Nutrition and Recreation Collaborate

Professor Barb Anderson, School of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dr. Alan Warner, School of Recreation Management and Kinesiology are two of the co-investigators of a recently announced SSHRC CURA entitled Community Food Security (CFS): Participatory Approaches to Exploring the Policy Interface Between Food Access and Supply (Activating Policy Change for CFS). The total five-year award is in the amount of $1,000,000. Under the direction of Principal Investigator, Dr. Patty Williams of the Department of Applied Human Nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University, the project will engage a broad range of stakeholders, including those most vulnerable to food insecurity, and the organizations that serve them, in a strategic research alliance to more effectively understand the determinants of Community Food Security, and build capacity for improved food security policy.

Three research questions, identified as a result of previous food security research in Nova Scotia, which the CURA will focus on are:

  1. What are the components of, and factors contributing to, Community Food Security in NS? 
  2. How can we build capacity for policy change at multiple levels to improve CFS? and 
  3. What and how can a community-university participatory research process contribute to the theory and practice of policy change related to community food security?

The CURA will deliver three main outcomes: Research employing mixed methods within a case study approach will examine how food systems impact food access in NS communities. New models, tools and processes will be used in the education and training of post-secondary students with a focus on CFS and public policy through internships, theses and postdoctoral opportunities, and curriculum development, and of community partners through training workshops on community-based research, and the use of innovative methods to communicate research findings. Knowledge mobilization strategies will extend the application of tools and resources developed in NS.

Both Barb and Alan are involved in Research Working Groups to contribute to the achievement of the research outcomes.

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