Editor’s note: Chloe Huckins is studying in Austria this summer as part of a class at the UO School of Journalism and Communication. She worked as an intern this past academic year in Public Affairs Communications and is now writing about her experiences overseas.
During the third week of our program based in Vienna, Austria, our team of student-journalists embarked on two day trips in Györ, Hungary, and Bratislava, Slovakia, to investigate topics such as real estate, organic food, communism and nightlife.
I worked with fellow students Bryan Cargill and Carly Smith to explore and compare the availability of organic food in both cities. Before departure, we learned that the overarching term for organic, local or natural foodstuffs throughout most of Europe is “bio” (bee-yo). Armed with this word and a smattering of Hungarian, we disembarked in the small town of Györ.
After an unsuccessful two-hour search for a supermarket, we stepped out of the 92-degree heat for lunch in a tiny local restaurant. After much hand signaling, we were able to procure an order of the restaurant’s specialty: a hamburger gyro, which appeared to be ground beef, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and cheese stuffed inside of a pita wrap. Although we assumed it was not a traditional Hungarian dish, the hamburger gyro proved delicious and we were able to get directions to a supermarket.
The grocery store had a limited selection of high-priced organic produce, including potatoes and a cucumber. Somewhat disappointed, we went back out onto the street and mercilessly questioned every passerby about a “bio markt.”
We finally came across a natural food store, but the shopkeeper did not speak English. Hearing my American accent, she led me to the coffee section and repeatedly pointed to the organic label on a bag of dark roast. I was able to communicate with a customer who spoke German and she told me that the natural food store carried items produced “ohne gift” (without poison).
Later in the day, we had more success with the discovery of a coffee shop called the Organo Café, which sold coffee made from special mushrooms grown in the Himalayas. The proud owner told me that these mushrooms were grown high up in the mountains and had health benefits including the ability to decrease blood pressure. Unfortunately, our team did not taste the special mushroom coffee.
The next morning we stepped off the train in Bratislava and immediately zeroed in on an old woman who emerged from behind a building carrying a plastic bag holding two apples and an ear of corn. We quickly discovered a local produce market in an alley nearby.
I spoke with a woman behind a fruit stand and she told me that she grew all of her produce in her backyard. “People like my fruit because it tastes better than what they sell in the store,” she explained.
In a nearby grocery store we found organic garlic, potatoes and onions tucked away near the floor. The supermarket employees were unwilling to communicate, so we darted around the small store shrieking “bio!” every time one of us came across another natural product. After 20 minutes of this we sensed that we were about to be thrown off the premises and made a hasty exit.
After searching two more grocery stores and failing to find anything beyond a few derelict cherry tomatoes, we bumped into the nightlife group on their way to an ice bar. Feeling unsuccessful and uncool, the organic group watched its classmates through the frosted glass as they frolicked around in sub-zero temperatures while the bar owner entertained them by carving an ice statue with a chainsaw.
We reached a consensus that organic food is not readily available in Györ or Bratislava, less so in Bratislava. Although some are becoming more aware of the health issues around non-organic food, few are willing to pay the extra money to buy natural products. However, the younger generation is beginning to demand healthier choices and it seems the organic food market is slowly but surely expanding.
After the excursion, a member of the real-estate investigation team, Chuning Zhang, produced a short video on their findings in Györ, and the nightlife team documented the adventures of student Robert Wery in a travel mocumentary. Back in Vienna, Jonathan Bach wrote about a “peace vigil” on the steps of Austria’s parliament for the Wiener Zeitung.
After returning from Bratislava, Vienna suddenly felt like home sweet home. As one student put it, “It’s good to be back around a language I am used to not understanding.” The following week, our excursions to various Austrian communications firms—including Red Bull Media House, FM4 radio and the television station ORF—would prove more enlightening than the disheartening hunt for organics in Eastern Europe.
―By Chloe Huckins, Public Affairs Communications Intern