November 14, 2013

Exploring The Factors That Challenge Refugee Immigrants’ Transition Into Canada

Kakuma is a town in the Northwestern part of Kenya that hosts the Kakuma Refugee Camp. The camp has been in existence since 1992 and currently hosts over 101,000 refugees who have fled wars in neighboring countries such as Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia (UNHCR, 2013). There are few cases of Ugandans, Burundians and Congolese at the camp, but their numbers are not as high. Most refugees eventually migrate to other countries (mostly developed countries), and face several challenges as they...
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August 21, 2013

Chinese Food Preferences in the GTA

A review of ‘Immigration and Chinese Food Preferences in the Greater Toronto Area’ by Adekunle, Filson and Sethuratnam (2013), Forthcoming in International Journal of Consumer Studies              In 2009 field research was conducted in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) by the ethno-cultural vegetable (ECV) project team to better understand the connection between ethnicity and food consumption.  Since then the information collected...
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July 18, 2013

The Potential of ECV in CSAs

            “Local food” is now a common term as the Local Food Movement is becoming increasingly popular.  Right in the grocery store consumers can search for the green and white Foodland Ontario symbol.  Options also include buying directly from the farmers at the farm gate or by attending bustling farmers markets.  Gardens are a do-it-yourself kind of local that can be done even in the city.  Another way to...
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January 30, 2013

Pigweed consumption: it’s richer than you think!

Pigweed or Amaranthus dubius is an indigenous vegetable in Asia, Europe and Africa. It is a rare species in North America but it is possible to spot a few plantations, like I did last summer within the downtown area of Guelph. With climate modifications becoming an increasing concern in developing countries, farmers in several Kenyan communities are growing Amaranthus to deal with food and nutritional insecurity due to its drought resistant nature. Amaranthus is a fast growing plant species...
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