the cash available for food shopping. I did not hear anyone say that they had insufficient money for food as a result of settling their debts or giving loans.
Almost all women said that while they did their 'big shop' on pension day, they did purchase other foodstuffs during the fortnight as
required. This statement referred particularly to commodities such as
bread and flour (and 'smokes'). Only a few people felt that they 'had difficulty making the money/food spin out for the fortnight'.
No, I don't have any trouble.
That [food] lasts ... if I get short of anything I go an' buy it.
No, I save a bit [of money for the next fortnight].
No, not really 'cos he [husband] gets the subsidy [family income supplement] y' know, in our off week, of sixty dollars, so that really keeps us just for smokes and bread. Y'see, sometimes we don't go through all our stuff [food] in the time [between
pays]. I shop once a fortnight, an' if I get short I just go to the shop, y' know.
However, one woman said of her food shopping:-
But I'll tell ya what, it nearly takes all my money up and I'm scratchin' then for the rent.
Another replied:-
The last day, the last day, that's the main problem there. It [food shopping] sorta just works out right. Oh, it's only now and then I might just say, one day shorta just one meal, and I gotta rack around for that meal.
In this household however, there were twenty one residents and frequent influxes of guests who stayed to share their food, so occasional food budgeting problems in such a large and fluid household are hardly
surprising. Indeed, sharing with co-residents or visitors sometimes put a strain on household food budgets:-
V
It's only like that one day [the day before pension day] eh, your scrapin' round, see I'm out 'ome there, I make sure I've got everthin', y' know. I told --- [sister, staying with her] y' know, to buy their own things ... yeah, but she jus' buy a packet a' pies, an' them hamburger things. That's not a right meal, and --- [sister's partner], y' know, he seen me cookin' our nice meals, an' he say 'that looks nice'.
It was almost certainly the case that, in most households, the cash remaining after the main shopping was completed was not sufficient for the purchase of all desired commodities. However, no-one indicated that they were hungry in off pay week, and could not get enough to eat. Two people who said that they had trouble making the money spin out were heavy and consistent gamblers. One of them told me once that she had
'nothin' left' until pension day. The fresh fish in her refrigerator was, she said, 'for the cats'.
Shopping was almost universally done at large supermarkets, with very little 'corner store' shopping. There was always a good deal of discussion about where to get the most inexpensive items, what foods were 'on special', and who sold the best bulk meat orders etc. Meat and vegetables were sometimes purchased from alternative sources (butchers, green grocers or the vegetable market in South Kempsey). One woman had her groceries delivered, for a small charge, because she preferred to
take the bus to town to shop. Everyone else had access to a car, except for one old couple at Burnt Bridge who had to arrange a ride into town with someone. Women generally shopped for food, but some were regularly assisted by their partners.
Cooking
Although it was predominantly women's responsibility, both men and women cooked, and there was nothing remarkable about a male household member
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Oh, he [husband] cooks a fair bit. I do it most.
--- [husband] cooks if I'm busy doin' somethin' else, he's learnin' to cook.
I cook most of the meals. If I'm sick or somethin' he'll [partner] cook.
--- [husband] does it at weekends, or if I'm tired he'll cook.
One woman replied however
He [husband] does most of it. I can't cook much. I don't like cookin'. When I'm in the mood I'll get in an' cook.
Another stated that she and her partner took 'turn about'. Only one woman said that her husband did the cooking; she did it only if he was away for some reason. One male living alone also cooked for himself. The people who were renowned for being able to 'cook a good damper' were women, but one woman specifically mentioned that her partner cooked damper and fried scones, as well as many of their meals.
Meals tended to be simply prepared, with very few complex recipes, and dessert seemed to be rarely eaten. Twenty five percent of meat dishes were meat/vegetable composites variously described 'stew', 'soup',
'gravy', or rarely 'casserole'. The word 'gravy' was in fact used both for the dressing for meat, made from meat juices and flour, and for more substantial liquid based dishes containing meat or shellfish, with or without vegetables.
One of the widely accepted notions about Aboriginal food habits is that frying, usually in 'dripping' (meat fat), is the preferred cooking method. In order to test the validity of this, I analysed the method used for each food item (not dish) which was cooked in the home in some
way. Of the 723 food items cooked in the home, 16.7% were fried, using dripping (6.6%), margarine (5.7%), oil (3.2%), no added fat
(1.0%), and butter (0.3%). While this indicates that dripping was
(marginally) the most popular fat for frying, it does not support the notion that frying is the most popular method of cooking. Other methods used in the home included poaching, grilling, toasting, boiling,
steaming, baking and roasting (Figure 5.1). Of the total food items cooked, 5.3% were roasted of which 4.6% were in dripping, and the remainder were in oil/water, 'own juice', and not known.
Figure 5.1. Cooking methods used.
% >> j- 16.7% 52.8% o -o E \ fO -C OJ O -M </> O Ql <u JD 4-> +■> <4- 1/1 «3 +-> O =J +-> O ^ JC t- 5 i- cn 19.6% 4-> 00 to o i- 3 o c +-> o c (U 5.3% o 3T3T Cooking Methods Meal patterns
To some extent, the social aspects of meal consumption seemed to be dependent on household size. Thus women in small households generally said they all sat down to eat together, whereas in large households meal patterns tended to be much more flexible. In the largest household (twenty one members) everyone who was home ate the same meal, but there
2
Twelve food items are counted twice because they were prepared in two different ways, e.g. fried before being put into a stew.