[getsmart-l] Food For Talk Oct. 19

[foodfortalk at utoronto.ca]

PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY
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Food for Talk?s first fall seminar will have the Centre for Studies in  
Food Security presenting a seminar on the study ?Women's identities  
and food: Practices of settlement and resistance in immigrant Toronto?.

Friday, October 19, 2:00-4:00 pm
Ryerson University, Heaslip House, 7th floor
297 Victoria St.

Here is the abstract:

This research project seeks to examine how food mediates immigrant and  
refugee women's experiences of settlement.  It attempts to take food  
from its naturalized place in the policies and processes of settlement  
and to explore how food affects the environment and conditions under  
which settlement takes place.  It is grounded in the assumption that a  
negotiated process of new identity formation (Hall, 1991) mediates  
settlement and can facilitate, hinder or obstruct how it proceeds.  In  
doing so it also acknowledges that all food relations are shaped by  
various structuring differences of race, gender, social class, age and  
so forth that define the immigrant and refugee communities themselves.  
  Among these structuring differences, gender seems particularly  
relevant for food processes: in most cultures women are responsible  
for the preparation of food and for feeding the family (Van Esterik,  
1999).  The research project focuses, then, on how immigrant and  
refugee women perceive the changes in their roles, responsibilities  
and identities that are related to food and how these have affected  
their settlement in Toronto.

This research project aims to be a contribution to further  
understanding and developing pathways to societal integration.  Its  
main policy contribution lies in the innovative gender look at the  
impacts of settlement and integration processes which will provide  
inputs towards greater consistency with the principles of equity.  It  
explores the theme of food in the ways immigrant and refugee women see  
themselves and seek integration, respect and participation in the new  
society; and, as well, it seeks to understand how they express their  
resistance to cultural dominance and their transformation of  
traditional habits.  It looks at food as a possible resource for  
mobilization and organization (Koc & MacRae, 2001) in processes of  
settlement and seeks to inform from a gender perspective the  
development of services and policies that can facilitate this process.


The project is a collaboration between university and community  
researchers that materializes their interest in food security issues  
through the Centre for Studies in Food Security.

Upcoming Seminars:
Look for an update on the November speaker soon!

Foodsheds, Footprints and Foodmiles
Jennifer Forkes
December 7, 2:00-4:00 pm
University of Toronto, University College
Room A101

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'Food for Talk' provides a place for conversations to take place
between people who work with communities, government and universities
to explore the emerging and challenging issues around food security,
agricultural transformation, and local food alternatives/networks.
This series is jointly sponsored by the Centre for Urban Health
Initiatives at the University of Toronto, York University Faculty of
Environmental Studies, the Ryerson Centre for Studies in Food
Security, and the Toronto Food Policy Council.

For more information about the seminar series, contact Kim
Crichton-Struthers at foodfortalk at utoronto.ca or telephone the
Centre for Urban Health Initiatives at 416-978-7223.

Previous Food For Talk seminars are presently available in digital
audio format at the website of the Ryerson Centre for Studies in Food
Security, http://www.ryerson.ca/~foodsec and the Centre For Urban
Health Initiatives website, http://www.cuhi.utoronto.ca/