Masters Thesis

New foods, new lands: ethnic dietary variation at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center potter's field

Racism as a social institution has played an important role in shaping ethnic identities throughout the history of the United States. These identities are changeable through ethnogenesis in a polycultural framework, and are constantly having to renegotiate themselves according to personal interactions with others and with the greater sociopolitical environment at large. Foodways are an important part of ethnic identity as they are a way of acting out social relationships and form a large part of day-to-day habits. In Santa Clara County from 1870 to 1935, the social environment was ripe with potential for change due to race-based barriers. Despite this, the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and its associated potter’s field provided care and graves to the poor, indigent, and unclaimed of the County. This study examines the dietary patterns of inhabitants of Santa Clara County to see if there was an aggregation of foodways in the community, or if diet maintained distinctness between ethnic groups in this multi-national community, even while generating new foodways unique to the rest of the United States. This study conducted ancestry assessment and stable isotope analysis on a sample of 50 individuals from the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center potter’s field collection to evaluate the hypotheses. The results suggested that there are no significant differences in diet between ancestry groups. However, there are significant differences between the sample and other regions of the U.S. It is unclear, however, if these differences are a result of socioeconomic status, local agricultural industry, or both. This thesis suggests that both likely play a factor, and that being poor may have played a more important role in food habits than racial barriers for those interred at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center potter’s field.

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