Belonging and Culturally Sustaining Practices in a School Food Program

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: Division G - Section 3: Languages, Literacies, and Representations Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Last winter, we had the opportunity to work with a group of child researchers in an elementary school, who were of refugee background and in Grades 6 through 8. They were given the opportunity to establish their own research topic, co-create interview and photo-voice protocols, and analyze the research data through focus group discussions. The co-created questions were: What are children of refugee background’s feelings and views about food and access to food in a Canadian school? What can one school’s food policies tell us about access to food in schools? A number of themes arose from the data including students’ unequal access to food in schools, inconsistent funding, child food choices, and culturally sustaining food practices.

Authors

• Katie Brubacher, University of Alberta

• Sarah Harper, University of Alberta